He had no margin for error but that did not influence the Argentine men's handball team.
The Gladiators defeated North Macedonia 35-26, in a match corresponding to the third date of group F, and advanced to the Main Round of the World Cup in Poland and Sweden.
The main figures of the Argentine team were
Diego Simonet
, with eight goals in nine attempts, and
Federico Pizarro
, with five goals in six shots.
"Today these kids, with a lot against them, we're getting back into a World Cup Main Round and we'll try to keep leaving our country as high up as we can," the left-hander stressed on his Twitter account.
The first half of Argentina bordered on perfection
, with a great approach and better execution by Los Gladiadores.
The tactic was key to stop a rival of greater physical size but less technical delivery.
In this way,
despite suffering two expulsions
, the national team finished leading 18 to 11 and with the illusion of continuing in the race intact
after the two initial defeats against the Netherlands and Norway
.
The distance achieved in the initial stage was key because it gave the team
peace
of mind and this was noted in the management of times and situations in the complement to round off the victory by
35 to 26
.
The game system allowed the Argentine team to access the next phase with the Netherlands and Norway, in which they will join three other opponents (Germany -Thursday's rival-, Serbia and Qatar) in a group.
The best two of each will advance to the quarterfinals
and from there direct elimination matches will take place until the champion is defined.
"A new challenge begins, against even more difficult rivals, but who is going to tell us that we will not be able to, if we are here when the reality of our sport says that we would not have it," Federico Pizarro remarked.
How is the World Cup going?
24 of the 32 participants
advance to the second phase
.
The top three from Group A and the top three from Group B will come together to form
Group 1
.
Each selected will
carry the points of the first stage
and will be measured exclusively with the teams that they have not yet faced.
Meanwhile, those from Group C and D will form Group 2;
those from Group E and F will form Group 3, and those from Group G and H will form Group 4, respectively.
The 2023 Handball World Cup is played in Poland and Sweden.
Katowice, Plock, Krakow, Gdansk, Silesia, Malopolska and Mazowsze are the venues for the Cup on Polish soil, while Stockholm, Malmo, Gothenburg, Kristianstad and Jonkoping are Swedish.
With information from Telam
look too
Handball World Cup: the Gladiators lost to Norway and were left with no margin of error for the classification
Handball World Cup: hard defeat of the Gladiators in the debut
