It took the 2021 IHF Men's World Championship bronze medallists Spain seven minutes to go ahead against Chile and then until the 10th minute to stay ahead in their second match of Poland/Sweden 2023 this evening (Saturday 14 January).

But once they did, it was plain sailing and Jordi Ribera's team cruised to their second win in two matches and the main round qualification.

Group A

Spain vs Chile 34:26 (18:15)

Spain's Jorge Maquedo had told ihf.info with a smile that his side "suffered a little" against Montenegro in their opening 30:25 victory on Thursday, and this evening he and his teammates suffered a little bit more against a robust and determined Chile side.

Led by Spanish coach Aitor Echaburu, who was part of Spain's team at both the Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games and who has coached a lot in the country, Chile have now lost both matches in Poland but will be looking to give it their all when they face Montenegro in their concluding preliminary group A match on Monday (16 January).

Spain will play the Islamic Republic of Iran in their final group match and will likely alredy have an eye on their main round opponents.

Tonight, it took the Europeans 14 minutes to put clear air between them and their opponents (8:6), moving up to five three minutes later (11:6).

However, as Chile continued to be exposed to international handball both at team level and individually, they did not give up. They rallied. They fought. They showed brilliance and brought the match within one (13:14, 24th minute).

A time-out was called by Ribera, who had seen enough from his side, which featured several new faces at this level, including 21-year-old left wing Daniel Fernández Jiménez.

The TVB Stuttgart player featured in the match for almost all 60 minutes and ended with five goals, just behind Alex Dujshebaev on six. Ribera also gave all but 19 seconds on court to goalkeeper Rodrigo Corrales Rodal, who did not feature in the opener against Montenegro.

"In the time out, I explained that the most important thing was the intensity," said Ribera to ihf.info about what he said to his troops in that break. "It was a very good performance for Chile. Our ball and attack was slow and not fast. When the ball is not moving fast, it's very difficult. It’s not possible to clear the way for the shot."

Spain eventually moved up a gear and punished Chile late in the match, moving to a five-goal lead again (28:23, 52nd minute) and, with the result not in doubt, extended their lead to eight (34:26) at the final buzzer.

Despite the goal difference, coach Echaburu will be proud of his Chile team as they gave a glimpse tonight of not only what they are capable of, but also their future potential.

"We have all been hoping to get a little luck and try to win against Spain, but we know that they are one of the greatest teams in this World Championship, a real contender," said Chile's Javier Frelijj.

"We are happy, but also a little bit annoyed because we wanted to play well for the 60 minutes, but we fell short."

hummel Player of the Match: Daniel Fernández Jiménez (Spain)