Hispanics want to be a legend and win their third consecutive European

It was not the favorite to win the game Europeanbut the Spanish handball team will play this Sunday in Budapest (6:00 p.m. TVE-1) a final from which she can emerge as a legend. No one had reached before four consecutive continental finalsand in case of hanging the gold, the Hispanics would emulate that Sweden almost hegemonic of the turn of the century -Wislander, Olsson, Lovgren…- that was crowned champion in 1998, 2000 and 2002. Matching that feat happens by precisely beating Sweden, which it already knocked down in the preliminary phase in Bratislava (32 -28).

“More than equaling Sweden, the remarkable thing is being able to stay up there. They change players and the group stays the same. Whoever comes, the selection is still a family. If when we retire we can say that this group of friends was able to win three times, it would be milk”, explained Gonzalo Perez de Vargas after defeating Denmark in an exciting semi-final that showed what this group is capable of.

Injuries and withdrawals

Spain faced this tournament without its great captain, Raul Entreriooswithout their defensive leader, Viran Morroswithout another referent such as Julen Aguinagalde and without the injured Alex and Dani Dujshebaev. A generational relief in every rule that invited not to expect great things from this appointment. But veterans like Joan Canellas and Pérez de Vargas have assumed emotional leadership, others like Aleix Gomez Y Adria Figueras have stepped forward and debutants such as Agustín Casado, Iñaki Peciña and Ian Terrafeta They have quickly integrated into this family paid for success.

Something of fault will have the selector, jordi rivera, who since taking office in 2016 has won two continental golds, a world bronze and an Olympic one. “Jordi is like the tip of the pyramid. He is a bit like the father of all, the one who leads us along the way,” he says. Angel Fernandezwho endorsed 8 goals against Sweden in the first round.

“We have managed to survive”

That convincing victory against the world runner-up gave a glimpse of the possibilities of a group that had its worst moment against Norway, losing the first ‘match ball’ to tie the semifinals, but that had its zenith in that penultimate round against a Denmark that he had allowed France to win to face the Hispanics. Bad selection.

“This final comes after a very long journey in which the team has been able to overcome difficult situations and rivals who, as in the case of Denmark, had beaten us in recent tournaments, but the team has always known how to survive”, analyzed Ribera this Saturday, who was trying to focus on what was to come: “We played a great game against Denmark, but that’s it, that’s history. The final is 60 minutes and we must live each one of them intensely. To win we will have to play very well,” said the coach.

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Jim Gottfridsson or the goalkeeper Andreas Palicka -who in the semi-final avoided extra time by stopping a shot thrown with his ass at the last moment- are his most outstanding men, but, like Spain, the Scandinavian team bases its strength on the collective. At the Tokyo Olympics, the Hispanics achieved an epic comeback against them to advance to the semifinals, but Pérez de Vargas predicts equality: “Those of us who played that game don’t know how we were able to turn it around, because it looked very bad, and the one we played two weeks ago here it was decided because in the difficult moments we were better”. So they don’t trust. Spain will not make the mistake of Denmark.