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Spain seal crucial point with magical comeback against Sweden, as preliminary round concludes

20 Jan. 2025

Spain seal crucial point with magical comeback against Sweden, as preliminary round concludes

Spain engineered a fantastic second-half comeback to clinch a point in the last match of the preliminary round in the Unity Arena in Baerum, 29:29, against Sweden.

GROUP F
Sweden vs Spain 29:29 (16:11)

Two years ago, the two sides met in the bronze medal match of the 2025 IHF Men’s World Championship, with Spain upsetting co-hosts Sweden to finish on the podium, in a high-octane clash, 39:36, the largest-scoring bronze medal match in the history of the competition.

From that match, only 17 of the 32 players in the two rosters were still active for Sweden and Spain in the Unity Arena in Baerum, when the two sides faced off again, this time with two points in the main round on the line, with the winner taking them into the next phase of Croatia/Denmark/Norway 2025.

But it was Spain which looked to be in the tougher spot, especially as “Los Hispanos” are underdoing a serious rebuilt, a situation made even harder by the injuries of their two right wings, Kauldi Odriozola and Aleix Gomez, which left Jordi Ribera in a tough position, and with a much younger and inexperienced team than he used to bring in the major international competitions.

While the two teams started trading goals in the first 10 minutes, the score was still tied, 4:4, after one third of the first half. But then, Sweden started playing better and better in defence, which was their main advantage in this match. For six minutes and 27 seconds, Spain failed to score a single goal, a combination of their turnovers and some great saves from experienced goalkeeper Andreas Palicka, who had a 31% saving efficiency at the end of the first half.

Sweden did not hold back and delivered a fantastic 5:0 run, to open up a 9:4 lead, as right back Albin Lagergren and line player Felix Moller proved unstoppable for Sweden, setting the tone for what was going to be a long night for Jordi Ribera’s side.

A mastermind with a fine eye on detail, Ribera chose to change his defensive approach, from a classic 6-0 to a more aggressive 5-1, but that did not bear fruit, as Lagergren, Moller and left wing Hampus Wanne combined for 14 of Sweden’s 16 goals, while Spain had nine turnovers, seriously hampering their progress in the match.

Until the 46th minute, Sweden controlled the mach without any issues, but they had only six players on the scoresheet, pointing at a lack of diversity in attack. And when Hampus Wanne missed two penalties against his club teammate from FC Barcelona, Gonzalo Perez de Vargas, things started to get chippy for the Scandinavian side.

The first one also produced a fantastic fair-play moment, as Perez de Vargas confirmed to one of the referees who produced a red card for Wanne due to a hit in the face, that he was actually hit in the arm, with the decision being reversed.

Spain had rotated their players more and looked to have more in their tank, as the gap started to diwndle, but were still three goals down, 23:26, with seven minutes to go, yet the pressure started to get bigger and bigger on Sweden.

With Perez de Vargas back between the posts at his usual best, Spain got even chippier, and on the back of a seven-goal outing from right wing Ferran Sole they tied the score, 28:28, with less than 60 seconds to go in the match.

Sweden took back the lead, 29:28, through a penalty converted by Niklas Ekberg, only for one of the most clutch players in handball, Spain’s right back Alex Dujshebaev, to assume responsibility and take the last shot, a lucky one, which hit both posts before beating Andreas Palicka.

Sweden tried with a last-gasp shot from the centre court, but Dani Dujshebaev blocked it, with the two sides finishing in a deadlock, 29:29, as both are going into the main round with three points, one point shy of Portugal.

hummel Player of the Match: Albin Lagergren (Sweden)

Fair-play award: Gonzalo Perez de Vargas (Spain)