The Spanish women’s handball team lost this Friday 25-27 against the Faroe Islands, highlighted by the Faroese goalkeeper Rakul Wardum, in a match corresponding to the second day within Group D in the World Championship that is being held in Germany and the Netherlands.
At the SWT Arena in Trier (Germany), the team coached by Ambros Martín and the Faroese team maintained a scoring pulse in the first 10 minutes. But with a timely steal and then a goal from close range after a fake, Danila So Delgado soon completed a hat-trick and put Spain ahead 7-4, forcing a Claus Leth Mogensen timeout.
Upon returning to the field, the Faroe Islands opted for the goalkeeper-forward, but that did not stop their losses and the success of Anne Erauskin in attack kept the distance (8-5). The pressure behind Lyndie and Lysa Tchaptchet also helped, the latter being excluded for two minutes in a controversial play. However, Lyndie took revenge by causing a penalty in the other area.
Although Lucía Prades had a couple of good saves, Jana Mittún’s speed in transitions held the Faroese team together with captain Pernille Brandenborg, accurate within six meters. The game had entered a period of offensive alternations, which Ambros Martín wanted to cut short by calling a time-out a minute and a half before halftime and at 12-10.
The Faroe Islands used to respond to each positive action by Spain, but just before the 30th minute Paula Arcos stole a ball in the center of the court and caused Kaba Gassama to be alone in front of Rakul Wardum, making it 14-11 with which both teams went to the locker room.
Of course, the Faroese goalkeeper showed during the restart that she was still doing well and her teammates were infected until they signed a 1-5 run that turned the score around (15-16) in less than seven minutes. In the heat of the Faroe Islands there was another Spanish time-out, but it barely had any effect because Wardum was growing in the face of the distant shots from Arcos and company.
As a reply, Prades also made two key interventions to encourage the ‘Guerreras’, who midway through the second half were again ahead (19-18) after a goal from So Delgado and a 7-meter goal converted by Elba Álvarez. And after a shot on the post by Karin Egholm, So Delgado made it 20-19 on a counterattack, although nothing was definitive.
THE SPEED OF MITTUN
Neither team overtook the other, as their goalkeepers took advantage, and Mogensen spent a timeout with nine minutes remaining. However, the plan went wrong because Spain read the match better in the following sets and opened a small gap (23-21) after a goal from Ona Vegué from the left end.
Despite the Faroe Islands wasting a numerical superiority, Súna Hansen and Brandenborg kept their production up and the others believed it. Wardum lowered the ‘blind’ on two important shots, Arcos then sent another shot into the clouds in the six-meter zone and Elsa Egholm scored two goals to make it 25-26 heading into the last minute and a half.
The ‘Guerreras’ coach ran out of timeouts and Gassama had a huge chance that Wardum was responsible for thwarting. The rival coach copied the strategy and, upon returning from his time-out, his pupils did find the goal thanks to a Mittún shot from the right side in the very last action, sealing their surprising victory.
This result left Spain with 2 points in second place in its group and with +7 in its goal difference. Third position is now occupied by the Faroese team, also with 2 points and -3 in their goal difference. The leadership belongs to Montenegro with 4 points and +14 in their goal difference, leaving Paraguay at the bottom (0 pts. and -18).
TECHNICAL SHEET.
–RESULT: SPAIN, 25 – FAROE ISLANDS, 27 (14-11, at half-time).
–TEAMS.
ESPAÑA: Prades (P), Morales (P); Etxeberria (3), Somaza, Arcos (3), So Delgado (7), Fernández, Erauskin (3), Álvarez (3), Linda Tchaptchet, Lysa Tchaptchet, Arroyo, Bengoetxea (1), Oppedal, Gassama (4) y Vegué (1).
FAROE ISLANDS: Wardum (P), Neystabo (P); E.Egholm (2), K.Egholm (1), V.Zachariasen, L.Zachariasen (1), Mortensen, Johansen (1), Olsen (2), Hansen (4), Brandenborg (7), Nólsoy (3), Weyhe y Mittún (6).
–PARTIALS EVERY FIVE MINUTES: 2-2, 5-4, 7-4, 8-5, 9-8 and 14-11 –rest–; 15-13, 17-18, 19-19, 20-20, 24-23 and 25-27.
–REFEREES: Kristof Altmar and Márton Horváth (HUN). Lysa Tchaptchet and Gassama were excluded for two minutes by Spain.
–PAVILLION: SWT Arena.