MADRID 23 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The men’s national handball coach, Jordi Ribera, knows that the team faces “two finals” to advance to the quarterfinals of the World Cup, but that “there will be no second” if they do not manage to beat Portugal this Friday, a team that “has grown a lot” and of which he was full of praise above all “with sides that are authentic ‘killers’ with great ease of launch and solution”.
“We have two finals and there will be no second if the first is not won. It is clear that the Norwegian game was perhaps the only one that could be lost and perhaps it hurts especially how it was lost, because we had it under control until the last 10 minutes and I think it is which perhaps makes us a little more sad, that it could not have given us a classification, much less definitive, but a cushion to be able to reach the final part with more peace of mind,” Ribera stressed in statements provided by the RFEB.
Regarding the possible controversial last play in the duel against Norway and a possible ‘sabotage’ on the Spanish players in their last attack, he clarified that “in principle there is no infraction until the contact action occurs and the match ends.” . “The result is what it is and that’s it,” he concluded.
“It is clear that in the first half I think we could have gotten more goals ahead because of the way it was played, but we lacked more offensive success and in the second it made it difficult for us to play seven of them, but especially the lack of efficiency we had in the shot. The problem really was that we spent practically the last few minutes scoring only one goal,” he lamented.
Now, they must make amends this Friday against Portugal, “a team that is in a good moment and has grown a lot.” “Their European competition teams also say it. They are a team that has also been gaining experience as a group, with full-backs who are true killers, very easy to launch and solve,” he explained.
In addition, it is a rival “with a lot of tactical variety.” “He can play you with 7 against 6 and in defense with 5-1 or 6-0. He really is where he is on his own merits and because he has been building a team for a few years now and he already comes with experience and a background that allows him makes it much more dangerous,” he warned.
Ribera confessed that the team is “hurt” and that “given the circumstances” with their rivals in this Main Round enjoying “one more day of rest”, he decided not to train this Thursday. “Most of the boys have gone to the gym, another group has been in the physio and we have been working as always. In the end, we have not managed to have those 24 hours of rest,” he highlighted.
The ‘Hispanos’ coach is worried about Portugal “especially the finishing because they are a team that has a lot of shooting ability.” “They are very fast, they have many mechanized movements that allow them to have possibilities of imbalance even if the defense may be correct,” he explained.
“Then, in defense, they are a tough team and we need to be right, lose few balls. We have had some games in which we have lost important balls, we have those small gaps in the offensive part that do not help us and that is not typical for us, although In defense there have been very good moments throughout the games with different alternatives, both 5-1 and 6-0,” he continued.
In this sense, he considers that “perhaps” they abused “too individualized a game” against Norway in the second half. “We needed a more collective game to be able to reach finishing situations or one-on-one situations, where the rival could really be more unbalanced and with fewer possibilities of support,” he indicated.
“We got a little into the maelstrom of wanting to solve one-for-one very quickly without moving the defense and it is something that harms us because, if we do something, precisely, it is to play collectively and always look for that best way to be able to look for a finish,” stressed the national coach.
On an individual level, he highlighted the brothers Kiko and Martim Costa from Portugal, “authentic killers” who have already been demonstrating this with their club, Sporting de Portugal. “I think they are no longer the future, they are a reality, and then we also have to add Salvador, who is also a player who, in some way, perhaps has more difficulties because the marking can be focused on them, or the connection with Frade or with Salvador, also ensures that the first line maintains that level of percentage and effectiveness,” he warned.