From B-division to world champions: MVP Rodriguez Lario shares fantastic journey

Last summer, Spain were facing teams like Greece, Israel, Lithuania or Luxembourg on their way on winning the W17 EHF Championship 2023, the B-division of the handball pyramid in the European younger age categories.

Winning the competition played in Azerbaijan meant that the young “Guerreras” secured their ticket at the 2024 IHF Women’s Youth World Championship, but it was difficult to see Spain as one of the contenders for the title, rather a dark horse which could have sprung some surprises.

But Spain delivered three wins in the preliminary round against the reigning champions, Republic of Korea, Romania and Switzerland and announced themselves as a strong side, a force to be reckoned with. Two other wins against Germany and Czechia in the main round only cemented Spain’s challenge for the title.

And then, they produced some of their best handball in the knock-out phase at China 2024, where they disposed of Japan (32:23) in the quarter-finals, Hungary (19:16) in the semi-finals and then Denmark in the big final, 23:22, to secure their maiden title in the competition.

“Campeones, campeones.” The joy was absolutely clear on the court of the International Handball Hall in Chuzhou, but for Spain it was more than a happy ending after a long journey, which has seen difficult moments, as well as some perfect performances.

In fact, this generation has not lost any match in major international competitions in the past two years and the win against Denmark was just the culmination of years of preparation, with this team staying true to the DNA of Spanish handball, a defence-first mentality, which shined at China 2024, where the European side conceded only 20.25 goals per game, the fourth lowest number in the competition.

 

 

 

 

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“Our defence was the main reason why we won the title. It has what we worked upon over the last years and tried to perfect it. And here, in this competition, it worked, because we got the needed stops and we managed to win all matches here, which is a remarkable achievement,” says left back Belen Rodriguez Lario.

Rodriguez Lario was one of the main reasons Spain won the competition, delivering some fantastic performances throughout the competition. The senior “Guerreras” have never been a scoring machine, with the current youth team never departing from that mantra.

But, at times, when they really needed it, Spain pushed the pedal and delivered some fantastic moments, just like that 10:1 run against Denmark in the final, spanning for more than 13 minutes, brought them the win and the title. However, Spain finished 13th in terms of scoring, with an average of 26.5 goals scored per game.

Rodriguez Lario has been their top scorer, with 41 goals and a shooting efficiency of 66% throughout the competition, including eight goals in the final. Her name was surely shortlisted before the start of the last match for an All-Star berth, but she was named the MVP of the competition, her contribution being immense in Spain’s title challenge.

“We made history for Spanish handball and there have been some years when Spain did not win so many medals and this has never been achieved in history in the younger age categories. So it feels amazing and I hope that this is the start of a beautiful road for us,” added the left back.

The final against Denmark has really been a topsy-turvy one for Spain, who had stints of six and eight minutes without a goal in the first half. Eventually, the match turned, as Spain started convert their shots – they hit the post four times in the first half – and used a 10:1 run to deliver a 23:22 win, also helped by a last-gasp missed shot from Denmark, with three seconds to go.

“We proved that we have resilience. We needed a good result, but we knew it was just a matter of time before we really deliver that good performance we needed, because we trusted ourselves and I knew we had it in us. Our team was perfect, because they say defences win championships and this is what happened here,” said Rodriguez.

Now an MVP at the IHF Women’s Youth World Championship, following in the footsteps of Anna Vyakhireva or Emily Bölk, Rodriguez will now focus on the future, which she hopes will bring more silverware.

“Well, I would love to dedicate myself to handball, it is the objective, I think that each one who dedicates so many hours and wants to dedicate herself to what she likes most in the world, then results will come. I am still young. I am going little by little, I am growing. This has been an experience to grow, now another season begins, we will grow again and little by little and next year we will go to the next level, to the juniors,” concludes Spain’s left back.