Gdansk (Poland) (EFE).- The Spanish handball team must settle for fighting for the bronze medal in the World Cup in Poland and Sweden, after losing this Friday in the semifinals 23-26 against Denmark, the same team that already deprived of playing the final two years ago in Egypt.
An offensive thicket that did not prevent Jordi Ribera’s men from dreaming of being able to force “extra time” after having less than a minute left for the conclusion of a penalty shot to reduce their disadvantage on the scoreboard to just a bit.
But then, like almost the entire match, the figure of the Danish goalkeeper Niklas Landin emerged, stopping Ferrán Sole’s penalty kick, keeping Spain out of the grand final, as already happened against this same rival in the World Cup semifinals. of Egypt 2021 and the Tokyo Olympics.
Spain suffers to defend in the semifinal of the Handball World Cup against Denmark
Despite insisting over and over again in the previous day on the need to defend like never before to prevent Denmark from being able to control the pace of the game, the Spanish team had a hard time adjusting their defensive framework.
Especially when it comes to controlling the pivot Magnus Saugstrup, who monopolized the Danish attack in the opening minutes, after scoring two goals and forcing a penalty shot.
A circumstance that required Jordi Ribera’s men to have to score in each of their attacks if they did not want to see a Nordic team escape on the scoreboard, which is handled like few others when matches become an exchange of goals.
Quite the opposite of Spain, which shines more when the matches are settled by low scores and in which the defenses clearly prevail over the attacks.
The “Hispanics” say goodbye to the final to which they aspired after having defeated Norway 35-34 in the quarterfinals in a duel that was resolved in two overtimes.
Kauldi: “We are screwed, we have given everything but it could not be”
Kauldi Odriozola, player of the Spanish handball team, lamented the defeat in the World Cup semifinals against Denmark (23-26), although he stressed that the players gave “everything” on the court and, “although in the end it could not be” , from now on they will focus on the match on Sunday in which they will fight for the bronze medal.
«We are screwed, we have given everything and it could not be and now we will have to go for the bronze». The Nantes right winger told TVE, for whom Spain missed “many” shots in the first half and conceded too many goals, so they went down five at half-time.
“In the second half we have gotten better in defense, Gonzalo has saved many occasions and we have played better until we got within one goal, but in the end it could not be,” lamented the Spanish international.
He recalled that the Danes “are a great team” that has “very good players” against whom the improvement in the second part of the semifinal was not enough.
