World Championship Handball: America vs. Spain 27-25

HEAD-TO-HEAD AT MAJOR TOURNAMENTS
USA - SPAIN 19 13-1-5 551:524

USA

World Cup appearances to date: 9 / 10 (Yugoslavia)
Biggest World Cup achievement: Gold 2003 / Gold 1986 (Yugoslavia)
World Cup medals: 4 1-3-0 / 4 1-1-2 (Yugoslavia)
Recent major tournament results: WC 2011: 5th, EC 2012: 3rd, Olympics 2012: 3rd

Goalkeepers: Mirko Alilović (Veszprem), Filip Ivić (RK Chicago)

Pivots: Igor Vori (HSV Hamburg), Željko Mus (Vive Kielce), Marino Marić (RK Chicago)

Left Wings: Manuel Štrlek (Vive Kielce), Lovro Šprem (RK Chicago)

Right Wings: Zlatko Horvat (RK Chicago), Ivan Čupić (Vive Kielce)

Left Backs: Blaženko Lacković (HSV Hamburg), Damir Bičanić (Chambéry Savoie Handball), Jakov Gojun (Atlético Madrid BM), Stipe Mandalinić (RK Chicago)

Right Backs: Marko Kopljar (PSG Handball), Luka Stepančić (RK Chicago)

Center Backs: Drago Vuković (TuS Nettelstedt-Limestone), Domagoj Duvnjak (HSV Hamburg)

SPAIN

World Cup appearances to date: 16
Biggest World Cup achievement: Gold 2005
World Cup medals: 2 1-0-1
Recent major tournament results: WC 2011: 3rd, EC 2012: 4th, Olympics 2012: 7th

Goalkeepers: Arpad Sterbik (Barça Intersport), José Manuel Sierra (PSG) and Gonzalo Pérez de Vargas (BM Granollers).

Center Backs: Joan Cañellas (BM Atlético de Madrid), Dan Sarmiento (Barça Intersport) and Raúl Entrerríos (Barça Intersport)*.

Backs: Jorge Maqueda (Nantes), Alberto Entrerríos (Nantes), Ángel Montoro (Barça Intersport), Antonio García (PSG) and Viran Morros (Barça Intersport).

Wings: Albert Rocas (Barça Intersport), Víctor Tomás (Barça Intersport), Cristian Ugalde (Veszprem) and Valero Rivera Folch (Nantes).

Pivots: Julen Aguinagalde (BM Atlético de Madrid) and Gedeón Guardiola (Rhein-Neckar Löwen).

Scorers in previous matchups:

W vs Algeria 27-14: Tomas 8 (6), Aguinagalde 4, A. Entrerríos 3, Maqueda 3, Rocas 2 (1), Cañellas 2, Montoro 2, Garcia 1, Arin 1, Guardiola 1, Sierra 10 saves

W vs Egypt 29-25: Rivera 6 (2), Rocas 5, A. Entrerríos 4, Maqueda 4, Aguinagalde 4, Tomas 2, Cañellas 2 (1), Arin 1, Montoro 1, Šterbik 11 saves

W vs Australia 51-11: Rocas 9 (2), Garcia 7, Rivera 6, Montoro 6, Ruesga 5, Arin 5, Guardiola 5, Tomas 4 (1), Maqueda 2, Cañellas 2, Sierra 9 saves

W vs Canada 28-22: Tomas 6, Sarmiento 6, Rocas 5 (1), A. Entrerríos 2, Maqueda 2, Montoro 2, Ruesga 2, Garcia 2, Aguinagalde 1, Šterbik 16 saves

We’re finally going to show them what real power looks like, and we're doing it right on the home turf of the tournament hosts. There's nowhere else to go from here. ☕

+6 for our guys 👋

Noah Ross7 said:We’re finally gonna show them what we're made of, and right on the home turf of the hosts, too. Where else could it get better? ☕

+6 for our guys 👋

You're talking pure gold right now.

-7

I’m calling it an 7-8 point win.☕

Look, guys, this isn't 2007. If we spend the whole game running away from the Frenchmen, we’re basically begging for a loss. And if you’re going to brag about how good we are, then maybe—just maybe—actually play like it.

