The ‘Hispanics’ do not want to lower their arms against Bosnia
Spain, with their presence in the main round guaranteed, face their last duel of the first phase against a team already evicted
MADRID, 16 One. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish men’s handball team, with its presence in the ‘Main Round’ guaranteed, faces this Monday in Bratislava (6:00 p.m./Teledeporte) its third and final match of the first phase of the Hungarian and Slovak European Championship against Bosnia and Herzegovina with the aim of maintaining the good feelings and starting the next round with a good taste in the mouth.
The victories against the Czech Republic (28-26) and Sweden (32-28) allowed the ‘Hispanics’ to advance mathematically to the main round and to do so, moreover, dragging two points that will be vital to try to continue their path towards the revalidation of their continental crown.
With their homework done and no news in the group, Jordi Ribera’s men hope not to fall into relaxation and take advantage of their last commitment before the next phase to continue “getting sensations” and improve performance. After the doubts against the Czechs, the Spaniards knew how to react against the current runner-up in the world to confirm themselves as one of the great contenders for gold.
“For the moment, we have to try to win the next game against Bosnia, they will want to leave with a good taste in their mouths and it will make it difficult for us,” said Ribera. “We must maintain solidity and continue to grow, the team is still in the construction phase and there is ample room for improvement. For this reason, we have to take advantage of each and every one of the games we have,” he stressed.
Now, it will be the turn of the rotations against Bosnia, which has not yet scored in this European Championship and is already mathematically eliminated from the competition; the defeats against Sweden (30-18) and the Czech Republic (27-19) have left Ivica Obrvan’s men without options.
In its ranks, the Balkan team has names like the brothers Senjamin -pivot- and Benjamin -goalkeeper- Buric or old acquaintances of Spanish handball such as Nikola Prce -Ademar León, Octavio Pilotes Posada or Ciudad de Logroño- and Vladimir Vranjes – Ademar León.
Spain has dominated the three previous precedents against Bosnia and Herzegovina: at the 1997 Mediterranean Games (20-37) and in the double confrontation in the qualifying phase for the 2018 European Championships in Valladolid (30-21) and Sarajevo (19-25) .
DATASHEET.
–EQUIPMENT.
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA: B. Buric (P), Bojic (P); Hamidovic, Vuksic, Peric, Herceg, Lukic, S. Buric, Klis, Terzic, Karacic, Vranjes, Soljic, Keskic and Dragnic and Faljic.
SPAIN: Pérez de Vargas (P), Corrales (P), Hernández (P), Gurbindo, Peciña, Maqueda, Fernández, Solé, Figueras, Cañellas, Casado, García, Gómez, Ariño, Guardiola, Tarrafeta, Sánchez-Migallón, Márquez and Odriozola.
–PABELLON: Ondrej Nepela Arena de Bratislava.
–TIME: 6:00 p.m./Telesport.