Spain has gotten into trouble in the Women’s Handball World Cup. This Sunday (4:30 p.m., TDP) they will have to beat the Netherlands, which is virtually qualified, but will want to defend its group leadership. If the team falls, it will depend on a difficult carom to be in the quarterfinals. As I said: a good mess. The defeat this Friday against the Czech Republic (30-22) was a painful setback for several reasons. Because of the shearing it caused in the classification, of course, but also because of the sensations.
Because until now Spain had an immaculate World Cup – four victories in four games – but it was aware that all its rivals were not up to par. The oversize of a championship with 32 teams and the nature of handball, eminently Central European, cause these anomalies. They passed Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Brazil and Argentina and you couldn’t tell if the team was playing well or badly. Against Brazil, if anything, it was proven that there is character. Little more. Czech Republic was the first real test and it ended in disappointment.
Against a team with a very sunk 6:0 defense, on the line, the team missed an outside shot – absent Scell phone Barbosa in the tournament – and dedicated himself to the creation of Silvia Arderius. It barely worked. In the first half he could only score nine goals and in the second, despite the momentum, 13 more. The actions of Petar Kudlackovathe Czech goalkeeper, or Marketa Jerabkovathe most experienced full-back of a very young team, but above all the defeat was Spain’s demerit.
The Czech Republic was supposed to be an affordable rival – it has never played in the Olympic Games, it has never been in the quarterfinals of a World Cup – and now the Netherlands will demand a higher level. The ‘Oranje’ team was world champion just recently, in 2019, and maintains references from then such as the central Estavana PolmanMVP of that tournament, or the side Lois Abbing, top scorer. Spain has gotten into trouble.