"Spain are a team that can only think of gold," new head coach says

Until a few weeks ago, Manolo Cadenas was fighting to keep Ademar de León among the best teams in the Spanish Asobal league. Now his duties have dramatically changed as he has not only taken on the job of the Polish national championship runner-ups, Wisla Plock, but also the job at the helm of the Spanish national team.

Eurohandball.com talked to Cadenas a few days before his inaugural match with Spain against Portugal.

eurohandball.com: Life has changed for you in literally a matter of seconds. From a tough situation in Ademar to now coaching both Wisla Plock and the Spanish national team. How do you feel about it?

Manolo Cadenas: I was thrilled with what I was doing in Ademar, but unfortunately the professional situation was very hard to bear. Now everything is completely different and I am very happy that I can fully concentrate on handball again.

eurohandball.com: What are your first thoughts about this new situation?

Manolo Cadenas: On the one hand you find a club like Wisla Plock with a fantastic project, and I am very happy to have been asked for that job. On the other hand, it is a dream come true being asked to coach your country's national team. It is an achievement any coach loves to reach at any stage. In any case, it involves a big deal of responsibility.

eurohandball.com: What does it mean to you that the team has already qualified for the EHF EURO 2014 in Denmark?

Manolo Cadenas: It means that I want to publicly thank Valero Rivera and all his technical staff for doing such a great job, as it gives us the opportunity to find more time to see what we must do to continue the development he started.

eurohandball.com: You almost called upon the same players for the matches against Portugal and Switzerland this week. Is your idea to maintain what was the backbone of the team at the World Championship?

Manolo Cadenas: I will be using the main players that won the title. They are world champions and deserve it. This team possesses many skills and my main intention is to maintain the great level they have and see where we can - if at all - improve.

eurohandball.com: There is a new situation with this team now as seven players play in foreign leagues. Is that a handicap to follow their progress?

Manolo Cadenas: That is true. We have become exporters of handball both for men and women and it is also a bit of a challenge. Not really at the time of seeing them playing, as we can easily obtain videos from all their matches, but because we were used to play one single style of handball and now we will have to try to put many different techniques together. In any case if we can adapt and learn from this, it will also enrich our way of playing.

What is your aim for the EHF EURO 2014 in Denmark with this team?

Manolo Cadenas: The main goal is very clear to me. They are the current world champions and lately Spain have been doing well at international level, therefore this is a team that can only think of gold.