Croatian handball players did what they had to do - Hrvoj Horvat's team defeated Bahrain 43:32, so now they need Egypt's victory against Denmark to reach the quarter-finals of the 28th World Championship.
"Vatreni" dominated in the 2nd half, so now they have the same number of points as the Danes, but even 11 goals lower goal difference.
So, the two-time world champion can allow a surprise, but it is impossible to lose by even 11 goals.
Against Bahrain, Filip Glavaš and Ivan Martinović shone with 11 goals each, while Marin Jelinić scored seven.
In the defeated team, Mohamed Mohamed was the best with six goals and nine assists.
And Serbia did its part - led by guard Marko Milosavljević, pivot Dragan Pešmalbek and goalkeeper Dejan Milosavljević, Toni Đerona's team defeated the Netherlands 32:30 and won 11th place.
It could lead the "eagles" to the Olympic qualifications, but only if Croatia or Slovenia are among the two best teams from the teams that are not in the World Cup quarter-finals at the European Championship next year in Germany...
Milosavljević hit the net nine times, Pešmalbek six times, while Milosavljev saved 11 shots.
On the other side, the most effective were Dani Bayens with seven and Kai Smits with six goals, while Luke Staines scored three goals and seven assists.
Reporting made possible by Lob
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