“Handball is a sport where it is very difficult to repeat successes. In four years we have won two golds at the Europeans and one bronze at the World Cup. Satisfaction is greater because continuity is what gives the project success and this shows the difficulty of always fighting for medals “, said Jordi Ribera in an interview with this newspaper in March last year. It was months before he added a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics to his track record. Today, Ribera has the chance to secure another medal if he is able to beat Denmark in the European semifinals this afternoon (18:00, Teledeporte). Undoubtedly, one more success, no matter what happens today, for the Ribera team that in this tournament of Slovakia and Hungary has started a process of rejuvenation of the block.
It will not be easy to beat Denmark today. The Danes are the real black beast of the team, who have already blocked the passage of the final of the Tokyo Games (23-27) and also in the World Cup in Egypt last year (33-34) . “It seems that Denmark likes to play with Spain, but I think that all the matches are different and it is clear that both in Tokyo and in the World Cup the matches were very disputed,” said Ribera yesterday. in all lines ». Despite the defeat against Norway and some doubts against Russia and Poland, the current two-time European champion has once again shown her competitive nature to once again be with the best in the medal fight. The two days without a match will also have served to recharge batteries and get Joan Cañellas and Ian Tarrafeta ready again, who had to stop due to the coronavirus, and to exhaust the options on Antonio García in search of a historic fourth consecutive final, something unheard of in the history of the Europeans.
Denmark had the luxury of booking in the last game against France in which nothing was played, probably their two best players, Mikkel Hansen and Mathias Gidsel.
