Jordi Ribera names 21 players to prepare for the World Cup

MADRID, 12 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Spanish handball coach, Jordi Ribera, has announced this Monday the list of 21 players summoned to start in Valencia, from December 26 to 30, the preparation for the World Championship in Poland and Sweden 2023, which will be held from December 11 to January 29.

Thus, the Catalan coach has called up Gonzalo Perez de Vargas, Rodrigo Corrales and Sergey Hernandez, as goalkeepers; Agustín Casado and Ian Tarrafeta, as centerpieces; Daniel Dujshebaev, Joan Cañellas and Antonio Garcia, as left backs; Alex Dujshebaev, Jorge Maqueda and Imanol Garciandia, as right backs; Angel Fernandez, Daniel Fernandez and Josep Folquez, as left wingers; Ferran Solé and Kauldi Odriozola, as right wingers; Gideon Guardiola, Adria Figueras, Iñaki Peciña and Abel Serdio, as pivots; and Miguel Sanchez-Migallon, as a defensive specialist.

Ribera thus offers a continuation block, with 15 players who have already participated in the European Championship this year -where they won silver- and six who were in the Mediterranean Games in Oran. Everyone has participated in some of the activities this year.

In this first activity in Valencia, all the internationals will be available except for Daniel Fernández, who will have to play a Bundesliga game with his club, TVB Stuttgart, on those days. After the stage and after several days off, the players will return to action on January 2 at the International Tournament in Spain 2023, the last competitive test bench for Hispanics before their World Cup debut.

On January 8, after the celebration of this event, Jordi Ribera will offer the final list of the 'Hispanics' who will participate in the World Cup. That same day, the Spanish team will travel to Madrid to finish preparing for the world event and fly to Krakow on the 10th, 48 hours before the first game in Poland against Montenegro.

"As always, you have to aspire to everything, but it has been very good for us to think step by step, live day by day. In my mind there is only the qualification for the quarterfinals because of its importance to fight for places for the Pre-Olympic and also for fight for the title. It is necessary to have a good first phase because then we have a very difficult crossing with Slovenia, France or Poland", pointed out Ribera.

In addition, he considers this first stage in Valencia "very interesting". "As there is no competition, we can train calmly, these will be very important days with a large group of players before we focus more on specific preparation and with the TIE as a framework to help us get into competition well. Above all, I hope that from now to end of the preparation there are no injuries and that the team arrives in the best conditions", he pointed out.

GOALKEEPERS: Gonzalo Pérez de Vargas (Barça), Rodrigo Corrales (Telekom Veszprém) and Sergey Hernández (SL Benfica).

CENTERS: Agustín Casado (MT Melsungen) and Ian Tarrafeta (PAUC Handball).

LEFT SIDES: Daniel Dujshebaev (Lomza Industria Kielce), Joan Cañellas (Kadetten Schaffhausen) and Antonio García (Fraikin Granollers).

RIGHT SIDES: Álex Dujshebaev (Lomza Industria Kielce), Jorge Maqueda (HBC Nantes) and Imanol Garciandia (OTP Bank - Pick Szeged).

LEFT WINGS: Ángel Fernández (Limoges Hand 87), Daniel Fernández (TVB Stuttgart) and Josep Folqués (Sporting CP).

RIGHT WINGS: Ferran Solé (PSG Handball) and Kauldi Odriozola (HBC Nantes).

PIVOTES: Gedeon Guardiola (TBV Lemgo), Adria Figueras (Chartres Metropole), Iñaki Peciña (Chambery Savoie Handball) and Abel Serdio (Orlen Wisla Plock).

DEFENSIVE SPECIALIST: Miguel Sánchez-Migallón (Lomza Industria Kielce).