They
knew whom to thank after the final whistle: All Spanish players jumped upon
goalkeeper Silvia Navarro, as she had decided the Bronze final nearly on her
own. In the end, the 24:18 victory over Denmark meant the first ever medal for
Spanish women at a World Championship after their fourth position in 2009.
After ranking fourth at the European Championship 2010, Denmark missed very
tightly again a medal.
Bronze final: Denmark – Spain 18:24
(9:9)
The
first half was imprinted by great performances of both goalkeepers, Christina
Pedersen (Denmark) and Silvia Navarro (Spain). Navarro was the biggest reason
for the half time draw, as she saved a huge number of Danish shots. The
Northern Europeans were the better team in the first 30 minutes, but failed too
often in attack. Spain could not build up their usual defence wall, but Denmark
missed an early decision. In attack Spain was much more efficient than the
Danes.
After
the break Denmark increased first to a two goal margin, but could not cast off
their opponent, as Navarro still kept the gate closed. She turned the game, as
Spain then started to take the profit of her saves. By fast breaks – usually
the strength of the Danes – they equalized at 12:12 and increased then to 15:12
with their fifth straight goal. Even a Danish time-out could not stop the
Iberian Express. The Danes seemed to resign more with every missed shot, whilst
Spain waited patiently for their chances and increased the gap to five goals
for the first time at 19:14, after Carmen Martin scored by penalty.
Even
the second time-out of Jan Pytlick did not solve their problems: In attack they
caused too many mistakes and the defence lacked stability. So Spain latest
decided the game at the score of 22:16 four minutes before the end. The small
Danish catch-up chase came too late to turn the game.
Statements
after the match:
Kim
Jensen, assistant coach Denmark: We are really sad as we were hoping to be able
to beat Spain. But Spanish goalkeeper Silvia Navarro was the key to our defeat,
as we missed too many chances. Despite the defeat our new team played a
fantastic tournament, even though we were missing eight players from our EURO
2010 squad. We are proud of our team.
Jorge
Duenas, coach Spain: This is a happy day for Spanish women’s handball, as we
took our first ever World Championship medal. We knew before that we could not
lose, this was our strength. I was believing totally in this team, which I am
proud of. Now we want to reach the Olympic Games.
Sandra
Toft, player Denmark: We had big problems in defence, as Spain played fast and
strong. The Spanish goalkeeper was too strong for us today. In a couple of
days, when we look back at this tournament, we will be happy and proud of being
among the top 4 in the world.
Sandra
Navarro, goalkeeper Spain: We and our coach always believed in ourselves. We
were a real team at this World Championship compared to the last European
Championship.
Final ranking 3 – 24:
3.
Spain
4.
Denmark
5.
Brazil
6.
Russia
7.
Croatia
8.
Angola
9.
Sweden
10.
Montenegro
11.
Korea
12.
Iceland
13.
Romania
14.
Japan
15.
Netherlands
16.
Ivory Coast
17.
Germany
18.
Tunisia
19.
Kazakhstan
20.
Uruguay
21.
China
22.
Cuba
23.
Argentina
24.
Australia