04.09.2007, 09:43
Cementos La Union Ribarroja: CL dreams

The Spanish women's champion undergo changes in their roster and they set ambitious goals for next season.

Cementos La Union Ribarroja: Champions League dreams

Spanish champions, Cementos La Union, have a new dream for this season: to win the Champions League. There were changes in the team roster and Ribarroja have to face five competitions this season with their new team. They were the queens of Spain last season and it will be a difficult job to repeat the victory next year. Elda, Sagunto and Itxako will also try to claim the titles in Spain and in Europe as well.

The first opponents in the Champions League group phase will be Danish Slagelse and Croatian Podravka Vegeta (Zdravko Zovko’s new team).

Mangue leaves

Marta Mangue, Spanish international, will not play for Ribarroja next season, but club managers were looking for a solution. Mangue was a really important handballer for the team and had a share in last year’s success. Brasilian Francine Gomes will have the job to substitute her. Gomes will be one of the five new faces in Cementos La Union.

Romanian goalkeeper, Mihaela Coibanu, Spanish pivots, Goretti Castañeda and Anabella Forner, and Croatian Anja Krivoruchko will help to the club reach the objectives set.

New objectives

The Spanish coach, Gregorio Garcia, has the Champions League title in mind, but he also knows that Ribarroja are favourites for any Spanish title. The club dominated Spanish handball in the last two seasons and the coach always thinks about winning every championship. However, they know that it will be very difficult.

The first official title of the season, the ABF Cup, went to Sagunto in a very close match where Sagunto had a brilliant Eli Lopez in the goal.

This match shows that this season will be very hard for the current Spanish championship.

TEXT: Fernando Urra Goñi