Jordi Ribera: Overcoming Challenges in Europe

Jordi Ribera Romans (Sarrià de Ter, 1963) can boast of being the most successful Spanish coach in history. The bronze at the Paris Games was his seventh major medal with the Hispanics: the Olympic bronzes in Tokyo and Paris, the three European medals (two gold and one silver) and the two world bronzes. He enjoys videos, computers, projectors, reports from rivals, screens, massage tables and technical talks, which give him the title of professor. Now they face the European Championship that is being held in Denmark, Sweden and Norway, placed in the group of death. The first rival will be Serbia this Thursday (6:00 p.m.).

-He has been in the national team for a decade and has been a coach since he was 26.

-Well, as a professional coach yes, but I have been training since I was 15 years old. Throughout life there have been many projects in different stages and with different objectives with clubs, teams and national teams. All of them have allowed me to motivate myself and do what I like and want. I have been able to travel, meet a lot of people and help many players, clubs and teams achieve their goals.

-Do you never get carried away with handball?

-No, because I work on what I like. It started as a hobby in my town that I was able to alternate with my administrative job at the hospital. I collaborated with the Catalan Federation, I received an offer to coach a professional team in Eibar and since then I have only been out of activity for a year and a half.

-Did that 15-year-old Jordi already see himself as a lifelong coach?

-I never thought it was going to be my job, although my idea since I started with my first contract is that I wanted to be a professional in this. Then I had the opportunity to go to Argentina and with the idea of living an experience through handball in another country and on another continent, I took advantage of it. Then I went to Brazil, where it was really a very positive experience because I was able to play my first Olympic Games in Beijing, and later I went to Germany where I was able to play in the Champions League. Later, after a new stint in Brazil, I received the call to come train in Spain and I have been there for 10 years now.

-He is a handball globetrotter.

-Yeah. At that time there were fewer people, but now there are a lot of coaches who are spread everywhere. Before we didn’t go out so much, there weren’t so many coaches and players out. Now it is normal to see great foreign teams led by Spanish coaches.

-And in these 10 years, what is the mark that you have left on the national team?

-The most important thing is that we have generated a collective project for all men’s categories. Before, the junior team coach did one job and the youth team coach did another, but with my arrival we have tried to create a collective project that has brought together many people working. I arrived at a negative time after being left out of the Rio Games and little by little we returned to the paths of good results.

-The bronze at the Paris Games was his seventh major medal with the Hispanics.

-It has been a really lucky time and with good players who were already having good results. We have had continuity that allowed us to be on the podium in the last competitions. That is a good thing for our sport and for all of us who participated in the project.

-Hispanics form a human group that makes work easier.

-I have been very lucky in the locker room, because I picked up a group that had a very big focus on the competition. The coach, with these players, takes advantage of this circumstance.

-Not many selectors call the players before calling them up.

-I call those who come to tell them what I want from them and even those who do not come, especially those who were in the last activity and do not repeat. I call them to find out how they are, to tell them first-hand that they are going to come to the national team and many times to take stock of how they are at the club level.

-Having a good relationship with the players is important for a coach.

-The player greatly appreciates that you transmit clear ideas, that when you talk to them you explain to them what their role is on the team, the possibilities they have of being or not being there, what you demand of them and the possibilities that they then have to participate in the game. That clarity helps good understanding. I am not a person who talks a lot, but when I do it is naturally and I try to make sure that the things I say are what I feel.

-He has known some of them since they were 13 years old.

-There are players in the national team who started with us in the technicalization project in the Sierra Nevada CAR when they were 13 or 14 years old and now I have them here in the national team and we already know each other a lot. This always generates a fluidity in the relationship, in the contact. They know you and you know them. It’s always positive.

-Sometimes he has even taken them out for a beer when things haven’t gone well.

-Well, not so much (laughs). I think there are more of them. They manage some activities to build a team, especially when times are difficult, and sometimes we meet with the players outside the scope of work or a concentration and if we have to have a beer, we have it.

-Do you use other sports to prepare for matches?

-No. I read a lot and sometimes it has nothing to do with handball and it helps me reformulate my ideas and establish relationships. It is a bit like my refuge, which allows me to rebuild strategies and ways of functioning.

death group

-Let’s talk about the European. Spain is in the group of death.

-The draw was much more negative than the worst scenario that we had set for ourselves. With Serbia, Austria and Germany it is a very complex group but we have to accept it. I think the team is excited and we are going to go all out. We have always done well thinking about taking it game by game and we are going to continue the same.

-To open your mouths, Serbia on Thursday.

-It is a team that we have played in different draws in recent years and that coincidentally every time we play with them they have changed coaches. We are going to have very little information about them and that makes preparing for the game more difficult.

-What worries you the most, the rivals or your team?

-Right now the team. Have that consistency of picking up automatisms. With the little training we have been able to have, what worries me is that we are well, that people come out confident, that there are no injuries and that there is that bit of luck that is sometimes needed in competition.

-And if that were not enough, the first two in the group will face Denmark, France, Norway and Portugal in the Main Round.

-He is a European with many obstacles in the way. Whoever designed this draw was not very lucky because he put practically all the favorite teams in the same area. In the Main Round there are only two teams that go to the semifinals so it is going to be complicated. But that will come later.

-In this selection the star is the team?

-It always has been. The success of this team has always been determined by its collective, by the strength that the group generates once it enters the competition. This makes them capable of overcoming teams that may have a better size, better launch and better conditions.

-If you were a rival of Spain, what would you fear most?

-We are a very creative team in attack and can play different types of defense. When he is able to defend, he runs, and also has a good direct counterattack.

What requirements are set in the European Championship?

-Think about the day to day. The first objective is to qualify for the Main Round. For now, let’s think about Serbia and then we’ll see later.