Magazine 08 ENG

Page 27

SPORTS

Spain rewrites history at will Jordi Ribera’s team wins the European Championship title for the second time in a row in a final against Croatia that was tremendously balanced and epic.

V

ictory of Spain over Croatia (22:20, 12:11 at half-time) at the Tele2 Arena in Stockholm, in the grand final of the European Championships in Austria, Norway and Sweden 2020. Spain thus writes another golden page in the history of Spanish handball by winning its second continental title, obtaining a direct ticket to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, and

breaking with a an 18 year old record: it is the first team since Sweden in 2002 to succeed in regaining the title in Europe. Spain beat another #JomaTeam, Croatia, with whom it had previously tied in the ‘Main Round’. Of the four semi-finalists, three were kitted-out with Joma (Spain, Croatia and Slovenia), a clear sign of the

excellent positioning of the brand in sports sponsorship in handball. Croatia took the lead at the start with goals from Marić and Duvnjak, and Ferrán Solé was in charge of opening the Spanish scoring in the 3’ through Daniel Sarmiento. The team coached by Lino Červar would handle themselves with ease in the early stages of the match,

but they could not shake off the Spanish players at any time, who would eventually win the final by two goals. This victory allows Spain to retain the continental title they won two years ago in Zagreb, something no other team had achieved since Sweden in 2002, and gives Spanish players a direct ticket to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

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