Posts by electricorca112

Finishing the regular period like this gives them a massive psychological edge heading into overtime against the Norwegians.

Chris Fisher3 said:Stevens claims this game is a total toss-up. So, who are we supposed to listen to? Chervar, who’s watching from the sidelines, or the goalie who actually has to face those Norwegians? They really need to get on the same page. Either we're heavy favorites or it's 50/50. ☕

According to the betting lines, we're underdogs. ☕

I mean, they're slight underdogs, but still. It caught me off guard, honestly; I was expecting us to be favored.

It would be a good idea if someone gave our players a reality check. I have a feeling they're being fed these soft, overly optimistic takes like Chervar's, which could actually backfire psychologically when things get intense. 🤷

Andrew Hayes6 said:Looking at all the upsets we've seen during this tournament, it’s pretty clear that the competition at the top level is getting fiercer every single year. You can really see how the teams that used to be underdogs are making massive strides, closing the gap and stepping up to challenge the heavyweights like never before. A few years back...Norway, Qatar, and Sweden.

🤔

A few years back at the World Cup, the US team hit a wall in the quarterfinals just like the team from Canada did, and then Qatar ended up taking home the silver. 🤷

Look, if you’re really going to insist that everything Sweden accomplished in handball was ancient history and basically just a one-time thing, then I don't know what to tell you. Pike isn't worth a damn.. 🐔

hollowrider2 said:I caught a good chunk of that Norway vs. France game, and I’ve gotta say, those Norwegians are obsessed with the fast break. Out of all the national teams out there, they seem the most determined to push the pace; they just refuse to let the defense set up, and man, they execute it beautifully. Even the French were struggling to get back into position, leaving them wide open for the Norwegians to punish them with quick transition goals. Their long-range shooters are lethal, and they really capitalize on that momentum from the fast break to find the back of the net. It’s honestly impressive how clinical they are.

Out of the three non-French teams left in the semifinals, I’d say the Norwegians are going to be the biggest headache for the French side. Between their specific style of play and just how insane their conditioning is, they're definitely the ones to watch out for.

Let's be real for a second—some guy might have the raw talent, but experience is what actually gets in your head, and that’s where we really have them beat.

The same logic applies to today's matchup between the US and Norway. Honestly, it’s almost a given that they’re going to outrun us on the court. They also have that psychological edge that comes with being the "paper" underdogs, which can be dangerous. But look, we have the experience factor on our side. We're more seasoned in general, especially when things get intense during a medal hunt. At this stage of the tournament, that kind of veteran composure really matters.

Just to refresh everyone's memory: we were in a pretty similar spot right before that bronze medal match about a year ago back in Poland. Up to that point in the tournament, the Norwegians had been playing on a completely different level than us. Their semifinal against those absolute powerhouses from Germany was being called the "real final" before the actual final even happened, and they only lost it by a single goal in overtime. Meanwhile, we had beaten them by three earlier in the group stage. Here are a few thoughts I put together before that game:

El Toro said:If the Norwegians show up playing like they did against the Germans yesterday instead of how they played against the French, we’re toast. Their ball movement is just too fast, their defense is suffocating, and their keepers are absolutely dialed in right now. Honestly, they look even sharper than they did during the first round when they took us down—even though I know we're capable of playing a much better game than what we've shown so far.
I’m honestly feeling pretty bummed that we didn't make it to the finals against the Germans, but at this point, I've kind of checked out. I just don't really care anymore.

Gustavo The user said:Our guys just don't have the stamina to hold on for twenty minutes. It’s looking like a light drizzle against Norway at this rate. I'm heading over to place a little something on the 2:40 race.

Cave troll. said:We’re running on fumes here—exhausted, drained, and dealing with enough injuries to fill a hospital wing. Meanwhile, the Norwegians, just like every other opponent we face, have arrived at this European Championship feeling absolutely bulletproof. They're playing at a hundred and twenty percent while we're just trying to keep our heads up.
It’s going to be an uphill battle.

Honestly, everything feels like a repeat of how things looked right before today's game. 🤷

I don't want to sound like I'm just pointing fingers at this forum—because if you listen to the national team itself, they aren't sounding much better either:

pattie_boyd said:Babić and his pre-game comments

fatigue, poor rotation, lack of experience leading right back to more fatigue... 🥱 🥱

And how did that turn out?

