The coach of the Argentine handball team, Guillermo Milano, assured this Thursday that the “team arrives very well” at the World Cup in Sweden and Poland, where this Friday he will debut against the Netherlands in the city of Krakow.
“The team arrives very well at this World Cup because the previous tour helped us compete and improve. And the human group formed is a potential that our team has,” Milano told Télam from the Polish city where this Friday, at 2:00 p.m. in Argentina, they will be making their debut against the Dutch at the Tauron Arena stadium, in the opening of Group F of the contest.
“We rested the captain, Diego Simonet, and that meant that others had more minutes on the field. Here there are very humble players, wanting to win, who leave their skin when it comes to competing,” he said.
The gladiators will play their second match of this initial phase on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. against Norway and they will close the initial round on Tuesday against North Macedonia, starting at 2:00 p.m.
“The first objective is to go through the round and the second to go through with points. But for that you have to beat the Netherlands and North Macedonia. Then, the third goal is to focus on October, when qualifying for the Olympic Games in Paris next year is played,” he described.
“The Netherlands play with a lot of discipline and speed, and they have Luc Steins, who is at Paris Saint Germain and is one of the best centre-backs in the world. And North Macedonia is a more down-to-earth team but with a lot of history, since it comes from the former Yugoslavia, so it will also be a difficult game”, he pointed out.
The Dutch received together with Slovenia the invitation (wild card) from the International Handball Federation (IHF) in recognition of his rise in the sport and his good performance in the European championship.
As for the strongest rival in the area, Norway, pointed out that it is “one of the best teams in the world, both for its physical power and for its unmatched quality. His figure is Sander Sagosen, an extraordinary player who can play as a center back or as a left back.”
The team led by Milano will start his 14th consecutive World Cup participation with the illusion of surpassing the historic eleventh place obtained in the last edition of Egypt 2021.
?? #Argentina | THE HANDBALL WORLD CUP BEGINS
This 2023 is full of World Cups where Argentina will leave everything to stay at the top. The first is that of The Gladiators.
Let’s go Argentina! pic.twitter.com/iwu4JxooxT
– Very Sport (@muydeporte) January 10, 2023
The Gladiators integrate, according to the figure Diego Simonet, “the most fought and difficult area” of the World Cup and the first challenge will be against the Dutch, who will compete again after 62 years since their last and only participation was in 1961.
The Netherlands received the invitation (wild card) from the IHF together with Slovenia in recognition of his rise in the sport and his good performance in the European championship.
