European / Final
Spain disputes its fourth consecutive continental final against a team that has suffered from covid like few others
Spain and Sweden, Sweden and Spain. One of them will be proclaimed king of European handball today in Budapest. Hispanics have a chance to lift the trophy for the third time in a row. The Nordics, the option to avoid it and that their selection continues to be the only one that has achieved it for a good handful of years. Starting at 6:00 p.m. (TVE’s 1) the selection that increases its record with a new title will be decided.
Both teams have had to fight their way to get here. Their rivals in the semi-finals, the Danes and the French, were the favourites, but they will have to settle for fighting for third place two and a half hours before the finalists come into action. The Spaniards, a team immersed in a major renewal after winning the bronze at the Tokyo Olympics, have shown an irregular line, especially in a static game weighed down by the lack of outside shooting, something that only the veteran has managed to solve Joan Cañellas when the covid has allowed it. The emergence of Agustín Casado, the tournament’s revelation player, has been the best news of all. The remembered Raúl Entrerríos has hardly been missed.
Jordi Ribera‘s recipe is the same. In addition to being a coach who works tactics like few others, he bases his model on defense. The 6:0 has shone in this European and will have to do it again today against the Swedes. He will have to accompany the goal like the day of Denmark, with an excellent Gonzalo Pérez de Vargas. Good job at the back, the possibility of stealing balls and going out with both the first and second waves. And show an offensive performance like in the semifinals, in which Aleix Gómez and Cañellas were key.
coronavirus incidence
Sweden, for its part, has had to deal with rivals and with covid-19. Spain lost Ferran Solé and Sergey Hernández due to the virus, but the Swedes have been, without a doubt, much trickier. He will be without his top scorer, Vanne, as well as Ekberg and Sandell, who join Claar, for this final. He hopes to be able to recover some other player who has overcome the disease. And it is that the coronavirus has unfortunately become an uncomfortable guest in this European played in Slovakia and Hungary.
Despite this, he has competed in a brutal way. With the guidance and powerful arm of Jim Gottfridsson, the Swedes have shone in attack. Their first line, along with good wingers, is the best of the team, with men like Lagergren, Carlsbogard or Wallinius who was key against the French. It also has a great goal with Palicka and Johanesson.
The two teams already met in the first phase, where the Spanish team prevailed in a great match (32-28), but the Nordics are the current runners-up in the world and the final will bear little resemblance to the match played in Bratislava. That’s for sure.