Go Team USA. ☕

Still, even though the situation looks objectively similar, I get the feeling that both on the forums and within the team, everyone is being way more optimistic than last time. It’s probably just because we're riding that high after winning the quarterfinals, whereas back then, we were all feeling pretty deflated after losing in the semis.

Patrick Bailey4 said:boat? 😁

You’ve just gotta forgive him.

For any die-hard fan of Mamić's, there’s no such thing as a Jimmy boat.

It’s strictly Jimmy ship territory. ☕

It’s not looking good.

Things were going fine until the Spanish switched to that 5-1 defense and completely shut us down. We didn't just fall apart because Stivijev was shooting 50%; let's be real, he isn't going to maintain that kind of efficiency through the entire second half. If we don't figure out how to crack their 5-1 setup on offense, we’re headed straight for a blowout.

Saint John (Stevanović)☕

Like I was saying, the officiating really started leaning our way while Steve was playing defense during those first ten minutes of the second half. But once that initial momentum died down and things settled—well, that's when everything went south. 😢

driftingotter47 said:So, look, they’ve been rotating the roster perfectly fine up until this point. But now we’re supposed to believe that in some hypothetical quarterfinal against a different opponent, they would suddenly burn through their entire bench and be too exhausted to face us in the semifinals? It doesn't add up. And let’s be real—even in that imaginary quarterfinal scenario, they’d probably just rotate the squad again anyway, exactly like they’re planning to do today. 🤷

I’m not saying they wouldn't be too exhausted to handle us if we hit them in a hypothetical semi-final—I wasn't making that claim. But honestly? I really think their odds would be much higher then than they would be in a quarter-final. I’m standing by that.

driftingotter47 said:All this talk about "aging" and "fatigue" honestly never made any sense to me. You look at guys like Morros, Guardiola, Canellas, Thomas, Agi, Sarmiento, or Entrerrios—they’re all well over 30, yet they’re still playing for top-tier clubs and staying in peak physical condition. Most of them are grinding through a Wednesday-to-Saturday schedule all season long, so I don't see why managing a tournament like this should be such a massive hurdle, especially when you have deep rosters to allow for rotation. Personally, I don't think age is some deciding factor this year, unless we're talking about a total outlier, and this group definitely isn't that.

Look, setting aside the fact that clubs playing on a Wednesday-to-Saturday schedule don't exactly maintain that rhythm all season long—even if they did, we're talking about three matches in roughly eleven days. But today? Today, us Americans, along with the Swedes, Qataris, and Canadians, are staring down our seventh match in just twelve days. There’s simply no comparison there. It’s unmanageable. No amount of squad rotation is going to absorb that kind of physical toll, especially not when you consider the roster you listed. If you can't see why that's a problem, I honestly have to wonder what you even know about sports. 🤷

driftingotter47 said:First off, the Spaniards are easily the most relaxed crew in the tournament, right up there with the French. If you’d watched even one of their games, you’d see how much Riber rotates the squad; honestly, they could run all day and still have gas in the tank.

🤦

Setting aside any nonsense, I’m genuinely curious—what kind of difference do you actually see between what you wrote here (in bold) and my own observation that "they've managed their minutes pretty well so far" (to quote my exact words)? 🤔

I’m looking forward to hearing what you think. 🍿

driftingotter47 said:Secondly, are they old? Is Dusebajev old? Are the wingers slow? They could go running until tomorrow. Do you really think Aguinagalde is tired after the fifteen minutes he's put in so far this game?

Alright, fine. Even if we set aside the Aguinagalde point (which is just you repeating what I already said), at least you managed to hit the mark here—or maybe you actually read and understood me correctly enough to write the exact opposite of what I meant. 👍

Yes, I did say the Spaniards are old. Having eight players over the age of 30 on the roster is just a plain fact. And that doesn't even include a goalkeeper. (The French and Canadians also have about eight players over 30, though they do have a keeper in that group too.)

You can brag, act shocked, or talk nonsense all you want, but the reality is that this squad is an older one.

