A two-time champion in the reconstructive phase

Men’s handball meets from January 13 to 30 in Slovakia and Hungary to elucidate the best team on the European continent. No less than 24 teams attend the most important competition of the year at the national level. Spain will seek its third consecutive continental title after those harvested in 2018 and 2020. A third would be to mark a milestone only available to the best. But that undertaking is not going to be easy. First, because the Spanish team is in a process of rebuilding after the bronze won last summer at the Tokyo Olympics. Renewed or die. It touches the first, with the entry of five debutante players in a great competition with the Hispanics. That gives a certain feeling of incognito to a team, Jordi Ribera’s, which has always been very competitive in the big international events.

Spain comes to this European with losses as important as Raúl Entrerríos, who hung up his shoes after the Olympic bronze; Julen Aguinagalde, the best offensive center of the past decade; Daniel Sarmiento, a center-back who has always responded in the Spanish team, or Viran Morros, a key player in the defensive network of the Hispanics. Neither will Álex Dujshebaev, a key man in the latest successes of the Hispanics. Names and important men who have forced Ribera to give the alternative to quality players who must now take a step forward.

Five are the debutants. There is Agustín Casado, formerly of BM Nava, now in the ranks of BM Logroño La Rioja and signed for next season by a Champions team such as Meshkov Brest led by Dani Gordo from Valladolid. At 25 years old, the central defender has shown incredible growth in recent seasons. Very versatile, he is capable of throwing, penetrating and assisting the pivot. In the same position comes another rookie, Ian Tarrafeta. Without a doubt, one of the players with the greatest future in Spanish handball. The one from Sabadell, made the leap to the French Pays d’Aix, where he wants to grow up at 23 years old. The lack of experience in big events of both centers is a handicap for Jordi Ribera’s team. As Juan Carlos Pastor always defends, the mainstay of a team are goalkeeper, center-back and pivot. And the game directors are now a mystery that will clear the European championship.

In the rest of the positions, the coach has bet on some pedigree veterans. On the sides it is palpable. In the left profile will be the veterans Joan Cañellas and Antonio García, two illustrious national handball players. They are joined by Chema Márquez, from the generation of 96 as Casado and who can reconcile that position with that of central. On the right, Ribera has called two other historical 40×20 in our country: pitcher Jorge Maqueda and player Eduardo Gurbindo. In the left-handed profile, Dujshebaev’s shadow will be elongated.

In the extremes, little news. Only that of the left-handed Bidasoa Kauldi Odriozola, another of those who will make the leap to French handball next season, specifically Nantes.

In goal, Gonzalo Pérez de Vargas and Rodrigo Corrales form a stable and high-carat couple. The Spanish coach has chosen to include a third goalkeeper, Sergey Hernández, a goalkeeper at Chema Rodríguez’s Benfica and a player who has grown significantly. It will be another of the next season’s lands in the ranks of the Belarusian team that Gordo trains.

In the pivots, Adriá Figueras, lethal in the six meters, and Gideon Guardiola, key in the defensive work, are fixed. The absence of Morros has forced Jordi Ribera to reinforce the defensive network with two more dedicated players such as Iñaki Peciña, pivot of Pays d’Aix, and Miguel Sánchez-Migallón, winger of Vive Kielce specialized in back work.

Favorites, the usual

In a European in which the shadow of the covid-19 can be decisive in the competition – several national teams have suffered positives during the preparation – Spain will play in Group E in Bratislava, where they will face the Czech Republic, Sweden and Bosnia. On paper, the first place will be disputed by Hispanics and Nordics. The objective, to go to the next round with full victories. Of course, due to the pandemic, the capacity of the Bratislava court will be reduced to 25% of the total. In addition, the EHF, as happened in the Women’s World Cup held last December in our country, has ruled that only those players and coaches who are vaccinated or who have had the disease can compete in the continental tournament.

When it comes to the rivals, Denmark, Olympic silver and last world champion, it seems the favorite selection according to the experts. The Nordics have not lifted the continental trophy for ten years and they aspire to end that streak. The new generation led by Jacob Holm, Lasse Andersson or Kevin Møller wants to break with this dynamic and win the third continental title in Danish handball.

Nor should we forget the always competitive France, current Olympic champion. With the veteran Nikola Karabatic (37 years old) in search of what would be his fourth European Championship, an achievement in the extensive list of PSG front-line players. Leading the French team, the historic Guillaume Gille, who will try to win the fourth continental title for France.

Do not forget about other teams such as Sweden or Germany, common in Europeans. There is also Norway, another frequent in the fight for the medals that perhaps depends excessively on Sander Sagosen and that has the important loss of Goran Johannessen. Nor should we ignore the host Hungary.