2024-07-11 14:23:41
“We dream of having a great participation in the Olympic Games. We are going to compete against five countries that are above us. What is clear is that we are working to improve ourselves and with the focus on where it should be,” says Guillermo Milano, coach of the Argentine men’s handball team, “Los Gladiadores,” to Page 12 from Montpellier, France, where the team is training in the final weeks before the start of the Games.
Milano, 51, from Morón, Buenos Aires province, replaced Spaniard Manuel Cadenas, who joined the Argentine team in 2017 and left the post after the Tokyo Olympics.
In Japan, Argentina finished last in Group A with no points after consecutive losses to France (33-27), Germany (33-25), Norway (27-23), Brazil (25-23) and Spain (36-27), and was therefore excluded early from the final phase of the competition. The Gladiators thus closed their third Olympic experience with a worse classification of tenth place obtained in London 2012 and Rio de Janeiro 2016.
Milano was part of Cadenas’ coaching staff and previously that of Eduardo “Dady” Gallardo, coach at the 2012 London and 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games; and at the ecumenical tournaments of Qatar 2015 and France 2017 (as an assistant).
In November of last year, Los Gladiadores defeated Brazil 32 to 25 in the final of the Pan American Games, winning the gold medal and also qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
–How do you define the Argentine team that will compete in Paris? What characteristics does it have and what are its greatest strengths and weaknesses?
–We have a fighting group with clear ideas of improving in every training session and in every objective. The greatest virtues are that they give their all in every action and as a group they work very well. They are happy in the national team. Some defects could be moments of tactical indiscipline, but that is improving every day. Of course, to beat the best everything has to be almost perfect.
–The Gladiators qualified for Paris, their fourth Olympic participation, after winning the gold medal at the Pan American Games in Chile last year. Based on this achievement, is it correct to say that the team has reached a level that allows them to dream of a good performance in Paris?
–Winning the Santiago Games does not guarantee us a good result in Paris. But it is true that we do dream of having a great performance. We are going to compete against five countries that are above us. What is clear is that we are working to improve ourselves and with the focus on where it should be.
–Before the 2023 Pan American Games you said: “Our goal is to continue being an Olympian.” You achieved it. And now?
–The first objective of our process was achieved. Now we are going to try to improve Argentina’s participation in an Olympic Games. It is not easy. But now we are preparing well to bring out our best version and dream.
–What level of commitment do you notice and feel in the team’s daily training sessions?
–The best they could offer. We are training hard. Two shifts per day and extra activities that strengthen the group. The unity we have is exciting, the respect and will at all times makes us move forward and believe that we can improve.
–Do you think they will be able to beat the best historical position of the Gladiators in the Olympics?
–The best historical position is 10th place in Rio 2016. Of course we can improve it. Even if it is, it is the most difficult of all the four Olympic games. With nine European teams and with the champion (Denmark) and France, world, Olympic and European runner-up, in our group.
–It offers a concept of Norway, the team with which they will debut in Paris; Hungary; Denmark, France and Egypt.
–Norway is tactical excellence; Hungary is a team with physical power that is growing under the leadership of Chema Rodríguez, its Spanish coach who is giving it a different, more orderly game. Denmark and France are one step above everyone else: tactical order and physical power at their best. Egypt is inserting itself into a game where the occupation of spaces is well used and with the possibility of having very strong players physically. Added to this is the fact that they have one of the best coaches in the world.
–On a personal level, Paris will be your first Olympics as head of the team. How do you face this challenge?
–This will be my fourth Olympic Games. And in Tokyo I was already very involved with Manolo (Editor’s note: the Spanish coach Cádenas). Emotionally, this will be the best part of my sporting life, but I’m going to face these games with the greatest dedication and responsibility that is required to be in this position. I can’t do anything else but think about this. I won’t do anything else that takes my focus off of me. I only think about working.
–What role did Diego Simonet play in the preparation of the team that he himself described as “the best in the history of a national team” on the programme “Handball de Primera” and what does his figure represent in France, where with his club, Montpellier, he has been competing for hegemony with Paris Saint Germain for almost a decade?
–Diego’s role was decisive. Without his contribution this would not have been possible. Everything is working wonderfully. The people he managed to bring together are doing things in a spectacular way, only he can achieve that, as he is our ambassador in the world of handball.
–In preparation you did work that touched on other disciplines. Can you expand on that?
–We are doing other activities. Firstly, because it is important to get out of the usual routine. Coming 30 days before and doing another series of outdoor activities on the beach or judo, cycling, etc., makes the routine different. We never stop competing or working on physical aspects, cognitive and coordination work. Everything is supervised by our physical trainer and by the team doctor. Every day that passes, we enjoy and improve.
–Do the series of previous friendlies with Spain and Denmark only serve to give the team some experience or to look for more specific aspects?
–These friendly matches serve many purposes. Preparing with top-level teams is very good because in the games we will play with the best. Each match provides us with data, which we evaluate and draw conclusions from. It gives us content for training. We also collect information with GPS and thus control the players’ workloads. We work on tactical aspects and try new things. We gradually adjust what is necessary to get closer to the elite teams.