MADRID, 10 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Croatian, Romanian and Austrian teams, in that same order, will be the rivals of the Spanish handball team in the next Men’s European Championship, which will be held from January 10 to 28, 2024 in Germany.
The team coached by Jordi Ribera, current continental silver medalist, will face off in the first phase with the Austrians, Croats and Romanians in Group B. This was determined by the draw made this Wednesday by the European Handball Federation (EHF). at the MERKUR Spiel-Arena in Düsseldorf, venue for the opening match of the tournament.
The first objective of the ‘Hispanics’ will be to obtain one of the first two places in their group, in order to obtain the ticket to the Main Round. After leaving behind Mannheim, headquarters of Group B, Ribera’s pupils would play the second phase in Cologne. In such a case, they would no longer move until their participation in the championship ended.
Not surprisingly, the two semifinals, the match for bronze and the grand final will also be held at the Lanxess Arena. With the predefined calendar before the draw, the Spanish team will debut on January 12 against Croatia, then play on January 14 against Romania and close their Preliminary Round on January 16 against Austria.
“It is clear that all the matches in a European are difficult. As always, we will go step by step, and that will help us along the way. The initial objective will be to qualify for the Main Round, if possible with as many points as possible”, Jordi Ribera himself has declared to the official media of the Royal Spanish Handball Federation (RFEBM).
“In addition to the difficulties that Croatia, Romania and Austria will pose for us, in the combination of the other groups, A and C, obviously important teams such as Germany, France, Iceland, Hungary and Serbia appear”, added the coach of the ‘Hispanics’ after the end of the draw in German lands.