MADRID, Jan. 8 (SportsFinding) –
The captain of the Spanish handball team, Raúl Entrerríos, is clear that the team will “love to carry the weight” that means defending the title in the European Championship that begins this Thursday and where they have “the confidence and tranquility of being able to do a good role. “
“It is a weight that we love to carry, better than a different one. We went as current champions, but also aware of how difficult it is to revalidate a title of these characteristics and for everything we have seen in its history,” said Entrerríos to Europe Press before leaving for the appointment and knowing that only Sweden has managed to revalidate crown.
The captain of the national team said they are “confident” to “make a great championship” and “repeat” the gold of Croatia. “We have the clear idea of working day to day and being faithful to us and working with ambition and the same humility,” he added.
“We are already with the idea in the head of going out to compete from the first day and returning to Spain with the highest possible prize,” said the Spaniard, who does not hide that it is “inevitable that it is in the head” of the players that the European gives a ticket to the Tokyo Games. “They are very close and we all want to be,” he confessed.
Therefore, he considers this European “very significant,” but not only for Spain but for many teams that are going to rush that possibility of being. ” “We are going to try to compete day by day, to add up in each matches and if we manage to qualify directly much better, but we are going step by step,” he admitted.
On the first phase, Entrerríos stressed that although Latvia and the Netherlands, their two rivals along with the powerful Germany, “don't have a big name out,” they can't “relax.” “We know the difficulty of a European where all teams have great templates that can put you in a lot of difficulties, so we have to work with the utmost respect for the opponent. Without a doubt, it will be very complicated,” he said.
“It is true that on the other side of the table there are teams that always start with the favorite vitola, but that can change a lot,” he said before the possibility that his group in the second phase could be more 'friendly'.
However, the Barça player asked “not to think that the road could be easier.” “We have to try to mark it based on our work and we have confidence in our game and what we can offer. This group has been working together for many years and has the confidence and tranquility of being able to play a good role, but always with humility,” he said.
As for the group of candidates, the Gijon cited “France, Denmark, Germany, Croatia, Norway, who has been doing good championships and also plays at home, just like Sweden.” “There is a large group that can aspire to the semifinals and we must not ignore others that do not make much noise, but they can be there. We are in a competitive dynamic with these teams, but we always have to yield one hundred percent to keep moving forward, “he said.
“I STILL WITH THE SAME HUNGER IN THE SELECTION”
The youngest of the Entrerríos also believes that “a championship with three venues is not something normal”. “We all prefer to be in a single venue and not move so much, but the current handball is what he asks and we have to try to adapt and rest as much as possible between one game and another,” he said.
The national team arrives at this European after not very extensive preparation because “the calendar” has only allowed them to “work with few sessions”, although it positively assessed the performance in the TIE against Portugal, Poland and Russia. “I think we have had quite good feelings despite that little work and that we went from less to more, which was what it was about. We hope to be ready to compete to the fullest,” he said.
“I am very proud, it is a long trajectory in the selection and from the first moment I debuted I continue with the same hunger, desire and pride of belonging to this team and representing this country,” Entrerríos, international since 2003, with 260 games behind him and six medals in great championships, including the also historic World Cup in Tunisia in 2005.