After five victories in the group, it seemed that the Croatian handball players were within reach of the semi-finals, and now they can only reach the medal fights in the most difficult possible way - they have to beat home Germany on Monday evening (20.30:XNUMX p.m.) and France on Wednesday.
The "culprit" for that is Brazil, which created the biggest sensation of the 26th World Cup and shocked the "cowboys" in Cologne (29:26).
"Karioka" led from the start, and the miracle was already announced in the 17th minute, when it was 11:5.
Lino Cervar took a risk, tried to attack with seven players, but the South Americans punished it with seven goals into an empty net.
"We had to do it. What could I do? We had big problems with their deep defense", Červar explained after the game.
The Croats came closest in the 53rd minute, when Jakov Vranković reduced the score to 26:25, and they missed the last chance 60 seconds before the end, because Leonardo Terkariol brilliantly saved Domagoj Duvnjak's shot at 28:26.
"We played a very bad game, we conceded seven or eight goals against an empty net. Everything we did well in the first group didn't work now, neither the 5-1 defense nor the 6-0. Brazil deservedly won. We have to keep our heads up, because in 24 hours we have a new game. In sports, it's nice that you don't have time to think about defeat, but you have to immediately turn to a new game," said Duvnjak.
Anijel Langaro was the best player of the game with nine goals, Duvnjak bounced back with six, and Luka Stepančić, Zlatko Horvat and Manuel Štrlek with five each.
There were no surprises in the remaining three matches of the main stage. France outplayed Iceland (31:22), Hungary routinely defeated Tunisia (26:21), and only Norway struggled against Egypt (32:28).
Results - Group 1 (Cologne)
Brazil - Croatia 29:26 - 17:13
Iceland - France 22:31 - 11:15
Table: France (match more) 7, Germany 5, Croatia 4, Spain, Brazil 2, Iceland (match more) 0
Monday
Spain - Brazil (18)
Croatia - Germany (20.30)
Group 2 (Herning)
Norway - Egypt 32:28 - 16:14
Hungary - Tunisia 26:21 - 16:14
Table: Denmark, Sweden 6, Norway 4, Hungary (overmatch) 3, Egypt 1, Tunisia (overmatch) 0
Monday
Sweden - Norway (18)
Egypt - Denmark (20.30)
Bonus video:
