For the first time in 16 years, the Croatian handball team is in the final of the World Handball Championship. The "Cowboys" lost to France in the final on home soil in 2009, but 16 years later they were ready for revenge.
This time the rematch did not come in the final, but a step earlier - last night in the Zagreb Arena, Croatia defeated the French in the semi-finals (31:28), advancing to the final, and for the first time since 2013, securing a medal from the Handball World Cup, having won bronze in Spain 12 years ago. And counting all major competitions, the Croats secured a medal for the first time since 2016 and the Euro in Poland, when they won bronze.
"An incredible, historic moment. I couldn't be happier, you have to believe me. I feel like I played the whole game, I'm totally done. All the players are heroes, this is a fantastic moment for us. It was important to start the game well. It was celebrated as if we had scored a goal in the last minute of the World Cup. The second half was difficult. We were getting sent off, the players were tired... But the players are heroes. Unfortunately, we can't play the final here, but we will give everything to win the gold," said Croatia coach Dagur Sigurdsson.
Croatia will play Denmark and Portugal in the final, which will meet tonight (20.30:XNUMX) in Oslo. The final will be the last match in the national team's career for the legendary Domagoj Duvnjak.
"A big thank you to my teammates and the wonderful audience. What we played today was perfection in defense. My heart will break. In fact, I'm in shock that such young guys played bravely and smartly. I'm happy for them. I hope we don't have to wait so long for the next medal," said Duvnjak.
He then looked back at the entire tournament.
"It's unbelievable how many problems we had throughout the tournament. In the end, no one complained. I was afraid we would burn out. I admire how smart they did it. It's as if they had I don't know how many years of experience. Some of them have never even played. Croatian handball has a future. My world collapsed after the game against Argentina. I thank the coach for putting up with an injured player on the bench. I can leave the national team peacefully. This is a victory for all the people who support us. I'm overjoyed. We'll be ready for the final. When I say final, it's unbelievable. I'm in total shock," said a happy Duvnjak.
One of the heroes is goalkeeper Dominik Kuzmanović.
"I don't think we're aware that we're in the final, we're enjoying the wonderful atmosphere with the fans and families. We dreamed of the final, this is a dream come true. I'm overjoyed. The people have caused an avalanche of emotions in us. We couldn't wait for the game to start. We were even nine points ahead, we all fought for every ball. We kept control, we have the best players in the world. We have one more game and we want to play it like all the previous ones. We don't care who we play in the final," said Kuzmanović.
France will play for bronze.
"Congratulations to Croatia on the victory. They deserved this victory and they deserved the final. A tough game for us, especially in the first half. We were down by seven points at half-time, in the second half we gave it our all and I can say that I am proud of that. We fought until the end. We can win or lose, it is better to win, but the most important thing is to fight for your country, your team and your teammates. I wish Croatia luck in the final, and I hope that we will be ready in the fight for bronze," said France captain Ludovic Fabregas.
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