The goalkeepers only saved one throw, Spain has never lost more at a European Handball Championship. The European vice-champion had an evening to forget against Croatia.
1 out of 36 – that is the catastrophic statistic of Spanish goalkeepers Pérez de Vargas and Sergey Hernández from the game against Croatia. Together they only parried a single throw – and it even came from the opponent’s half. “I feel bad,” said Pérez de Vargas, who is moving from FC Barcelona to THW Kiel in 2025. “This is one of my toughest defeats with the national team.”
Spain’s goalkeepers save one of 36 shots
The final result reads accordingly clearly from the perspective of the European vice-champions: The Spaniards lost to the Croatians with 29:39 (14:18), the Iberians have never conceded more goals at a European Championship. In fact, it was the worst defeat in Spanish European Championship history.
“No one from our team was ready for this game,” said Daniel Dujshebaev, defending the goalkeeper duo. “They are two of the best in the world, but if we don’t perform well as a team, they can’t shine. Defensive work affects the whole team, but we failed today.”
Spain already under pressure after slap
Jordi Ribera’s team, which has reached the final of every European Championship since 2016 and won the title twice, will need a significant improvement in performance to continue their run. The Spaniards continue to be favorites in the games against Austria and Romania, but in a possible main round the slap against Croatia would already be a small mortgage.
It’s going to be a long night analyzing what happened today.
The Croats around THW Kiel star Domagoj Duvnjak took revenge for the lost 2020 European Championship final. The Croatians’ most successful throwers were Ivan Martinovic from Bundesliga club MT Melsungen and Mario Sostaric with eight goals each. Again and again they were able to effortlessly break through the Spanish defense with a lot of speed, and the half-time score of 14:18 was flattering from the Spaniards’ point of view.
“Croatia was the better team from start to finish,” admitted Dujshebaev. His goalkeeper Pérez de Vargas added: “It will be a long night to analyze what happened today.”