What must the Spanish handball team do to play the European semifinals?

Poland is measured this Tuesday (3:30 p.m.) and even losing could fight for medals.

• Calendar So goes the European.

The Hispanics have the pass to the semifinals of the European at hand. Despite the heavy defeat against Norway last Sunday, which put an end to a streak of 17 wins in a row that also meant two consecutive wins for Spain in the last two editions of the tournament, the team that trains Jordi Ribera it is enough for him to start at least the draw against Poland. A rival who, in fact, has only managed to score one point in the Main Round. And he did it in the cruelest way, with a last-minute goal from Russia in a duel in which he began to celebrate his victory with a few seconds left in the game.

Let’s go by parts. If Spain prevails over the Poles This Tuesday (3:30 p.m., Teledeporte), what Norway and Sweden do in their duel would not affect the Hispanics’ advance to the semifinals. Jordi Ribera’s team would add eight points, and therefore, would go in the classification to the Nordic team that lost the duel of the night between them (8:30 p.m.). If Norway is defeated, an eight-point tie with Sweden would even give the national team first place in the group. If, on the other hand, Sweden fell, the tie on points with Norway leaves Spain second, but also classified.

Next scenario: If Spain adds a point against Poland… because it would also be in the semifinals. Why? Simple. Well, because it would add seven points, one more than whoever was defeated in that Norway-Sweden. In the event that both Nordic teams signed a draw and there was a triple tie at seven points, in accordance with the tournament regulations, the points achieved in the duels between the three contenders would define the final classification of the group. In this case, Norway would have three points for their victory against Spain and their hypothetical draw against Sweden; Spain, with two, for their victory against Sweden in the previous round, and the Swedes, for their part, would keep one for their supposed draw against the Norwegians.

Last option: Spain loses to Poland. Well, even then he could go to the penultimate round of the tournament. Of course, he would need Norway to prevail over Sweden. In this way, the Hispanics would continue to have the advantage of their victory against the Swedes in the previous round and would place second, although tied on points. However, should Sweden beat Norway, losing to the latter would relegate the Spanish team to third place. This causes that, if Spain loses, both Sweden and Norway, drawing, would be classified.

The coach, Jordi Ribera, doesn’t think about it at all, and he trusts his players. «Surely before starting the competition, we all would have liked to get to this point. Depending on us on the last day to be able to reach the semifinals is a compliment to the work that the team has done throughout this championship, “he said. The latest precedent between Spain and Poland is very recent. In a friendly before the start of the European Championship, Spain won by a tight 26-25 thanks to a superb final stop of Rodrigo Corrales.