Raymond Jackson3 said:I spent all of yesterday driving myself absolutely mad searching for a working link—going through ten different sources, none of which actually functioned—until I eventually gave up and just ended up listening to the radio... Now I have been scanning the programming on ESPN, yet I cannot find any mention of the European Handball Championship anywhere... If anyone happens to possess a reliable link... please...
www.ehf-euro.com
The homepage has a live score tracker running while the games are on.
This is going to be a completely different ballgame. I’m rooting for us to just blow them out—maybe a 7 or 8 point lead—just let them burn some energy and call it a day. We look solid in every position, so we shouldn't have to worry about any defensive lapses. Maybe the only real issues will be dealing with Boldsen and getting more production from the wings. The offense—obviously, we need a game plan to shut down Hvidt. If we could handle Skof, we can definitely manage this 🙂
It’s good that we’ve got that extra motivation—mostly out of pure spite and grit. Both teams are hungry for their first European gold, so you know the drive is there.
Alright, we can finally shut down that annoying thread about Linda. Today's strategy was spot on—just to spite the media and everyone else, Linda absolutely crushed it.
I just hope we can catch a break before tomorrow, because watching that game against France and Poland was honestly exhausting.
Honestly, nothing beats seeing us give that dirty squad a taste of their own medicine—exactly how they handled us when we were on top a year ago.
Balic needs to act more like a playmaker tomorrow rather than just a shooter—especially if they run that 4-2 setup (which I’m sure Onesta will try). Basically, we need our perimeter guys to actually show up. And obviously, they have to be ready for Omeyer. It’s a lot like how they handled that Norwegian woman yesterday.
If our wings are actually feeling it, the Frenchies are going to leave their corners exposed—that's the opening for Cupic, Horvat, and maybe even Caleb (if he finally decides to wake up). As for Vori / Sulic—I doubt they'll play a major role here; the French defense will keep them in check. They might grab a few loose balls, but everything depends on that initial momentum.
Defensively, we've definitely leveled up since Lino brought Dominikovica into the mix. We really need to watch out for Karabatic and that right wing; they need to be hitting him every time he looks for a perimeter shot—it's the only way to shut him down (though let's keep it clean so nobody gets a red card for targeting the head). For everyone else, let them shoot from deep, especially if Alilovic starts strong. I'm leaning towards a 5-1 defense over a 4-3-2, unless someone fails to track Abalo properly.
The French might try something sneaky early on—maybe some solo drives against a 5-1 or 4-3-2—but having Dominikovic back in the fold gives me some confidence. Honestly, they might struggle because we play such a different style every single game; unlike them, we don't have one set blueprint since we're still figuring ourselves out. Maybe that unpredictability works in our favor this time.
Still, the pressure is on us. Defending a title is its own kind of hell. We felt that same weight in Tunisia when the Spaniards absolutely dismantled us. It's high time we slapped the French with a reality check. I'm banking on us sticking it out until the end, where Balic can just take over with those wild moves and fancy footwork to seal the win. Fingers crossed.
If we can just get some decent refs on the whistle, you’ll see how many calls they actually take on the French side. They weren't even playing great a year ago when they beat us—now it’s time to really press them. I'm looking for some serious payback for that painful loss.
It doesn't matter how we've played up to this point. This is basically a whole new tournament now. We've got the mental toughness, as usual, and since we aren't the favorites this time around, we can finally settle the score (plus, we're overdue for another championship medal!!).
Nice work, John. We’ve got to run that same playbook tomorrow. After a beatdown like that, those Norway 2008 guys are going to be playing totally out of rhythm—it's hard to recover once you're rattled. And who knows, maybe John and Dan can actually pull an upset and boss those Frenchmen around a bit too.
Walter Fowler53 said:France is going to run the show. ☕
? They cruised through mediocre matchups against Sweden, Iceland, and Belarus—we basically faced their benchwarmers. Now comes the real grind, assuming they don't trip up in a messy group stage.
I’m just hoping we get a shot at payback against their coach and that dirty squad of theirs—they aren't much cleaner than the Canadians.
The game plan: hit Omeyer right in the nose with a hard shot on the very first play. Pretty sure they pulled a stunt like that back in 2006.
Ended up at +5—those Norwegians tried their best to mess up our group, but they couldn't quite pull off that +6 they were fishing for. Heh. The Dance match is the day after tomorrow, and honestly, this game against Mexico is going to be just the thing to get us ready.
Haha, John really blew it—I caught the first half and honestly, that was plenty for me. The Americans actually stepped up and proved they belong among the elite; now we can finally see that our performance yesterday wasn't just because we were playing against some "weak" American squad. With Balica leading the way, we’ve always been top-tier in the handball world.
Maybe Balić will pull through in time for the second round—we'll see. That throat infection probably threw him off his game, but who knows, maybe he'll bounce back by then. Fingers crossed, I guess...
