With an unexpected suffering after the exuberant victory the previous day against the Czech Republic, but the women’s handball team is already in the Olympic Games after defeating an Argentina that was presumed a simple stopover to Paris. However, once again a gray and irregular Spain was condemned to a night of great agony in Torrevieja that was only resolved in the last minutes. “At times, ghosts have appeared,” admitted the coach, Ambros Martín.
Their defense barely worked for a while and they once again suffered the bleeding of losses (14), but it was enough to defeat a South American team short of level for these challenges. The objective was not to depend on the last pre-Olympic match, this Sunday against the Netherlands (6:00 p.m., Teledeporte), a strong rival, and they achieved it. The Dutch, who defeated the Czechs (32-18), are the other classified teams in the group.
The move from 14-12 for Argentina in the final stretch of the first half to 14-17 for Spain at the beginning of the second, after a clear defensive improvement, seemed to put the victory on track. But the lack of strength of the Guerreras to process the clash led them to an outcome of great tension. The South Americans tied it at 22 with seven minutes remaining. The anguish skyrocketed in the pavilion, although Ambros Martín’s girls found enough light to link a partial of 1-4, tie the ticket and join the Hispanics in the Parisian adventure. Paula Arcos and Jennifer Gutiérrez (both with seven goals), with the collaboration of Shandy Barbosa (five), absorbed the offensive weight.
The tie at halftime (14-14) was the best that Spain produced in a soft first half. After the high against the Czech Republic, the team returned to its old ways, as if it had already done everything. Once again, it was an irregular team, especially due to the lack of strength at the back, and that accumulated more losses than was appropriate. It saved him that Argentina is two inches away from being elite.
The South Americans, led by Elke Karsten (eight goals in 11 shots at the end of the night), dominated the scoreboard with two-goal leads. Their coach even told them in a time-out that “the game was about to be finished” – with excessive optimism -, but they did not stop wasting opportunities to extend the distance and finished the first act by giving Barbosa the tie. For the Guerreras, it was enough with some applied defense, the verticality of Arcos (he also added four assists), efficiency from seven meters and hoping that the Argentines would waste opportunities.
Fourth consecutive classification
The 15 minutes of reflection returned a much more applied selection. It took Argentina eight minutes to score again and Spain grabbed a three-goal lead (14-17) that seemed like the beginning of a victory that had been taken for granted. However, the losses continued to occur, the effectiveness in attack could be improved and the Spanishized Argentina (12 of the 16 called up play in the League) held on to the duel until they managed to tie it at 22.
The fear of a final round with the Netherlands with something at stake still raised fears of a fatal derailment. But the Guerreras managed to tie the victory. Three goals from Gutiérrez (named MVP), Marta López and Barbosa made it 22-25, and allowed them to manage the last minute.
A brilliant Spain and a shorter one secured a place in the Games after an Olympic cycle of discreet results. Except for fourth place in the 2021 World Cup held at home, where it enjoyed a friendly calendar thanks to its status as host, the team’s performance moved in the gray zone: ninth in the 2022 European Championship and 13th in the 2023 World Cup , where he had to wait for the results of third parties to enter the pre-Olympic.
In the middle, also, two changes of coach. Carlos Viver left after Tokyo, he was succeeded by his second, José Ignacio Prades, and half a year ago the federation turned to Ambros Martín, the most successful Spanish coach in women’s handball, to try to reach the Olympic event. Objective achieved. Sixth Games for the Warriors, the fourth in a row. “Let’s see what we can do so that this mix of expert and new players can shine. We can be very dangerous against any rival, but we also need time to get to know each other better. We must have an identity,” the coach analyzed.
Argentina, 23 – Spain, 26
Argentina: Carratú; Pizzo (4, 2p), Ayelén García (2), Gavilán (2), Cavo (2), Karsten (8) and Casasola (3)—starting seven—Rivadeneira, Romero, Bono (1), Urban, Campigi (1 ), Gandulfo, Rosalez (ps), Dalle Crode and Ojea.
Spain: Zoqbi; M. González, Etxeberria, Fernández (1), Gassama (1), Barbosa (6, 1p) and Gutiérrez (7, 2p) —starting seven— Arcos (7), L. González, M. López, Castellanos (ps) , Arderius (1), Tchaptchet (1), So Delgado, S. López and O’Mullony (2).
Partials every five minutes: 3-1, 5-4, 8-7, 10-9, 12-10, 14-14 —rest— 14-15, 16-18, 18-20, 20-22, 22-23 and 23-26 .
Referees: Vladimir Jovandic and Marko Sekulic (Serbia). They excluded M. González, Arcos, Tchaptchet (2), Gandulfo (2) and Karsten for two minutes.
Torrevieja Pavilion. 2,000 spectators.
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