The 30th official match of two leading handball nations was not only thrilling, but also a feast for tactics fans. Spain played with a huge variety in attack, from six against six, to four back-court players and no line player, to seven against six with two line players.
The French defence was well prepared for some of those variations, but in the first half, the Spanish counterattacks were crucial. When France reduced the number of mistakes after the break and Rémi Desbonnet saved some important shots, France recovered from their weak performance in the first half. As they could not set up their regular high-speed match play, as Spain were extremely quick back in defence, they depended on the shooting power of their back-court stars and the combinations with their line players.
In crunch time, when the risk was quite high of losing the lead, Spanish head coach Jordi Ribera still counted on seven against six — which was as crucial as Hernández’s saves of at the other end.