Jordi Ribera’s team adds its second victory in the World Cup despite the defeats and is already classified for the next stage
Spain has already qualified for the ‘main round’ of the World Cup in Sweden and Poland after their second victory in the tournament, this time against Chile, but their feeling is far from optimal at the moment. Facing an affordable rival, the Hispanics again struggled to get the game back on track and only breathed easy in the closing minutes. They piled up endless losses against the laudable and intense Chilean defense network and conceded too many goals.
It’s not worrying at the moment and there’s one bullet left against a lesser enemy like Iran, but Jordi Ribera’s students need to fine-tune their game for a next phase where the black beast France, tough Slovenia and host country Poland won’t allow carelessness in the battle for two places in the quarterfinals.
Chile is a good connoisseur of Spanish handball, as the coach is Aitor Etxaburu from Gipuzkoa and many of his figures, such as the brothers Rodrigo and Esteban Salinas and Erwin and Emil Feutchmann, were forged at Asobal. It was noted that the opponent knew what to expect and the dynamism of the South American team, traditionally in the shadow of Argentina and Brazil, the two superpowers on the continent, hurt the team coached by Jordi Ribera.
Corrales, Dani Fernández (5), Serdio (3), Ferran Solé (5), Cañellas (2), Casado (3), Garciandia -start seven-. Pérez de Vargas (ps.), Ángel Fernández, Peciña, Gideón Guardiola (1), Odriozola (4), Dani Dujshebaev (2), Sánchez-Migallón, Álex Dujshebaev (6) and Maqueda (3).
Oliva (1), Salgado (1), Frelijj (1), Scaramelli, Codina (1), Erwin Feuchtmann (8), Rodrigo Salinas (3) – from seven-. Felipe García (ps.), Ceballos, Illesca (2), Esteban Salinas (1), Ahumada Collado (3), Donoso (1), Emil Feutchmann, Paya (4) and Delgado.
Erwin Feutchmann kept the scoring duel against the Spanish pivot Abel Serdio, very fit to win the fierce battle for the six meters. The game developed evenly after minute ten, but at the time of the relay Chile began to pay for its lack of wardrobe and the losses were punished mercilessly by the Spanish counter-attack, with the young Dani Fernández and Ferran Solé as stilettos.
Against Montenegro, it was Gonzalo Pérez de Vargas who made the rival’s afternoon bitter. For Chileans, Rodrigo Corrales was the goalkeeper’s nightmare. Hungary’s Veszprém goalkeeper was set to take the distance on the scoreboard to five goals (14-9). The game seemed to be on schedule, but then the traffic jam came. Five minutes to forget and a 0-4 Chilean run twisted the gesture of Jordi Ribera, who called his team to the chapter with a timeout of more blackboard than grumpy faces, in his style.
The formula of the left hand gave results, activated the defense machine and stretched the Spanish income to 18-15 at the break, short according to the difference between the two teams but reasonable after the good version in the first part of Chile, recovered from the first blow into the tournament against Iran, a priori their direct rival for a spot in the next stage.
The halftime return was solid. The Hispanics failed to get the game back on track to create sensation in the World Cup, after a harder-than-expected debut against Montenegro. Many losses, too many mistakes due to the good work of Chile, who successfully led the game into the closed ground.
The Hispanics went into the last fifteen minutes of the game with only three goals ahead (23-20), in the style of what happened against Montenegro, but just like on the debut, they managed to provide the last stretch with the feeling that the two points were never in danger. The final distance of eight goals (34-26) was an excessive punishment for Chile’s great work, but it showed that in handball the distances between the two sides of the Atlantic are still important.
Source: La Verdad
I am Shawn Partain, a journalist and content creator working for the Today Times Live. I specialize in sports journalism, writing articles that cover major sporting events and news stories. With a passion for storytelling and an eye for detail, I strive to be accurate and insightful in my work.
