Serbia – Spain 10:14 (2:3, 4:6, 2:2, 2:3)
Pool “Ana Čučković”. Referees: Bodrumis (Greece) and Kun (Hungary). Player more: Serbia 10 (3), Spain 10 (5). Two players more: Serbia 1 (1), Spain 1 (1). Peterci: Serbia 1 ( 1), Spain 5 (5)
Serbia: Filipović, Mandić 4, S. Rasović 2, Randjelović 1, Lukić, Lazić, Drašović, N. Jaksić, Vico, Dedović 3, P. Jaksić, V. Rasović, Glušac, Martinović.
Spain: Unai Aguire, Munariz 4, Granados 3, Sanauja 3, De Toro, Larumbe, Gomez 1, Cabañas 1, Taul 1, Valera, Biel 1, Bustos, Lorio, Gomila.
Serbia suffered its second defeat at the 2026 Trebinje Cup. The current European and world champion Spain was better than the Olympic winner 14:10 (3:2, 6:4, 2:2, 3:2). On Monday at 4 pm, Serbia will play against France for fifth place, Spain and Greece will compete for third place at 6:15 pm, while the final at 8:30 pm will feature Italy and Hungary, who defeated France 20:8.
Serbia did suffer a defeat, but it seemed much more motivated and combative than in the match with Italy. Willpower, defensive play, blocks and Filipović were the hallmarks of the first quarter. Spain ended the quarter with a 3:2 lead with two goals from Granados’ five-pointer and one with a player more. Dedović and Mandić scored for Serbia with a player more. If there had been concentration with a player more, the result would have been better. This problem followed the Serbian team until the end of the match.
The rhythm of the Spaniards was stronger in the second quarter. They punished mistakes in the Serbian defense, Munariz, Biel and Cabanas easily solved situations before Filipović’s goal, and it was 7:3 for the European and world champions. Serbia did not give up. Dedović and Mandić kept the team above water, they reduced the score to 7:5 and 8:6. However, there was no cure for Sanauža, who gave the Spaniards a three-goal lead at the end of the half.
Serbia did not solve the problems with more players in the second half. The aggressive Spaniards waited for their chances, they had another plus four in the third half, until Strahinja Rašović scored the first goal to bring the score back to the most common three goals surplus for their rivals. In the middle of this half, Glušac was in goal instead of Filipović.
Serbia was looking for a way to threaten their opponent’s advantage. There was nervousness on both sides, but the Spaniards seemed calmer, and when Stevanović’s team missed some opportunities, Munariz and his teammates took advantage of the Serbian team’s defensive lapses and thus preserved their advantage, which at one point was five goals.
Serbia was again without Ćuk. The two teams will play in the same group at the European Championship and it remains to be seen how much the coaches Martin and Stevanović hid their cards. Spain is an excellent team and Serbia will need to play its best game to record the desired result.
