Handball European Championship: Final curse over!

Spain won the European handball crown at the European Championship in Croatia. The Iberians won the final in the Arena Zagreb after an outstanding second half 29:23 (12:14) against Sweden. Spain has thus won its first European Championship final for the fifth time. The Swedes, on the other hand, have been waiting for a major title since 2002.

Although Andreas Palicka had a superb performance in the semi-final against Denmark, the Swedes started with Mikael Appelgren in goal. Coach Kristjan Andresson’s decision turned out to be the right one: Appelgren stood after 15 minutes at an unbelievable rate of 60 percent of defended balls.

The goalkeeper and a strong defence were the main reasons why Sweden took the lead after eleven minutes with three goals (7:4) for the first time. In addition, playmaker Daniel Sarmiento didn’t get the Spaniard’s game going, and also round runner Julen Aguinagalde was completely deregistered from the Swedish middle block for the very good Jesper Nielsen for the first time.

Spain was now constantly panting for a backlog. Coach Jordi Ribera put Arpad Sterbik between the posts after 24 minutes for Rodrigo Corrales (3 out of 13.23 percent). But even this measure, including the increasingly offensive defence, did not initially have the desired effect. With a deserved 14:12 lead Sweden went into the break.

After the break, things looked completely different. A 4-0 run in the first five and a half minutes brought Spain the 16:14 lead. The Spanish defence provoked technical mistakes by the Swedes, with Sterbik now standing in goal like a wall. As a result, the Andresson team only scored one goal in the first 13 minutes and was trailing 15:20.

At least ten minutes before the end, the game was over when Spain led 24:17. Sweden literally crashed at the Spanish stronghold and also in the attack it suddenly ran around the German conqueror. The second half time went 17:9 to the two-time world champion.

Goal scorers Sweden: Nielsen (5), Ekberg (4 – 1 of 1 seven-metre), Zachrisson, Wanne (both 3), Henningsson, Nilsson, Gottfridsson (all 2), Jeppsson, Arnesson (both 1)

Scorers Spain: Balaguer (5), Sole (5 – 3 of 4 seven-metres), Entrerrios, Arino (both 4), Alex Dujshebaev (4 – 1 of 1 seven-metre), Gurbindo, Rivera, Sarmiento, Aguinagalde, Guardiola, Figueras, Goni (all 1)

Two-minute time penalty: Sweden 3 – Spain 2

Let me remind you: Sterbik was only nominated for the semi-final for the injured Gonzalo Perez de Vargas. He held up to three seven meters against France, and in the final the 38-year-old finally became a hero. Mortik showed a total of eight parades and fought off 38 percent of all the throws that came on his chest. In the middle of the second half, his rate was as high as 50 percent.

This time, we couldn’t rely on the backroom player from the Bergisches HC. Arnesson gave himself some bad passes in the game structure and also his throws left a lot to be desired. Only scuttled one of his five attempts.