Spain debuted with a resounding victory (39-27) against Bahrain, Asian runner-up, in the pre-Olympic tournament that has been held since yesterday in Granollers and that gives two places for next summer’s Games in Paris to be distributed between Spain, Bahrain, Slovenia and Brazil .
The last time that Hispanics played in a pre-Olympic tournament was in 2016. Jordi Ribera’s team is playing this tournament due to its premature elimination in the last European Championship, where it did not pass the first phase.
The match had little history despite the fact that Ribera ruled out three important players: Joan Cañellas, Jorge Maqueda and Abel Serdio, from the list of 16. Spain immediately went 4-0 and finished the first half with 60% effectiveness. Bahrain goalkeeper Hasham was by far the best of their team. He finished the game with thirteen stops. Bahrain could not count on five of its best players yesterday against Spain due to various sanctions.
In the Spanish national team he returned part of the old guard, as Viran Morros (40 years) supplied the substitution of Migallón, Gedeon Guardiola (39) and Antonio Garcia (40).
The first half ended 18-11 for Spain, with Guardiola as the protagonist of a team that did not slow down. The second half began with Barça’s Gonzalo Pérez de Vargas between the posts and Rodrigo Corrales on the bench. The Hispanics’ advantage increased steadily and stabilized at around ten goals. A counterattack completed at the buzzer by Barça’s Aleix Gómez closed the score at 39-27.
Daniel Fernández was the MVP of the game, with eight goals from eight shots. Spain faces Slovenia today and Brazil on Sunday, two much heavier rivals.
