Spain keep main round hopes alive with win against Romania

GROUP B

Romania vs Spain 24:36 (12:17)

• it was a slow start for Spain, the Romanian defence made them sweat and they were trailing by two in the ninth minute
• aggressive defence and a woken-up Gonzalo Perez de Vargas made space for the Spanish 6-0 goal run five minutes until the half-time buzzer, leaving Xavi Pascual's team goalless for nine minutes
• Daniel Fernandez' fifth goal in the 46th minute set the first double-digit lead as the Romanian attack faltered
• Spanish right wing Aleix Gómez scored his 300th goal for the national team in this game, netting in total eight times
• Daniel Fernandez scored six goals and earned the Player of the Match award, powered by Grundfos; line player Calin Dedu shone on the other side with four goals from as many attempts
• Romania will seek their first win at the EHF EURO on Tuesday when they face Croatia, while Spain are eyeing their main round spot against Austria

Spanish redeem themselves after loss to Croatia

Even though they were not showing their best play, the Spanish team got redemption after their biggest defeat in the EHF EURO history, the 29:39 loss against Croatia.

Jordi Ribera's team once again was like a diesel engine, starting slow and it took them some time to find a solution for Xavi Pascual's strong tactics. Having shot efficiency at 80 per cent or higher throughout the game shows how determined the Spaniards were.

Spain managed to speed it up in the second half, producing more fast breaks, coming to a convincing win at the end. The inexperienced Romanian team will need to work harder and keep dreaming if they want to surprise Spain who now has four wins in four matches against Romania.

Photos © Kolektiff Images