LLÍRIA HOSTS THE RETURN OF THE HISPANOS

The Valencian town of Llíria was responsible for hosting the first international match for Hispanos in Spain after winning the European Championship in Austria, Norway and Sweden in 2020 last January

The Valencian town of Llíria hosted the meeting between Hispanos and Slovakia on 7 November, corresponding to the second day of the EHF EURO Cup 2022, which was broadcast live by Teledeporte.

The Pla de l’Arc Pavilion witnessed the first match of the reigning European champions in 9 months, after defending their continental title in Stockholm in January and winning a direct ticket to the Tokyo Olympic Games and the World Championship in Egypt in 2021. This match in the Comunitat Valenciana has been made possible thanks to the agreement between the Royal Spanish Handball Federation and the Trinidad Alfonso Foundation. The entity presided over by Juan Roig, pursues the reactivation of sport through different work plans, which include the attraction of events of special interest to the ‘Comunitat de l’Esport’.

The Spanish team visited the Valencian town for the first time. Lliria has been involved in Spanish handball in recent times with both the Hispanos and the Warriors. In fact, both Llíria Town Hall and the Trinidad Alfonso Foundation are major sports motors for the Valencian Community and for Spanish handball, hosting future events of the highest international level such as the Women’s Pre-Olympic Games next March, in which the Warriors will fight for a ticket to be in the Tokyo Olympics; or the Spanish Women’s Handball World Championship 2021, the first in the history of our country, in which Llíria is one of the confirmed venues.

Hispanos arrived in Llíria after making their debut in the EHF EURO Cup 2022 against Hungary in Veszprém (4 November), a competition that was fondly remembered by the national team: in its first edition they won the title against teams of the calibre of Austria, Norway and Sweden. Now, Jordi Ribera’s team hope to repeat the result in a tournament in which they will face Slovakia and Hungary, hosts of EHF EURO 2022; and Croatia, continental runner-up.