(Russian handball players) The renewed Russian national handball team at the World Championship has already solved the minimum task – it left the preliminary group with the maximum points, having won three matches. Ahead is a meeting with the Olympic champions from France. MK-Sport is considering whether we need a victory over them from a strategic point of view. And he also talks about the scandal that the Norwegians staged: they did not like the fact that the whole world was being told how much they weigh.
The World Cup in Spain, which was held according to a new scheme with the participation of 32 teams (there were 24 in Kumamoto-2019), arranged more games, gave more chances of salvation, but caused a storm of indignation. A quota from continents is a political issue. But I doubt the weakness of Belarus and Ukraine over the Congo, China or Paraguay. The path of such teams ended with a proud President’s Cup (in fact, a consolation tournament for the eight outsiders), while the leaders of the world handball calmly ran around the reservists. But not everywhere. (Russian handball players)
In the first half of the grid – France, Russia, Norway, the Netherlands, Sweden. These are the final five of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. In the second – Spain, Denmark, Germany and Brazil. This quartet reached the quarterfinals on Friday. Of the dark horses, only Argentina created a sensation, beating Austria, which had lost its main resources due to covid (along with the head coach), and then frankly weak China; and Puerto Rico, which somehow managed to defeat Uzbekistan, not the weakest in the Asian zone.
Russia left the preliminary group with the maximum points, beating Cameroon, Poland and Serbia in turn. Recall that at the exit, according to the regulations, there were 4 left: the points scored with Cameroon were to be reset. However, let’s ask Polina Kaplina, one of the two main goalkeepers of the national team and the CSKA Moscow club, about everything :
– The tournament started with a comfortable, but still new rival – Cameroon. A national team with handball, which is different from the standard one in our understanding. If you remember, we even lost two goals. But in the course of the game we adapted. Then they worked quietly on the preliminary group. Us with Anastasia Lagin put at the gate on time, but in some cases the steel and change frequently, depending on whether there is a game or not. It is up to the coaches to decide. (Russian handball players)
– The first round went almost flawlessly, although the rivals tickled their nerves. And in Slovenia, the main group almost stumbled, and a draw was subsequently viewed as a success. One could see some kind of collective unwillingness to rebuild rivals from the Adriatic.
– I think the Slovenes studied us and tuned in well (in general, everyone tunes in to us), and the Balkans have been trained in tough defense since childhood. In principle, we knew this. We, the goalkeepers, of course, helped less in that match. With Slovenia, my reflection percentage is not very good. I can feel it without any calculations. By the way, when goalkeepers change kaleidoscopically, the “counting board” is often mistaken: the save of one goalkeeper can be attributed to another, and vice versa. And this is not only the history of the World Cup. This often happens. Yes, this concerns not only the goalkeepers, but also the “field” players with their throws and interceptions. (Russian handball players)
– Another question about the numbers. At the start of the tournament, the Norwegians made a scandal and demanded from the organizing committee and the broadcasting company to remove detailed captions telling about the physical data of the handball players: weight and height. They went to meet them.
– To be honest, I didn’t know anything about it. It doesn’t really matter to me. If you focus on this, you simply won’t have time to play handball. What a secret of weight and height, if any “Wikipedia” in two seconds upon request will give out about the necessary player even more than height and weight!
– Now, against the background of double-digit scatter in the account, another “fuss” is brewing. The handball world is divided into two camps: some believe that 32 teams for the World Cup final is premature, others think that it is good, let the outsiders adapt. What position do you personally adhere to?
– There is no exact answer. And it doesn’t depend on us. Girls from other countries, of course, want to play, strive for excellence. There is a goal in practicing handball, and achieving this goal is an endless process. The only thing is that sometimes such matches are held in front of empty stands. (Russian handball players)
– Which of the goalkeepers did you like in the other national teams?
– I don’t really follow the goalkeepers of other teams, I just don’t have time. And looking at future rivals is a learning material. Slovenia, Serbia, France – with whom we played and with whom is yet to come, everything is in order with the goalkeepers …
On Monday at 20.30 Moscow time, the FGR team (as before, officially) will play with the French Olympic champions. The match acquired special tournament significance after Saturday’s success in the game with the Montenegrin team, the silver medalist of the 2012 Games in London and the European champion of the same year. Before the game in the warm-up, the main linear team Anastasia Illarionova was injured , and she was hastily changed to point guard Karina Sabirova , who immediately went on the attack and scored 3 goals in 3 minutes. Such explosive successes are both beneficial and detrimental to ours. Of course, the performance plan was supported by Olga Fomina from the right edge and Antonina Skorobogatchenko(both – 6 balls). Three times the gap reached 10 points, but ended only “+6”. A common story for our team, all the more backed up by the controversial refereeing of the Turkish tandem Kursad Erdogan – Ibrahim Ozdeniz . In theory, it would be nice for Russian women to build up their performance, but taking into account the happy ending in parallel meetings, you can forget about it and concentrate on French women.
Do we really need a victory from a strategic point of view?
In the parallel group, which we and France will meet, the situation is as follows: Norway and the Netherlands have 7 points, and on Monday they will play against each other. In case of a draw, the reigning world champion from the Land of Tulips is higher: in the face-to-face meeting with Norway there was a draw, but the Orange managed to score 106 goals in Kazakhstan and Puerto Rico. Sweden has 6 points, while on par with all the main competitors: both meetings are drawn. And they play with Romania (4 points), which will no longer be able to make the playoffs. (Russian handball players)
It clearly follows from this that neither we nor France will be able to choose a more comfortable opponent in such a situation. Perhaps the 13th day of the World Championship will be the first one that will give handball fans a real spin. (Russian handball players)
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