The renewed Spanish handball team, led by Jordi Ribera, started with good feelings in the World Cup in Norway, Denmark and Croatia. The new ones Hispanicsvery rejuvenated, with an average age of 25 years, beat Chile (31-22) after overcoming a bad start, marked by the discomfort and nerves of the debut. A debut in which five of the new ones stood out Hispanics recruited by the Catalan coach.
A promising group
Ribera has renewed the team with five wonderful young people: the Cikusa brothers, Víctor Romero, Ian Barrufet and Carlos Álvarez
Jordi Ribera, a great connoisseur of the entire basis of Spanish handball, as a scholar and technical director of the Federation, has imposed a renewal of Hispanics thinking about the new Olympic cycle of Los Angeles 2028. For him, this 2025 World Cup “is a moment to give opportunities.”
That is why the professor from Sarrià de Ter has taken four of the golden juniors to Oslo: the Cikusa brothers, Petar (Barça) and Djordje (from Barça, on loan to Montpellier), Ian Barrufet (from Barça, on loan to Melsungen), Víctor Romero (Fraikin Granollers) and Carlos Álvarez (Ademar), in addition to other more seasoned young people that he already had in Paris, like Jan Gurri, Ian Tarrafeta, Dani Fernández or Javi Rodríguez.
These were the kids, the new ones (except Petar, who was in the stands) and youngsters like Dani Fernández (next Blaugrana signing), with 5 goals, or Ian Tarrafeta (4), or the substitute goalkeeper Sergey Hernández (17 saves, 45% , chosen MVP), who unblocked the Spanish team in a complicated start to the game.
Bad start and good reaction
From 7-10 to 17-13: Spain was able to turn around a match that was going wrong
Spain’s start to the game was hesitant and stumbled. Ribera started a B-profile team, with Sergey in goal, with debutants Carlos Álvarez at winger and Djordje Cikusa at right back, with Casado and Tarrafeta in creative roles, and with the Migallón-Javi Rodríguez couple in the defense axis 6:0.
After Tarrafeta’s 3-2, the team began to collapse due to the lack of defensive consistency. Esteban Salinas made a hole for them in the six meters and Chile went three goals away on several occasions (5-8, 7-10).
The Spanish reaction did not wait for Ribera’s instructions: more anticipation, more defensive intensity and the race. Djordje Cikusa (with 9-10) began the superb comeback, a 5-1 run in six minutes, with which Spain went from losing by 2 to going by two (13-11). The youngest players participated in that acceleration, Dani Fernández (2), Carlos Álvarez and Ian Barrufet, who also made his debut with a goal in a World Cup.
After getting out of the slump, the Hispanics took command in rhythm and control of the game, and with the most veteran section on the court (brothers Alex and Dani Dujshebaev, Agustín Casado and Ferran Solé) they achieved victory at halftime (17-13 ).
In the second half, after Rodrigo Salinas adjusted the score again with the score at 20-17, Spain brought out its artillery to appease the Chilean reaction. They scored a 6-0 run in 7 minutes to shoot up to a +9, maximum advantage (26-17), and finish the match.
Gurri and Tarrafeta, two of the jewels of the Fraikin Granollers youth team, kept Spain in the final exchange of goals to maintain the 9-goal advantage (31-22).
Next game, Saturday against Japan (6:00 p.m.), also in Oslo.
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