The Spanish handball team is a very heavy team. There is nothing that will lead to surrender. Insist, come back, change, until you squeeze and drive your rivals crazy. If it wasn’t dead against Sweden, it looked pretty close. 16-9 at the end of the first half and without reducing the five-goal difference during much of the second (23-17 when it entered the last quarter of the match). There was no way the defense was going to catch Albin Lagergren (nine goals on 11 shots). The night was heading towards a predictable end after a denied presentation of the team. But grain by grain, again, the Olympic bronze medalist made a difference and scratched a point in extremis which tasted like gold at the close of the first phase. Álex Dujshebaev equalized with eight seconds left and his brother Dani stretched out his arm at the last breath to defend the empty goal. The Hispanics go to the Main Round with three points, the same as Sweden, and there they will meet Norway on Wednesday (zero points), on Friday with Portugal (4) and on Sunday with Brazil (2).
Spain appeared upside down, clouded by a fatal sequence of losses (10 at halftime) and a defense with many broken. The first consequence was very evident: Sweden could score easy goals on the counterattack while the Hispanics suffered in each attack, at times in each pass, unable to find the key to the crossword puzzle. The very closed defense of the Nordics was an insurmountable wall and, of course, the team could barely run, which is what they like the most. So from 4-4 it jumped to 9-4 midway through the first half, the distance that marked the course for much of the evening.
On the other bank, Lagregren was unstoppable while Jordi Ribera kept moving the beaker in search of a railing with which to stop his fall. He quickly pulled Álex Dujshebaev in attack and placed him in the advanced position in the 5-1 defense, he shook up the first line and turned to Petar Cikusa, one of the assets for moments of crisis. The young man struck, tried and produced something, although the only one who was able to apply a light tourniquet was Gonzalo Pérez de Vargas, who else. Almost the best was the result at half-time: 16-11 after Ferrán Solé’s seven meters, because two minutes before the score was 16-9. The first hint of what was to come.
Despite the signs of life from Pérez de Vargas, after 15 minutes of reflection, Sergey Hernández emerged from under the sticks to finish playing all the keys. Spain needed something to happen. Petar Cikusa continued to lead the attack, but no, not yet. Spain missed some close shots and nothing altered the quiet Swedish life in northern Europe.
However, the selection continued there, no matter what. Ribera ordered the goalkeeper to retire in attack and resorted to seven against six, placed two pivots, continued moving the game directors, returned to the defense with advanced, and by insisting and insisting, by clinging to that indomitable competitive spirit, he opened the that seemed closed. Suddenly, it started to rain less. There were only 13 minutes left and Spain went down to four goals (23-19).
In the middle of the desert, he found the well of extremes and Ferrán Solé began to produce piecework (seven goals without failure). And so, grain by grain, the extremes, the stops by Pérez de Vargas, a defensive improvement with Ian Barrufet in the forward and many fewer losses (only two), made the match lead to a thriller. Tarrafeta tied with 1m 20s left, Niclas Ekberg – the historic Spanish nightmare – made it 29-28 from seven meters with half a minute remaining, but the eldest Dujshebaev closed another day of resistance, like many others. The point serves the selection to preserve all the options to access rooms.
Sweden, 29 – Spain, 29
Sweden: Palicka (P), Norsten (P), Lagergren (9), Nilsson, Svensson, Aspenbäck, Johansson (1), Möller (5), Wanne (7), Gottfridsson, Carlsbogard (3), Edvardsson, Pellas, Sandell, Ekberg (1), Forsell Schefvert and Karlsson (3).
Spain: Pérez de Vargas (P), Hernández (P), A. Dujshebaev (4), D. Dujshebaev (4), Tarrafeta (4), P. Cikusa (1), D. Cikusa, Garciandia (2), Casado, Solé (7), Álvarez, Sánchez-Migallón (1), Fernández, Barrufet (1), Serdio (3) and Rodríguez (2).
Marker every five minutes: 1-1, 4-4, 8-4, 12-7, 15-8, 16-11 —rest—; 18-13, 20-14, 23-17, 25-22, 27-25 and 29-29
Referees: Adam Biro and Oliver Kiss. Carlsbogard, Möller, Forsell Schefvert and Tarrafeta were excluded for two minutes.
Unity Arena in Oslo. 2,446 spectators.
Classification
Sweden5 points (3)
Spain5 (3)
Chili2 (0)
Japan, 0
*In bold, the teams that pass the round and in parentheses, the points with which they do so
This is how the Main Round starts
Portugal, 4 points
Sweden, 3
Spain, 3
Brazil, 2
Norway, 0
Chile, 0
*Two pass to quarters
