The ‘Guerreras’ seek to remain undefeated against Japan in their debut in the second phase

The ‘Guerreras’ seek to remain undefeated against Japan in their debut in the second phase

MADRID, 7 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Spanish women’s handball team, the ‘Guerreras’, will face Japan this Wednesday (8:30 p.m.) with the intention of remaining undefeated in the first World Championship in Spain in its debut in the second phase, which takes place in the Cecilio Gallego Pavilion in Torrevieja (Alicante).

In a match that was already repeated in 2019 with the Japanese as hosts of the World Cup, the ‘Warriors’ intend to extend their impeccable first phase, which begins with 4 points that will be vital to face Group G against Japan, Croatia and Brazil, in this order, on the way to the quarter-finals of Granollers.

In the precedent of 2019 in Kumamoto against Japan, the Spanish players achieved a victory (31-33) that earned them a place in the Pre-Olympic. Spain and Japan have met six times, four of them in friendlies and two in official competition, and in all of them the victory has been for the ‘Guerreras’.

The Japanese team, with a fast and dynamic game, has been renewed after the Olympic Games in Tokyo 2020, since only 9 of the list of 35 players were summoned, and provisionally, for this World Cup event. Of these, only three are competing in the World Cup tournament, one of them the experienced goalkeeper Sakura Kametani, from French Besançon.

Danish coach Ulrik Kirkely, the architect of the significant evolution that Japan has taken in the last decade, was also relegated after the Games by Shigeo Kusumoto, the experienced coach seeking the transition to the next Olympic Games in Paris in 2024.

ARDERIUS: “IT WILL BE THREE MATCHES TO LIFE OR DEATH”

The Madrid player Silvia Arderius stressed that in the second phase of the competition “it will all be life and death matches.” “Japan is the first rival that is also always very uncomfortable because they have a different game than what we are used to. Their style of play is totally different, the players have different characteristics and are extremely fast in their movements, it is always difficult for us to defend them. We are going to have to be very attentive because they control a lot of different facets in the game and that makes them very dangerous. I think it will be a very beautiful game and I encourage everyone to come and see it, “he said.

For his part, the Spanish women’s coach, José Ignacio Prades, indicated that this first phase of the World Cup has been “quite sober and regular.” “I think the team has transmitted very good feelings practically during all the games and especially I think it has maintained a good defensive tone. This is vital because if that works, the goal also contributes. I think it has been a good combination to stand us in this Main Round with 4 points and with the feeling of having certain guarantees that the team can continue to grow and advance. We know that what is coming will be three real finals, which are going to be three very difficult and complicated rivals, but the team is looking forward to it. and you win, also trying to clarify things that we know we can improve, “he said.