Life passes and

Raúl Entrerríos

(Gijón, 1981) continues.

A few days after his 40th birthday, he is not only the captain, he is also the director of the Spain that this Wednesday faces Norway in the quarterfinals of the World Cup.

Without a pandemic, he would have been retired for several months, adjusting to his new life, looking for things to do, but the Games are an obsession, the only gold he lacks, and he could not resign.

Did you have plans for your first months as a retiree: a trip, a feast, doing the Camino de Santiago, going back to Gijón ... Honestly, no.

Before the coronavirus, the confinement, I was very focused on finishing my career well after 20 years as a professional and then I already had the contract signed to go to Barcelona's coaching staff.

My big project was to get used to a life without playing handball and that is why I did not want to go crazy, make changes, I wanted everything to be as calm as possible. Did you hesitate to continue another year? During confinement, as happened to many people, I had a hard time managing the uncertainty, but I focused on taking care of the family.

Later, when the Asobal was canceled, when the Champions League was suspended, when the Games were postponed, it was clear to me that I couldn't finish my career from home.

For this team, especially after what happened in Rio [Spain did not qualify for the first time in decades], the Tokyo Games are very important. What if they don't finally take place?

Will it continue longer? No, no, reaching 40 is enough.

If there are no games, what can I do?

It would be hard because I really want to, but I value the day and day a lot and, after confinement, more.

I enjoy every training session, every game because I know they are over. He retires with a leading role.

Explain the trick. When I look back, I'm proud of the work.

I have always liked training, since I was a child I was always very involved and I think that is the only way to have a long career.

Things can go better or worse, you can win or lose, but if you enjoy the routine it is easier to stick with time.

I am 39 years old and I still love studying how to defend a certain play from an opponent or which trajectory is better to give a teammate a ball.

How has handball changed in these 20 years? There are similar things and things that have evolved.

Since I started, also thanks to the rule changes, handball has become more physical, more athletic, faster, but that does not mean that the game is very different.

In Spain we have maintained a style, the collective game, the wealth of resources, and we continue to achieve results so we are not talking about another handball.

When he debuted in the national team in 2003 the reference was

Talant Dujshebaev

and is now his son

Alex

.

It also happens in France with the Richardsons.

Does it get weird? Sometimes it's funny because they are players that I have seen grow up since they were children, but when I play I don't think about it.

On the track I don't think about age.

In the end it is the law of life, when I started, I played against veterans that I had seen on television and now I play against their children.

And now in the quarterfinals, Norway, the current runner-up in the world, a team that they have met on few occasions. It is a team that has been at a very high level for several years now, it is becoming a difficult team to win.

It is clear that he has a very decisive player, such as

[Sander] Sagosen

, but he is not the only one and his defense is very powerful.

For me, perhaps their strong point is that they play with a lot of rhythm and are able to endure 60 minutes.

He is one of those rivals who require you to play a perfect match to win

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