It happened eight years ago.
Spain had to lose against Croatia to avoid France in the World Cup qualifiers they were organizing and lost.
He did it with a Croat,
Igor Vori
, only to score from six meters, and a ball crashed against the post by
Albert Rocas
.
A very convenient defeat.
Then the coach
Valero Rivera
and the players were publicly outraged at the insinuation of the trick, but privately they celebrated the path that would lead them to the title in a crowded Palau Sant Jordi.
History repeats itself now.
If France wins, draws or loses by less than three goals this Sunday against Portugal, Spain will be in the same.
On Monday against Hungary, on the last day of the group stage, the same question: Why win?
If he wins he will face the French team in the quarterfinals and if he does not, Norway or Portugal itself will wait for him.
Nightmares with
Thierry Omeyer
or
Nikola Karabatic
invite you to let go, not to fight for victory, to repeat the strategy of success in 2013, but there is one factor to take into account: France has changed.
It is no longer just the absence of the Omeyer, Karabatic and company generation, it is the very irregularity of the current group.
In the present World Cup, the team that
Guillaume Gille
now coaches
has won all its matches, but it has struggled and it is unknown how it will respond in the qualifiers.
With two Barcelona players as references,
Dika Mem
and
Ludovic Fabregas
, their level is not as high as it was and one of the alternatives, Sander Sagosen's Norway, would present itself as a difficult opponent.
It is possible that Spain, which this Saturday beat the amateur Uruguay without problems, will not expose the physique of its best players, but neither will Hungary, which is also already classified.
Again, many years later, players like
Joan Cañellas
or
Dani Sarmiento
will experience the same situation, but this Monday the result may be different.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
Know more
handball
Handball World Cup
Handball World Cup things: Spain trains against amateur Uruguay
Handball World CupSpain suffers the ailments and gives a draw to Brazil
Spain plays it against a strange Germany
See links of interest
Work calendar
Borussia Mönchengladbach - Borussia Dortmund
Benevento - Torino
TD Systems Baskonia - Alba Berlin
Raise - Real Valladolid
Alavés - Real Madrid, live