At the last IHF Women’s Beach Handball World Championship, back in Budapest in 2016, Marcio Magliano was assistant to Rossana Marques as they saw their side finish as runners-up to Spain.

Now their head coach, he talked to IHF.info after his side won their fourth match in a row - against Vietnam – but were taken to a shootout, after losing the second set 19:18.

“I said to my team at the end that there are no such things as favourites,” said Magliano after the match. “The only ‘easy’ game is the one you just won, and I didn’t like their performance in this game as when Vietnam put their game up to the same level as us, my players weren’t expecting it.

“Our strike rate was too low against their goalkeeper,” he continued. “We had clear shots and we missed a lot and that’s, for sure, some mental problem – they were a little bit sad because they didn’t show the best of Brazil.

“It matters how we win - we need to play every game as champions and if that’s not enough to win, then it’s OK.”

Despite the disappointment surrounding their 2:1 win, Magliano was quick to highlight the excitement and happiness has for Vietnam making their debut on the world stage.

“I’m very happy about having teams that were not so expressive before, now playing,” he said. “The Asian sides have got a really high level now and play in a totally different way to the other teams in the world. They play really fast and I’m so happy to see teams like Vietnam, Thailand, Uruguay and Paraguay playing well here.

“Thailand played really well against us and it shows beach handball is growing all over the world - we always want to play in the best games we can.”

Since taking over the job, Magliano has guided his team to the 2017 Pan-American Championship and 2017 World Games gold medal, but he will always be thankful to former coach Marques and continue her beach legacy with Brazil.

“Everything I do here is a reflection of her excellent job during the eight years she was in charge,” he said. “As I said, in Brazil we have a particular way of playing – a ‘Brazilian school’ if I can say that. I am just continuing her job, but I have my way of seeing the game and I’m trying to get this over to the team and I believe they are improving every game.”