Spain

Semifinals finalized: Sweden vs. France, Denmark vs. Spain

The last two matches of both Main Round groups had to decide the constellation in the semi-finals: And as Denmark beat Sweden they ranked first in group II and meet Spain in the semi-final on Friday on 28 January (20:30) in Kristianstad. France won the group I by their seventh victory against Iceland and will play against host Sweden (18:00) in Malmö on Friday. Spain and France are equal in points, but France have the better goal difference and rank ahead the Iberians. Denmark is the only team with eight victories in eight matches and lead the final ranking with 10:0 points ahead of Sweden (6:4). Aside Serbia beat Argentina and play for the places 9/10 against Norway. The Gauchos will meet Germany in the 11/12 placement match.

Semi-finals:
Sweden – France (Friday, 28.01, 18.00 in Malmö)
Denmark – Spain (Friday, 28.01, 20.30 in Kristianstad)

Read more...

Spain third team in the semis

Still unbeaten team of Spain has booked their semi final ticket. With now 7:1 points after the clear 32:24 victory against Iceland they can’t be overtaken from any team from the second place in group I.

 

Group I: Iceland – Spain  24:32 (10:20)

Read more...

Spain, Sweden, Croatia and Germany start with victories

The Main Round started with a surprise: Germany beat Iceland, it was the first defeat for the Northern Europeans in Sweden. Aside Spain (against Norway) and Croatia (against Argentina) took clear victories. Sweden can hope for the semis after beating Serbia.

Group I:

Spain – Norway 33:27 (15:12)

Read more...

Thrilling draw in the final duel of group A

France and Spain tied in a high tensioned final match of group A. So everything is decided concerning the Main Round after 60 matches of the Preliminary Round. Iceland and Denmark are the only teams taking 4:0 points to the next stage. The starting composition is like this:

Group I in Jönköping:

Iceland 4 points, France 3 points, Spain 3 points, Hungary 2 points, Germany 0 points, Norway 0 points.

Group II in Malmö/Lund:

Denmark 4 points, Sweden 2 points, Poland 2 points, Argentina 2 points, Croatia 1 point, Serbia 1 point

Group A:

France – Spain 28:28 (18:13)

Read more...

Denmark, Serbia and Spain go on to Main Round

The next contenders made their way to the Main Round: As Denmark (against Algeria) and Spain (against Egypt) took their each fourth victory in their fourth match of the Preliminary Round they qualified for the next stage with now eight points. But both have real clashes ahead, as Denmark meet Croatia and Spain play against France on Thursday. Those both games will decide about the winners of Groups A and C. Thanks to the Danish victory also Serbia booked the ticket to the Main Round. Romania won their first match in this WCh.

 

After Match Day 4 is completed, those are the teams already qualified for the Main Round:

Group A:  France, Spain

Group B:  Iceland, Hungary, Norway

Group C:  Denmark, Croatia, Serbia

Group D: Poland, Sweden

 

Group A:

Spain – Egypt 31:18 (14:9)

Read more...

Algeria pull the Romanian teeth, Spain win World Champion’s duel

After Slovakia was defeated by Argentina earlier, the next Eastern European team was surprised on Monday evening: Romania lost against Algeria after scoring only four goals in the second half. Croatia and Poland secured their third victories.  In the first “clash of the titans” in Group A Spain was the lucky winner against Germany.

 

Group A:

Spain – Germany 26:24 (13:13)

Read more...

Second victories for Germany, Spain and Serbia

As the groups B and D have a rest day on Sunday the groups A and C stood on the fields in Malmö, Lund and Kristianstad. And in the first three matches the favourites Germany, Spain and Serbia took mostly clear victories.

 

Read more...

Statements after the Bronze final

Valero Rivera, Spanish coach: „It was a match of two equal teams. Our attack decided the game, but I have to say that the match was imprinted by strong goalkeeper performances, too. I am absolutely satisfied with our result, as we worked hard for two years to go so far, not only during this tournament.”

Staffan Olsson, Swedish coach: „It was a tough and hard match for our team, but in the end I am proud of what we did during the game. My players fought until the very end and tried hard to win. In the end the Spaniards were the lucky team. My contract as national coach is valid until the summer and currently I don’t know if I will extend it. I will wait some weeks to decide.

Robert Arrhenius, Swedish player: We fought hard, even as it was not our match today. We are currently disappointed with the fourth place, but when we finally have realized what we achieved here we will be satisfied. Thanks to the audience for their great support in this match.

Read more...

Bronze medal for Spain

Spain won the medal after a highly tensioned match, decided with the final whistle.  It was the first medal at World Championships for the Spaniards since their title ion 2005.
 
Bronze final: Sweden – Spain 23:24 (11:11)
The Iberians danced on the field, as the World Championship host was highly disappointed after this Bronze final thriller. The game was absolutely close from the first to the last minute, especially thanks to great goalkeeping performances on both sides by Arpad Sterbik (Spain) and Johan Sjöstrand (Sweden). It took 28 minutes before Sweden was in lead with two goals for the first time (10:8). But this lead didn’t last long, as the Spaniards equalized within 30 seconds right before the halftime whistle.
 

Read more...

Danes face France in the final

By beating Spain in the second semi-final in Kristianstad 28:24 Denmark reached the final of a Men’s World Championship for the first time since 1967. Thanks to top scorer Mikkel Hansen and goalkeeper Niklas Landin the Danes took a victory, which looks larger than the run-down of the game was.  As the Danes will play for the title against France on Sunday in Malmö, Spain face Sweden in the Bronze final

 
Semi-final 2:

Denmark – Spain 28:24 (12:12)

Read more...