MADRID, 30 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish women’s handball team achieved their first victory this Friday on the second day of the Carpati Trophy against Austria (27-32), so they recover from the narrow defeat (30-28) against Serbia in their preparation for the European.
The ‘Guerreras’ entered with confidence and decision, willing to take control of the match from the first bars. Despite Jennifer Gutiérrez’s seven-metre throw miss right at the start, Spain opened the scoring thanks to two goals scored by Maitane Etxeberria, the result of the early exclusion of the Austrians that left the Spanish team in numerical superiority.
With Lysa Tchaptchet and Alba Spugnini leading from central back, Austria ran into Spain’s defensive wall time and time again, being unable to generate clear shooting situations and seeing Spain pull away on the scoreboard. The Austrian reaction did not come, but the stops made by the Spanish goalkeepers did to maintain a comfortable lead on the scoreboard (3-9).
On the offensive side, Shandy Barbosa and Lysa Tchaptchet saw the goal with ease, the latter with one hundred percent effectiveness in the first half (3 of 3) that made the Austrian defense desperate. However, the Austrians managed to close the gap on the scoreboard thanks to Ines Ivancok and Ivancok, who unleashed all her offensive potential to keep her team in the match, who came within three goals at the end of the first half (12-15) .
But the national team knew how to accurately and effectively read the Austrians’ bet on emptying the goal. Two unanswered goals after the break seemed to herald a calm and controlled second half, but Patricia Kovacs (6 goals) and Ines Ivankoc (5 goals) saw to it that this was not the case.
Austria reacted in time. The Austrians managed, for the first time in the entire game, to catch up with Spain on the scoreboard and put the tie at 26 with just 10 minutes to go. It was there, in difficulty, when Jenni Gutiérrez, Mercedes Castellanos and Almudena Rodríguez appeared, twice, to decide the match in favor of Spain (27-32).
“I am very happy, not only because of the result, but also because of the good feelings. We entered the game very well and we have given continuity to that defensive solidity that we have shown in the first 20 minutes. It was important to win after the defeat yesterday”, said José Ignacio Prades in statements provided by the RFEBM.
The technician was also critical of the lack of intensity in some sections. “Perhaps we have lowered the intensity a bit due to the important income in our favor, but it has been good for us to remember that we cannot skimp or speculate. Defense is one of our hallmarks and it is a value that we always have to have on the rise ” he concluded.