Five wins from five matches – Spain cruised through the preliminary round at the 24th Men’s Handball World Championship in Qatar. Yesterday, the defending champions were scheduled to begin their knockout stage campaign against Tunisia in an eighth-final match.
Going into the intercontinental match for the quarter-finals, right wing Victor Tomas spoke about his confidence going all the way again like two years ago. Tomas (world champion in 2013 and double EHF Champions League winner with FC Barcelona) has good memories of Doha: In 2013 and 2014 the Barcelona team captain received the trophy as the IHF Super Globe winner.
After five wins in the first stage you must be satisfied with the Spanish performances?
Victor Tomas: I am absolutely satisfied! It was our clear goal to finish top of our group and to have a perfect base for the rest of the event. The first part of our hopefully long road is over and we have taken confident first steps.
Do you agree that your team has improved match by match?
VT: Definitely our final group match against Slovenia was our best. For 60 minutes we stood strong in defence and were efficient in attack. I hope this was a good signal for the rest of the tournament.
Spain has to cope with the situation that your number one goalkeeper Arpad Sterbik is out due to injury. How is this affecting the team?
VT: I don’t see it as a problem so far. Three times in five matches our goalkeepers Jose Manuel Sierra and Gonzalo Perez de Varga were awarded man of the match, this says it all. Of course Arpad is one of the best goalkeepers in the world, but our current goalkeepers give our defence great confidence. So we do not have to worry about this at all.
How tough will the clash against Tunisia be in the eighth-finals ?
VT: We are very aware of the class of the Tunisian team. They are really strong, with a great defence and dangerous shooters. So we have to be on 100 percent to proceed.
Two years ago Spain became World Champions on home ground. Do you dream of another final in Doha?
VT: This final in Barcelona was one of the greatest moments in my career. There’s nothing compared to winning a trophy like this cheered on by your fans on home ground. Of course, we hope to go all the way again but still we need some more victories and the knock-out stage is really dangerous.
