The Spanish handball team did not fail and took home, just as it did three years ago in Tokyo, the bronze medal, after beating Slovenia 23-22 this Sunday in the consolation final of the Paris Olympics thanks to a save by Gonzalo Pérez de Vargas in the final moments.
An intervention that rewarded the greater mental strength of the Spanish team in a final stretch of the match in which Jordi Ribera’s men knew how to overcome the exclusion of Miguel Sánchez Migallón.
But even with one man less, the Hispanos did not let slip the one-goal lead they had in the last minute and a half of play.
And Slovenia seemed to have everything in their favour after having a final ball to equalise the match, after a more than controversial foul in attack by Aleix Gómez, who had to leave the court in the arms of Abel Serdio after the hard clash he suffered with the defender.
However, Slovenia, who took off their goalkeeper to play the last action with seven outfield players, did not know how to move the ball well and ended up trying to force extra time with a long-range shot from Borut Mackovsek that was saved by Gonzalo Pérez de Vargas.
The best possible way to end an Olympic tournament that, by the whims of fate, brought together Spaniards and Slovenians in a match for the bronze medal fourteen days after both teams were in charge of opening the tournament on July 27, thus closing the circle for both national teams in the competition.
But there was much more at stake in this match. A toss-up that seemed to greatly motivate Slovenian goalkeeper Klemen Ferlin, who after the first quarter of an hour of play had already made the same number of saves (six) as he had in the opening game.
Spaniards celebrate the bronze medal victory in men’s handball between Spain and Slovenia at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in France, on August 11, 2024. — ALEX PLAVEVSKI / EFE
A circumstance that allowed Slovenia to take a two-goal lead on the scoreboard (4-6) which made it clear that the Hispanos were going to have to suffer a lot to beat the Balkan team again as they had already done (25-22) in the first phase of the tournament.
But if Slovenia could boast of having a goalkeeper, Spain could say the same, since, although Gonzalo Pérez de Vargas did not reach the figures of Ferlin, who at times exceeded 60 percent of saves, the Toledo native always emerged at the right moment.
The piece that the Spanish team needed to finally consolidate their defence, which allowed them to cause more and more problems to a Slovenian attack that ended up reduced to the actions of Blaz Janc.
The defensive improvement was accompanied by the emergence of Jorge Maqueda in attack, who with his courageous style allowed Spain not only to make up for its disadvantage, but to take a two-goal lead (10-8) on the scoreboard with six minutes remaining in the first half.
A difference that disappeared just as quickly as it came, given the difficulties Jordi Ribera’s men had in stopping Janc, who with his electric penetrations was responsible for tying the match again (12-12) at half-time.
The tie continued at the start of the second half (16-16) in which, although Spain seemed to find the way to goal through pivot Abel Serdio, Slovenia’s full-back Aleks Vlah emerged as a key player, who had not been seen in the entire first half.
The tie was one that neither the Spaniards nor the Slovenians were able to break, weighed down by the growing tension that led to the goals coming in dribs and drabs, with the score remaining at an uncertain 20-20 with less than eight minutes remaining.
A simple preview of what was experienced in the final minutes when Jordi Ribera’s men, in another display of competitive character, proved more reliable than their rival and climbed to the third step of the podium.
