Spain claimed their fourth consecutive win at the 2023 IHF Women’s World Championship after a strong second-half outing against Argentina, where they conceded only to goals, powering to a 30:23 scoreline.
Main Round Group II
Spain vs Argentina 30:23 (12:13)
It is usually working like a charm for Spain, but this time around, Argentina’s passes to the line players worked out wonders, as Giuliana Gavilan scored half of the South American’s side goals in the first 15 minutes, to take advantage of every loophole in Spain’s defence in this match. However, Argentina did not lead once in the match, with Spain always dictating the rhythm, yet failing to open a gap larger than two goals.
As both Spain’s Mercedes Castellanos Soanez and Argentina’s Marisol Carratu were up for the task between their respective posts, neither side could make a break until the end of the first half, when Argentina finally took a 13:12 lead, courtesy of their excellent defence, which stood strong and showed glimpses of what could happen were Ambros Martin’s side to fail to impose their will in the second half.
But Spain proved once again that they are excellent from a mental point of view, fully controlling the second half. They opened it up with a 2:0 run, restoring their biggest lead in the match and could have gone for more if Carratu did not extend her superb performance in the goal. Nevertheless, with Argentina’s attack lacking the needed impetus, there was so much Carratu could do until the end of the match.
One-on-one misses and failing to score from the 40th to 46th minute soon saw Argentina trail by four and that is when Spain really pushed the pedal to the metal. “Las Guerreras” maintained the same pace, fuelled by a four-goal run at the end of the match to take a clear 30:23 win, their fourth in a row at Denmark/Norway/Sweden 2023.
On Friday, 8 December, Spain will try to remain perfect and beat Czechia, while Argentina will try to surprise their neighbours Brazil.
