The Games are also extraordinary because matches are played at night. despues deor people with very orderly lives: at nine in the morning. “Some of us are already parents and we are used to getting up early,” joked Gonzalo Pérez de Vargas three days ago. The players were called to breakfast at 6:00 this Saturday and left by bus from the Olympic Village at 6:35. To try to get their bodies used to it, before travelling to Paris on Monday at midday, Jordi Ribera prepared several early morning training sessions to get into the swing of things, and in the last few hours he brought forward the meal times in the Olympic Village (not the buffet menu). This Thursday, for example, they ate at 13:30 and had dinner at 20:00 while almost the entire delegation paraded in the Seine. Hospital hours to avoid, as far as possible, the Hispanos getting sleep in the pavilion. They struggled to get their feet wet in the morning, but they managed to do so in time, going from strength to strength, to grab their first win against Slovenia (25-22).
It was an exercise in resistance and striking. The competitive pulse of the Hispanos started strong in Paris. Good news for Spanish handball after the terrible start of the Guerreras. After an uncomfortable first half, without solutions in attack (8-11), Gonzalo Pérez de Vargas, once again himself, opened all the paths under the sticks to sign a great collective second half thanks to a partial of 17-11. On Monday (16.00) the bogeyman of their group, Sweden, will arrive, a difficult date that is best faced with a happy start.
“At first, people were a bit anxious and nervous, partly because for many it was their first Games, and in the end that was noticeable. Then we relaxed a bit and we continued to recover our trademark, which is to play very collectively, to be very consistent and, above all, to defend very well,” analysed Alex Dujshebaev.
The scene fell on Slovenia’s side. It was a tight game, with no runway, where the rigorous Balkan defence ruled. Spain’s eight goals at half-time revealed their difficulties in attack, with no chance of finding the pivot or the wingers. Nor did they have any breaths of fresh air on the counterattack. Pérez de Vargas, sharp throughout the morning session, had already calmed the Slovenians down with his first attempt (4-6 in the 16th minute), but a double exclusion of Jorge Maqueda and Javi Rodríguez before the break pushed Slovenia up to 8-11 at half-time. Bombac was not leaving anything behind from seven metres and Klemen Ferlin was in form between the sticks. Despite the Hispanos’ difficulties in adding points, the advantage was more in terms of score than play. “No anxiety,” Alex Dujshevbaev claimed.
Jordi Ribera’s boys did not give their rivals any more time to play. After the break, the morning took its definitive direction. Firmer, well closed at the back and with better solutions in attack, the Spaniards imposed their rhythm and the superiority that they have shown against the Slovenians in recent years (fourth consecutive victory). The 19-16 halfway through the second half, with two goals from Maqueda and another from Casado, was the signal that the match had taken an inexorable path. And again, with Pérez de Vargas in charge of operations from the trenches.
Just like in the pre-Olympic tournament, when he also put in a superb performance against the Slovenians, the Barcelona goalkeeper held firm until half-time and acted as a lever to launch the team to its first victory. The offensive manoeuvres were handled by the eldest Dujshebaev, a guy who is an expert in handling narrow and oppressive spaces, very well supported by Agustín Casado and Maqueda. On the other side, Bombac’s scoring drought represented the Balkan collapse. The final nail in the coffin of the restorative victory in the first hour of the day was put in place by the Hispanos’ featherweight, Dani Fernández, with a steal and goal.
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