The selection bus parks before the Tele2 Arena in Stockholm, leaves Joan Cañellas (Santa María de Palautordera, 1986) sheltered to the eyebrows and, before entering the pavilion, saves the iPad and a novel, Patria, by Fernando Aramburu . The book point indicates that he will finish it soon, he has 100 pages left, 150 at most, but then he admits that he brought it this way from home and that during the European he has only walked it. «I want to read, but I start watching videos of the rivals and I no longer read. I'm motivated like when I started. All day analyzing, how the plants move, how they defend .. As I know this is over, I want to squeeze it to the fullest, ”confesses the central Spain, its director, a guy who talks and a lot of handball, but also other things, of his two careers yet to end - Pharmacy and Marketing -, the upbringing of his two daughters, how to always be happy from here to there.

Is this over? For this group, yes. We have these two games of the European and the Olympic Games in Tokyo, I hope, but then many teammates will leave the team. Our time is running out. I am not sure if I will continue, I have not yet made the decision, but after the Games another generation must come in, that's for sure. Will it be a prepared generation? You have endured a lot and have not had relief. Your little brother, for example, Marc , 24, central like you, has barely played with the national team. They will make their way. It will be difficult for them to maintain the level, to be in five consecutive European semifinals like us, but they will do everything on their part. With my brother I have seen the problems that young people have. For them, playing in Asobal is easy, they don't give it value, but then competing in Europe is very complicated. For us, debuting was difficult, then in Barcelona or Ciudad Real you had to choose to win the Champions League yes or yes. Since the disappearance of the Ciudad Real, all the successes of the selection, such as the 2013 World Cup or the 2018 Europeans, incorporated a petition: to improve the handball in Spain. Do you still trust it? No, no. I don't expect anything, I know it won't change anything. A few years ago, after the 2013 World Cup, it was desperate. He believed that the audiences would attract two or three sponsors, that some teams would improve and that Asobal would grow again little by little. Now I don't trust anymore. It's a bit humiliating, but it's like that. Although we win the gold and millions of people see it, Asobal will continue to be a semi-professional competition, the majority of players in Spain will be mileuristas and investment will continue to be lacking on all sides. Julen Aguinagalde will return to Bidasoa Irún to finish his career. Have you considered coming back? Many times, but it is very difficult. Julen is a romantic thing, it's his city, the club is chaired by his brother Gurutz ... But the general situation has not changed. I could go to Granollers, for example, accepting 1,000 or 1,500 euros a month, but in Pick Szeged they still offer me one more zero and the difference, more having family, is too big. He looks disgusted. I still like handball very much, But the life I lead is hard for me. I have realized that I no longer belong anywhere. I would have loved to play my whole life in Ciudad Real or Atlético, but since he disappeared, I haven't lived in the same city for two years. Hamburg and Kiel in Germany, then Skopje in Macedonia and finally Szeged in Hungary. Before it was complicated and now, with my two daughters, it is much more. They have changed a lot of school, too many places where we don't know anyone ... I want the best for them and I care. When I retire I do not know what I will do, if I will dedicate myself to handball or finish a career, but I will settle in a fixed place. Norway, but I think Slovenia can give us worse. It is a team very similar to ours, perhaps the most similar of all the European. They have a very solid defense and in attack they don't have many pitchers, but they are very gamers, they use all the resources. It will be difficult to get the pass for the final.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

Know more

  • European Handball
  • handball

European handball European trap that can leave Spain out of the Tokyo Games

HandballThe more mature Spain aspires to everything in the European

HANDBALL The sky as a passing station: Spain, in the European semifinals for the fifth time in a row