MADRID, 5 One. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish men’s handball team will face the traditional Spanish International Tournament starting this Thursday, which in its 2022 edition will be held in the El Sargal pavilion in Cuenca and with Iran and Poland as rivals to fine-tune the set-up of the European that starts next week.
The ‘Hispanics’ will be able to put on the track what they have been working on since last December 27, when they began their concentration for the defense in Hungary and Slovakia of their current continental reign, which has lasted since 2018 with their two consecutive.
This tournament will have the only two friendlies to prepare for the European Championship and to begin to see the new faces that coach Jordi Ribera could introduce after the end of a cycle at the Tokyo Olympic Games and the absence of veterans such as Raúl Entrerríos , Viran Morros, Julen Aginagalde and Dani Sarmiento, in addition to also having the losses of the two Dujshebaev brothers, Alex and Dani, both key players in the latest successes.
In addition, this International Tournament in Spain, which has been altered by the last minute drop in Japan due to the coronavirus, will help the coach to elucidate the final list that will compete to win the third European title in a row, although the EHF regulations would allow take the 19 with whom Ribera is currently working.
These are Gonzalo Pérez de Vargas (Barça), Rodrigo Corrales (Veszprém) and Sergey Hernández (Benfica) as goalkeepers, and Agustín Casado (Logroño La Rioja), Ian Tarrafeta and Iñaki Pecina (PAUC); Jorge Maqueda (Veszprém), Eduardo Gurbindo (Dinamo Bucuresti), Antonio García and Chema Márquez (Fraikin Granollers), Joan Cañellas (Kadetten), Ferran Solé (PSG), Aleix Gómez, Ángel Fernández and Aitor Ariño (Barça), Kauldi Odriozola ( Bidasoa), Miguel Sánchez-Migallón (Kielce), Adriá Figueras (Chartres) and Gideón Guardiola (Lemgo).
“The group is very much looking forward to this first game after two intense phases of preparation and what the boys like is to compete. It is a very important game because there are players who have been in the national team for a short time and the implementation is going to be key for the first competition match, “said the coach in statements provided by the RFEBM.
The current Olympic bronze will debut this Thursday at 8:30 p.m. against Iran, a rival that it has not faced since the Swedish Pre-Olympic for the Rio de Janeiro Games in 2016, with a clear Spanish victory by 37-23.
“Iran is a very tough opponent, a lot one against one. We will have to be especially attentive not to lose concentration in the continuous game situations that may generate us and we will have to try to play as seriously as possible so that it will serve us in the face of the game. future “, analyzed Ribera.
After meeting the Asian team, the current double continental champion will have a ‘rest’ day before taking on a major rival theory like Poland on Saturday 8, who will also compete in the European Championship.