Of all the mountains that Spain has to climb in the second phase of the handball European Championship, Norway was supposed to be the most accessible, or the least intimidating. And he lost (34-35). The team’s life is going away in the tournament because it continues with zero points and now a trio of rivals awaits them, each worse: (Saturday, 6:00 p.m.), France (Monday, 6:00 p.m.) and (3:30 p.m., all on Teledeporte). The challenge was titanic and now requires a feat.
The Hispanics ended up dying on the referees’ monitor after executing a final attack that was difficult to understand with two more players. With 11 seconds left, Norway found itself with two exclusions, which opened the way for Spain to at least scratch a tie. The ball reached Ian Barrufet on the left wing and, instead of facing the goalkeeper in a very open position, he decided to pass it to Aleix Gómez on the other side. A defender appeared there, who cut off the pass. The referees initially whistled for seven meters, but they corrected themselves after reviewing it on the television and confirmed the ruin of the team.
The second half had gone well for the team and, with 15 minutes remaining, they had a three-goal lead (26-23). It was nothing definitive, but that seemed like pure oxygen for the outcome. However, it barely lasted and, with six left to play, two clear errors in a row gave the lead back to Norway (29-30), who no longer gave it up thanks to the seven-on-six that gave them so many benefits after the break. The match led to an exchange of goals: +1 for the Nordics and a tie for Spain. A sequence that was only broken in the fateful final action.
The ten saves of Nacho Biosca, substitute for , and the eight goals of Aleix Gómez (very accurate from seven meters) fell short compared to the hammer of August Pedersen (11 goals in 13 shots). The problems in the defensive withdrawal in the first half and the Nordic seven against six in the second increased the rival offensive production, and placed Spain in an agonizing situation in the championship.
Nordic seven against six
The Norwegians spread out on the Herning track like arrows, at full speed. As soon as Spain lost a ball, made a hasty shot or even scored a goal, they took off like bullets towards Nacho Biosa’s goal. Nordic speed was Spain’s main problem at half-time. A crack with a clear solution: we had to run much further back and minimize carelessness in attack so as not to open the windows on the other side.
At halftime we arrived with the feeling that the Norwegian plan outweighed the Spanish plan even though the scoreboard indicated 16-16. Jordi Ribera’s anger at 13-15 in the 25th minute after several minutes without scoring reflected the state of a team that had not finished taming the afternoon. Pedersen, well connected to the great reference of Sander Sagosen, added with little error. Curiously, his only failure had been on a seven meter. In the Hispanics, Natan Suárez and Víctor Romero had debuted in the tournament, and Biosca scored some worthy saves.
During an important stretch of the restart, it seemed that Spain had taken the duel by the chest. Patience paid off in attack and he found himself somewhat better at the back. Biosca was also present (10 interventions). From 16-18 it went to 20-18 for Hispanics. And a steal by Dani Fernández propelled them to 26-23. That could have been the final defeat, but the Norwegian response, holding on to seven against six, was immediate.
The afternoon headed towards an end of thrilleralways with Norway ahead. Tobias Grondhal made it 34-35 and the team already had a response. He died in that step from Barrufet to Aleix Gómez.
Spain, 34 – Norway, 35
Spain: Biosca; Odriozola (2), Alex Dujshebaev (5), Tarrafeta (1), Gurri (3), Barrufet (3) and Serdio (2) —initial team— Sergey Hernández (ps), Serradilla (-), Garciandia (3), Fis (-), Dani Dujshebaev (1), Aleix Gómez (8, 6p), Natán Suárez (-), Víctor Romero (4) and Dani Fernandez (2).
Norway: Bergerud; Gulliksen (3), Anderson (4), Eck Aga (-), Hovde (1), Sagosen (2) y Pedersen (11) —equipo inicial— Haug (ps), Ronningen (-), Grondahl (5), Fredriksen (-), Lien (2), Solstad (5), Lyse (2), Schonningsen (-) y Blonz (-).
Referees: Pavicevic and Raznatovic. Serradila, Odriozola, Barrufet, Eck Aga (2), Lyse and Hovde were excluded for two minutes.
Result every five minutes: 1-2, 5-4, 8-9, 12-11, 13-15 and 16-16 (Rest); 18-18, 22-20, 25-23, 28-26, 31-31 and 34-35 (Final)