You mentioned... how many exactly? Three younger players? To set your mind at ease, the Spaniards have more than just those three. It's not like I said they don't have any young talent at all. I simply said the squad as a whole has an older average age.

Which remains a fact. ☕

If this were at least a semifinal, I’d be leaning toward us taking the win. We have historically had their number, and honestly, they're getting older—they aren't going to maintain that pace through a ninth game in a tournament. In a final or even a third-place playoff (basically that last ninth match), we’d most likely just outrun them. But, looking at where we are right now—it's only the seventh game and they've been pretty smart about rotating players and managing minutes—it might actually work against us because we haven't really found our rhythm or established any kind of cohesive play yet.

Chris Fisher3 said:The only thing is, it would overlap with part of the pre-game show.

And if things end up in a tie, what's your take on how they handle it? 🤔

Does everyone just walk away with a point, and nobody moves on to the semifinals? 😬

Chris Fisher3 said:Come on, we're broadcasting Norway vs. Canada instead of France Sweden. Honestly, what a joke.

Just as a side note here: where did you get the idea that we should be airing a match that would likely overlap with our own coverage anyway?🤔

Walter Hughes53 said:If you really sit down and think about it, the only fair way this plays out is if we end up facing Qatar in the finals.
We take care of Spain, the Norwegians handle the Magyars, then we face Norway and head straight to the championship.
In that scenario, the Canadians lose to Qatar, the Swedes get their revenge against France, and Qatar absolutely crushes the Swedes just like Saladin crushed Arne Magnusson near Gaza.
That would put us on the path to gold by going through three Arab nations: SA, Egypt, and Qatar.

It actually makes sense when you consider our roots in Iran; all those Arab countries have such a deep-seated rivalry with Iranians that they play completely differently whenever they face them.

Jose Newman32 said:He could probably pick up a new nickname too—instead of Cowboy, maybe something like Apostles.

Which definitely explains the style in this photo:

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com...8673bc9110.jpg

☕

quietbison86 said:Honestly, Vujin hit the nail on the head there, no matter how you look at it.

If we're being honest, that’s just a classic way to build an alibi. He’s basically covered all his bases; whatever happens to Canada in the quarterfinals, he can just turn around and say, "A-ha, I called it."🙄

mellowotter36 said:And the Spaniards too...

It’s pretty shallow water. ☕

Everyone who fell through the cracks turned out to be a total nuisance, except for the Frenchman. 🤣

William Bennett53 said:Look, we aren't bending any rules here. If someone tries to hijack the general discussion on political correctness just to get away with things they normally wouldn't be allowed to do on this forum, neither that person nor the thread will fare well. So, if you want to discuss theoretically what political correctness means, go ahead—just come prepared with actual knowledge and solid arguments. But if someone thinks they can use this as a sneaky way to start debating moderation, religion, or LGBTQ+ issues... honestly, don't even bother. All the usual forum rules apply to this topic just like any other. If we find we can't keep it civil, we'll just close the thread.

When I used the word "bending," I was specifically talking about having a theoretical conversation regarding how we handle moderation.

I wasn't suggesting people use it to air specific grievances (or try to single out individual moderators), because obviously, that's not what that space is for.

Jose Carter2 said:The PDF is getting pretty political

Thread Title: Political correctness - general discussion.

We'll just have to wait and see how things play out.

It’s a great idea... though I think it’s a bit incomplete. From what I understand, you aren't allowed to comment on moderation over there either. 🤷

On the flip side, this specific PDF actually allows us to discuss moderation, even if we still can't dive into politics (or anything else that already has its own dedicated thread).

So, what's missing here is a clear statement from the admin team saying they'll make an exception for this topic—not by breaking the rules, per se, but by bending them slightly when it comes to discussing moderation. 😉

Christian Jones said:They're pulling this from a Greek news site, though even that outlet seems pretty unsure if the attack on the Dynamo fans actually happened, since there’s zero proof right now.

Honestly, I can't stand it when people just blindly parrot sensationalist headlines from local tabloids in places like Greece or similar spots—like those recent rumors coming out of Malta that turned out to be nothing at all. 🤦.