Handball journeys

We are now ten days away from the start of the Men's handball world championships.  A new challenge, some of you know what/why, for the same result?  I will be a happy citizen if either  that of 2005/2013?  Or that 1995/2001/2009/2011/2015/2017? is to  My diary is as follows: London Berlin Munich Berlin Cologne Hamburg I will not attend the final day in Denmark as I have already experienced a chaotic yet successful return from Herning back in January 2014 with three short unexpected and impromptu 'VIP' moment(s).

There is a slight frailty as the big event looms. It is J-15. There is a sudden excitment. I am about to unveil a new chapter. Will I be able to perform my new duties? Are my favourite teams ready to play well? Will the atmosphere in the German league be reproduced in the arenas of such hyped Championships? I thank the IHF and the media team who accepted my application. Will I get new fans like Napoleon?

After the Arsenal defeat at the bogey away ground (St Mary's), I was eager to watch using 4G or wifi on the coach back to London the handball final but would miss the last three minutes and the medals ceremony owing to technical glitches. The semi-final was astonishing and the final was gripping. Our friend Paul Bray is frankly gutted because, much as we love him as a person and knowledgeable handball fan/commentator/player/manager he could not stop showing signs of frustration with France wrestling with their opponents. During the Rio games it was shocking how he would suppport any team playing against France in the men as well as in the women's competition. At this Euro championship he also ignored some basic handball principles when France were in the semi-final and the final against contentious decisions by the Spanish and Danish referees respectively. Referees and commentators are part of the game but they should remain neutral and unbiased.  At the start of the second

La derrota ante Holanda con el golpe franco en el ultimo instante tras el gol del empate conseguido por Carmen Martin ha desencadenado en dudas en el seno del equipo ya que perdieron ante Ungaria sin jugar.  Hoy es precisamente en esos malos momentos que necesitan mi apoyo. Estoy en Londres y no en Nancy. Me da pena el desenlace de la primera parte ante Alemania. Hay una especie de fallo en la comunicacion y la eleccion de las combinaciones no me parece acertada. Ojala cambie el partido tras la media parte. Aupa ESPANA. Hay que luchar. Cabe pelear.  Unos minutos ya en la secunda parte me gusta mas el animo de las Guerreras ! Animo Espana ! Vamos. A por la remontada ! Una derrota de 6 goles. Que pena. Los arbitros han sido pesimos sobre todo con unos saques de 7 metros para Alemania mientras no le otorgaban a Espana durante la secunda parte cuando Espana empezaba la remontada. Tampoco merecia tarjeta roja la supuesta falta de Carmen Martin. Con 0 puntos no podra Espana sonar por

A challenging week-end as we swapped  between the Men's Champions League and the Women's European championships. For obvious reasons I no longer travelled to France but I am able to watch the games from the UK. It does feel a bit awkward not being in the arena listening to our dear friend Paul Bray. You imagine Mireia's mum sharing precious moments of her time with a versatile French handball fan. Nerea Penea had an excellent 25 minutes ensuring her team was confortable against Croatia. Maybe the team appeared overly confident because the second half was not very good from the Spanish perspective. France lost to Russis and I was so tired that I even went to sleep instead. Mireia did well despite of two exclusions. A younger generation from Croatia is to gain more experience as Spain fielded a mixture of very experienced players and younger hungry talented players.    Figure 1 : Nerea Penea against Slovenia at the World Championships 2017 in Trier (Germany)