Spain's men's team aims for the semi-finals

The Spanish men's beach handball team is about to start its trip to the 2013 European Beach Handball Championship in Randers (Denmark; 9 to 14 July), where they are set to improve on the position they obtained at the previous European Championship, when they won bronze in Umag (Croatia) in 2011.

Head coach Francisco Aguilera had the most welcome trouble of selecting a strong squad out of strong potential candidates.

"The attitude of all the participants at the pre-tournament meeting has been outstanding. The team has been working for hours and hours to get rid all the weaknesses from the last championship in Oman.

That is why we have brought in some players who are bound to help overcoming those weak points," Aguilera said in a statement released by the Spanish Handball Federation.

At the 2012 Beach Handball World Championship in Oman Spain finished fifth.

"Our work has been very intense and so last week the players have been doing some recovery exercises. This week they are competing domestically and then we are off to Denmark, where we need to get to the quarter-finals from a good position, as from there in it will just be a knockout competition, which we all know what means...," Aguilera stressed.

The head coach leaves no room for doubts about his team's objectives for the tournament.

"The goal is to reach at least the semi-finals, but this group is a difficult one (Spain are seeded with Russia, Norway, Denmark, Poland, Switzerland and Italy in the preliminary round) and the preparation very complex.

"From one year to another the teams change too mach and so do tactics. Also the season starts very late so everything is a bit hectic.

"Regarding the team, nine out of the 10 players are very much used to beach handball, but in any case the ability of Asobal players to rapidly familiarise themselves with the particularities of beach handball is awesome because of their high techniques and tactic skills."

It's all about weight and height

Aguilera also mentioned that he has been working to improve his players' agility. "We have lowered the average weight of the players and that is quite important for us. Nevertheless still we have one of the shortest teams and that is something we still have to work on for the future,"

The team will travel to Randers on 8 July. They will face the Danish hosts in their first match on Tuesday (9 July) at 17:00 hrs.

Click here to get the complete match schedule.

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The Spanish team for the 2013 European Beach Handball Championship

Goalkeepers: Álvaro de Hita (Globalcaja BM Ciudad Encantada) & Jorge Olíva (Globalcaja BM Ciudad Encantada)

Specialists: Ángel Fernández (BM Torrelavega) & Carlos Molina (BM Huesca) 

Universals: Álvaro Polo (Baplamel Melilla) & Gonzalo Cervera (Club BM Ciudad de Algeciras) 

Wings: David Balaguer (FC Barcelona) & Ignacio Oleaga (BM Madrid)

Pivots: David Mendoza (Globalcaja BM Ciudad Encantada) & Hugo Madera (BM Maravillas)