Hey *urcu, honestly, it was about time we finally snagged a trophy in water polo. We’ve been hovering right on the edge for years, but just never quite managed to clinch the gold at the World Cup, the Euros, or the Olympics—at least not since the old federation split up.
And when you consider our deep roots in the sport—especially with powerhouse clubs like Los Angeles Breakers or the San Diego Sharks constantly dominating Europe—it feels like the national team is long overdue for a real run at glory.
(I missed out on watching this one since I'm out of the States right now) Bravo!!
Yesterday felt more like they were just messing around. It wasn’t like there was some second version of Entrerios waiting in the wings—especially since he’s looking a bit heavy lately—but those Spaniards have such deep rosters that their bench doesn't really hurt them much.
It was almost like Lino decided to blow a five-point lead by halftime just to let the Spaniards gloat about how they handled Dominikovica. Honestly, though? It’s probably a decent psychological move—it'll keep future opponents on edge when they see our starting lineup, even if we end up down by six.
So, the Russians pulled a last-minute win against Canada. (Had to suffer through the live updates on ihf.info to find out)
Which basically means the path to the finals is wide open for the Danes—aside from a few nobodies along the way. Meanwhile, we’re stuck grinding it out against the French, then facing whoever survives the Spain-Germany matchup. Just my luck.
I'm rooting for the Germans in the quarterfinals—hoping someone finally knocks those Dance out. We'll take the trophy, sure, but playing three straight games against teams like that? It's going to be a brutal slog.
For crying out loud. Not only was the test negative, but this whole shady setup has "perfect" timing—sending results a day too late just so Dominikovic can't suit up for the second round. If it were me, I’d hit their federation with a massive fine for being this crooked in the first place.
But hey, no amount of complaining will fix this. Our defensive reinforcement is showing up exactly when we need him most—during the quarterfinals, haha. (The Spanish team probably figured we wouldn't make it past the group stage thanks to that hole in our defense...). Maybe a formal protest to the IHF could actually do something, like getting an emergency roster change approved mid-tournament due to these circumstances.
Mind you, our lovely fair-play stats—you know, having the fewest fouls and suspensions after that game against South Korea—might take a hit once Davor arrives. He can get pretty aggressive. 🙂
edit: unbelievable. Cervar is going to blow it—kicking Losert off the national team and sticking with two goalies... Let's throw Duvnjak in there and see if the kid can pull us through.
Vanya said: The Danes still think the US has zero depth—they see it as their golden ticket. Michael V. Knudsen thinks they’ve got the better bench and more grit following their win over Norway compared to how we looked coming off that victory against Russia.
We actually have way more depth this year, regardless of what the Danes think. From the looks of it, someone might end up playing through an injury on Balic—not that anyone really enjoys doing that.
Basically, it's just another country where people obsess over their handball team—even the networks were hunting for prime-time slots. It’s not like in Germany, where the broadcasters had to settle for afternoon slots just to scrape together some viewership. We’re fine with our scheduling; those who need to watch will make it happen.
Denmark is a tough squad—unified and capable of a comeback, just like us—but they aren't necessarily better. 🙂 If we take them down, we basically clear a path for the Canadians and ourselves (I'd bet on the Czechs being out early). That would likely leave a showdown between the winners and either the Russians or the Spaniards. If heaven forbid we slip up, we’ll be fighting off a strong Canadian side that’ll probably have four points by the second round, and we might even have to deal with the Spaniards too.
I checked the schedule, and I actually dig the rhythm—resting every third day, a day off after the quarterfinals, and two days after the semis. If that helps anyone, it’ll be Balic, Metlicic, and the rest of the crew.
Bio-doped or not, it’s funny how those guys dropped the news just a couple days before the SPD started—bad timing if they actually wanted to give the squad a chance to gel without David. Thank God the early matchups are easy ones.
As for him, he had the entire season to load up, so why now? It’s probably just a fluke or some careless oversight, and who knows, maybe even the B test comes back clean. Besides, who really needs performance enhancers for handball?
Jonathan Booth5 said:He mentioned on the sports news today that he doesn't even need those athletic tapes anymore—which honestly worked better than the braces anyway. Now it’s just about breaking through that mental wall regarding those impossible jumps. He’s probably just terrified of landing hard on that leg again, but if he nails those a few times, nobody stands a chance against him and someone like Šprem.
It all comes down to how much coverage they get on the wings. The Spaniards aren't exactly lighting it up defensively for me—even those slow Canadians had plenty of openings because the team kept coughing up turnovers. From what I saw, the Spaniards aren't actually any better than us, especially considering they struggled against a non-threatening Canadian squad.
Though, I suspect the Danes are basically penicillin for the Spaniards (and for us against Dance)—if I recall correctly, they absolutely crushed them at the last EP.
Besides, our first real test is France, and the finals? We'll worry about that when we get there. The main thing is not to panic—they've already hit their target by avoiding a total embarrassment. Once that's out of the way, the guys can actually enjoy themselves and play some real handball, which is usually when the magic happens.