In the last game of the first round of the World Championship, the Croatian handball team defeated Qatar with 26:24 (13:11), winning the first place in group C, and thus transferring three points to the second round of the competition.
Qatar has two and Japan one point.
Six years ago, Qatar won second place at the WC in front of its fans, which is by far the country's greatest handball success. It was a national team led by the Spaniard Valero Rivera, and played by eight naturalized players, among whom were Žarko Marković, Goran Stojanović and Jovo Damjanović.
Rivera is still at the helm of Qatar, Damjanović is still in the team, but the number of domestic players is significantly higher.
Manuel Štrlek scored six goals for Croatia, Marino Marić and Marko Mamić added five each, and Marin Šego was excellent with six saves, saving four sevens from four attempts.
Among the opponents, Frankis Marzo was the most effective with seven goals.
In the second round, Croatia will play against the three best teams from Group D, namely Denmark, Argentina and Bahrain.
The first game is scheduled for Thursday, against Bahrain.
Bonus video:
