To reach the Olympic Village you have to cross an abyss. Some athletes jump right in, whoops!, and are already in the Games, but the majority suffer horrors just to qualify. The Olympic ticket is sometimes more complicated than a medal. There is a lot to lose – presence in the elite, money in scholarships, maximum media attention – and little to gain. That’s why the pre-Olympic tournaments are so unpleasant. Nerves, sweat, stress and, in the end, if you’re lucky, an ephemeral celebration. Handball Spain discovered it this Friday in a bad way: the procedure against Argentina became a nightmare from which it could only wake up at the last minute.
The team won (23-26), mathematically qualified for the Paris Games and enjoyed the after-party in Torrevieja, but first they had to suffer and suffer.
With so much play the legs shook, it is also logical. If in the previous match against the Czech Republic everything went well, a smooth ride, this time almost everything went wrong, especially at the beginning. Against Argentina, a team that in its entire history only played in the Rio 2016 Games and thanks to Brazil’s direct qualification, Spain was behind for too many minutes, more than half an hour.
In the entire first half they never managed to dominate the scoreboard and reached the break with a tie (14-14) by fluke. Then in the second part better, but I walked on the wire, with minimal advantages and without relief.
For a long time, Every Karsten, leader of Argentina, a rotation player in Bera Bera, threatened to become a black character in the history of handball in Spain. Her eight goals and her assists collapsed the team’s defense, which was accumulating too many losses in attack – eight in the first half and six in the second.
Only the leadership of the first line formed by Paula Arcos, Jennifer Gutirrez y Shandy Barbosa and the return to goalkeeping of Merche Castellanos led the team to the Games. This Sunday they will have played against the powerful Netherlands, but with nothing at stake, with both teams already classified. Spain has already crossed the abyss to reach the Olympic Village.