Six months ago, through Montenegro, Italy secured its first appearance at a major competition after more than 25 years, and on the wings of a huge success in the World Cup play-offs, the handball players from the Apennines began qualifying for the EHF Euro.
Riccardo Trilini's boys did not create a new sensation this time, but they were close - against the giants of Spain away from home, against the team that recently won the bronze medal at the Olympic Games in Paris.
In the end, "Furija" managed to knock down the underdog 31:30, but the fans in Valencia were in disbelief for a long time, especially when after Marko Mengon's goal in the 37th minute, the scoreboard showed 21:17 for "azure".
However, Jordi Ribera's team managed to equalize with three minutes to go (28:28) and after that through Jan Tarafetta and Kauldi Odriazola somehow "break" the tough rival.
The most effective for Italy were Mikael Halmerson with seven goals and Tomas Bortoli with six, while in the second team the best player was Daniel Fernades with six goals.
"It was difficult to play, and in the first half we made a lot of mistakes against a good team like Italy. In the end - the most important thing is the two points and the victory, which is a gift to the people of Valencia (who recently experienced catastrophic floods)," said Rodrigo Korales, the goalkeeper of Spain.
Italy is in a strong group that also includes Serbia, and these two selections will meet on Sunday in Fasano, in the south of the Apennine peninsula.
"We are proud of the game against Spain, but we turn to Serbia - that match is the final for us," said Pablo Miguel Maroki, center back of Azura.
Montenegrin handball players opened the qualification with a victory over Finland (29:28), and on Sunday they will face Slovakia in Košice.
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