The runners-up challenge the European champions
At World Championships and sometimes also at Olympic Games, it is not uncommon for the preliminary round of the men’s handball to have some games with blatant underdogs that end with a 20-goal difference. At a European Championship, however, the level of the teams is much closer together and so the continental championship has some real thrillers in store right from the start.
In Group E, for example, the European champions will face the runners-up in the world championship on Saturday, i.e. Spain and Sweden. You don’t have to be a great prophet to predict that these two teams will make it to the main round and possibly be opponents of Germany and Austria there.
Both won their opening match, but while the runners-up from Sweden had a commanding performance against Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Spaniards had more trouble than expected against the Czech Republic.
If there is one thing that distinguishes the Spanish team, it is their enormous fighting spirit. You should never write off Jordi Ribera’s team. However, the Iberians will not be playing with their best formation at the European Championship, while the Scandinavians have pretty much everything on board. Therefore, our first impression is that you should be right with a bet on a Swedish victory in the duel between Spain and Sweden.
Spain – Statistics & current form
The Spaniards are facing an upheaval. Veterans Julen Aguinagalde, Raul Entrerrios and Raul Sarmiento are no longer in the mix. Despite their advanced age, these players have left a big gap that coach Jordi Ribera now has to fill with younger players. But the experience of these legends was invaluable.
Problems against Czech Republic
The European champions still have a strong squad, but perhaps other teams at the European Championships are now more to be reckoned with, with the Spaniards still capable of complete focus in important games. Nevertheless, we would rather not play the odds on a Spanish win in the match between Spain and Sweden.
Already in the opening match, the Iberians had a hard time against the Czech Republic. For a long time, the game was on the line. It was not until five minutes before the end that the Spaniards pulled away from 21:20 to 25:20 and won the match. Eduardo Gurbindo was the decisive man with six goals in the 28:26 victory for the defending champions.
But now it will be even more difficult against Sweden. Saturday will show whether the Spaniards can compensate for the absence of the Dujshebaev brothers. Both back court strategists are out due to injury. That is a considerable weakening and therefore it will be difficult to get the second win against the Swedes.
The Spain squad:
Goal: Perez de Vargas, Corrales, Hernandez
Backs: Casado, Tarrafeta, Canellas, Garcia, Marquez, Gurbindo, Maqueda
Left wing: Fernandez, Arino, Sanchez-Migallon
Right wing: Sole, Gomez, Odriozola
Circle: Pecina, Figueras, Guardiola
Coach Ribera
Last matches of Spain:
European Championships Preliminary Round Grp. E
01/13 2022 – Spain 28 – 26 Czech Republic
Friendlies
01/08 2022 – Poland 25 – 26 Spain
01/06 2022 – Spain 36 – 22 Iran
11/06 2021 – Spain 35 – 31 Romania
11/04 2021 – Spain 33 – 29 Romania
Sweden – Statistics & current form
The Swedes have assembled a strong team that can beat any team in the world on a good day. Not for nothing did they finish runners-up at the World Cup in Egypt last year. Things didn’t go quite so well at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. They were already eliminated in the quarter-finals.
Solid start to the tournament
Yet you have to keep the Swedes in mind in the fight for the medals. We see the Scandinavians as favourites on Saturday and if the selection beats Spain, they have the best chance to take one of the first two places in the main round and enter the semifinals. We think it is fair to make a prediction on a medal for the Swedes even before the top match between Spain and Sweden.
The Scandinavians’ first performance was very confident. However, the Swedish team also had to deal with an outsider. Bosnia-Herzegovina was perhaps the perfect opponent to get off to a good start in the tournament. The Swedes were already six goals ahead at the break. In the end, they had a solid 30:18 victory.
Hampus Wanne of the SG Flensburg-Handewitt was the decisive man with six goals, although he had to take time off after his infection before the opening match. The Swedes now have their full squad. The only player missing from the squad is keeper Mikael Appelgren, who had to cancel his participation due to a knee injury.
The squad of Sweden:
Goal: Johannesson, Palicka, Thulin
Back: Gottfridsson, Claar, Carlsbogard, Johansson, Wallinius, Lagergren, Sandell
Left wing: Mellegard, Wanne
Right wing: Ekberg, D. Pettersson
Circle: Darj, Möller, F. Pettersson, Bergendahl
Coach: Solberg
Last games of Sweden:
European Championships Preliminary Round Grp. E
01/13 2022 – Sweden 30 – 18 Bosnia and Herzegovina
Friendlies
01/06 2022 – Sweden 34 – 30 Netherlands
11/06 2021 – Sweden 32 – 28 Poland
11/04 2021 – Sweden 31 – 24 Poland
Summer Olympics Final Stage
08/03 2021 – Sweden 33 – 34 Spain
Spain – Sweden Direct Comparison / H2H Balance
Spain vs Sweden, this is a perennial duel in international handball. Since 1998, there have been a total of 20 matches between the two opponents, including major matches at major tournaments, including the finals at the European Championships in 1998 and 2018. The direct comparison speaks in favour of the Iberians in this period with 14:6 victories.
In total, even the last nine direct duels went to the Spaniards. If the Swedes are in a position to win against the European champions, it will probably be this Saturday. The last encounter was around half a year ago. In the quarter-finals of the Tokyo Olympics, the Spaniards prevailed with 34:33.
Spain – Sweden tip
The Spaniards have always proved too big for the Swedes in recent years. The last nine direct duels have all been won by the Iberians. However, some of Spain’s top stars have now retired due to age and they are also missing two injured players, the Dujshebaev brothers, who can make the difference.
In the European Championship opener, Jordi Ribera’s team did not look so confident and had big problems to wrestle the Czechs down. The Swedes got off to the better start and won clearly against Bosnia.
The Swedes have everything it takes and it’s time to finally celebrate another win against the European champions. We think the time is ripe and that the two Flensburg players Jim Gottfridsson and Hampus Wanne will lead the Swedes to victory. However, we are leaving our hands off a handicap and are playing the betting odds on a normal Swedish victory between Spain and Sweden.