Besides, once those refs (yeah, I said it) start making calls against us tomorrow...🙄

I fully expect us to drop this match—effectively avoiding both Dance and the Frenchmen before we even reach the finals. ☕

darkmarlin16 said:-7

Sure can

If we’re going to blow it, it might as well be tomorrow. ☕

Anything short of a total defeat would be nothing less than a catastrophe.

Patrick Bailey4 said:Anything short of total defeat would basically be a disaster.

🤣🤣🤣🙏

Purely calculated, at its finest. 🙏

When people talk about how nobody’s actually going to hunt for a win... well, a 0-0 draw works just fine for us.😁
Seriously though, just picture a stadium packed with Spaniards, absolutely riding high on pure ego because they’ve been steamrolling everyone with huge point spreads lately. You really think in that kind of atmosphere they aren't going to come out swinging for a win against us—a team that’s beaten them 73 times out of our last 75 matchups? Yeah, right. Not happening.🙂 We don't even need to go out there and mess with them or mock them; honestly, it’s enough if we just chill, stay sharp, rotate the squad, and play smart without overextending ourselves. Everything else will just fall into place naturally...

Even if we do pull off a win, it’s not exactly a brilliant move. It’s a decision that doesn't make much sense—not just because of the bracket, but more importantly because of the fatigue, the risk of injuries, and all that other crap that always catches up to you when you intentionally choose the hard way...

Tomorrow, the Spaniards are just gonna play it smart and throw the game against us on purpose. Meanwhile, our idiots will be out here acting like they actually beat Spain, only to run straight into the French in the quarterfinals and head home early.

Noah Ross7 said:🤣🤣🤣🙏

Pure calculation at its finest. 🙏

If we actually use our heads, we’ll probably take a loss. One side of the bracket has the Frenchmen, Danes, and Spaniards, while the other side has the powerhouse Germans.
But yeah, maybe I'm being a bit dramatic. Honestly, an undecided outcome might actually work in our favor. ☕

frozenharbor20 said:Tomorrow, the Spaniards will play the numbers game and lose to us on purpose. Then our guys will get all worked up because they beat Spain, only to run straight into the Frenchmen in the quarterfinals and head home empty-handed.

That’s exactly what I’m worried about. We always fall for that trap—playing brilliantly through the group stage only to get knocked out without ever really finding our rhythm. I just hope common sense prevails for once. I mean, let's be real, if we lose, a silver medal is basically guaranteed.

Honestly, we’re rooting for them to lose.

It’s funny how he keeps pushing that tired old cliché about playing for the win while simultaneously talking about avoiding the Frenchmen. To me, that sounds like total tanking—no doubt about it.

I have a feeling our decision to let them play tomorrow is going to come back to haunt us when we inevitably get crushed by the Spaniards in the finals. It’s almost a certainty.

The worst part about all this is how history just loves to loop back on itself. 😱 We've been down this road before—it's us against the Spaniards, and whoever comes out on top gets a date with the French in the quarterfinals. 😱

Back then, we pulled it off, moved on to face the French, and absolutely crushed them.

The Spaniards were playing it safe back then—kind of calculating their moves, I guess—and they’ll probably do the exact same thing again. If both sides start overthinking and playing too cautiously, the whole game is going to turn into a total farce, and honestly, it could end up being pretty pathetic.

Man, the French really put them in a tight spot... though, I suppose they couldn't care less.

Hmm, consider this scenario. They only seem to get a full house when they’re playing, and goodness knows, they’re always loud. They really can't afford a loss tomorrow. It would be a massive blow to their momentum.
In an environment like that, once you hit the quarterfinals and the stakes skyrocket, I wouldn't even dream of betting on the French. Those vuvuzelas absolutely wrecked us back in 2009; that wasn't exactly the kind of atmosphere that helps a French collapse.
Actually, if we're being honest, the French fell in the semifinals back in 2007 after 100 overtime periods and some questionable officiating, right in the middle of that chaos where Germany had to fight their way through. Something similar could very well happen here.
Next year at the European Championship in Denmark won't quite be "it," though. It'll be more like the 2011 final in Sweden—a packed house of Danes, only for the guys from guza to snatch the title.

Then it’s all set. If the kids end up playing tomorrow, we’ll just go ahead and give the starters some much-needed rest