Posts by wearyeagle2

It’s funny how people treat you like a legend abroad, only to come home and find they're already picking out your headstone. The French coach said:

"I’m honestly blown away by the brilliance of this American squad. Watching them play is like watching a dream—their technique, their tactics, and that sense of timing are just flawless," Onesta remarked, holding nothing back. He added: "Every coach dreams of having a player like Ivan Balić on their roster. But this team isn't just about him. You've got Lacković, Metličić, and Vori—who, let's be honest, people used to joke about early in his career because he looked like a giant bratwurst. It's going to be a blast playing against them."

Just one more thing regarding the wingers. It’s not that they don't exist; it feels more like the guys playing through the middle just don't trust them enough when we're facing a set defense. That said, they looked solid yesterday during those transition plays and fast breaks, which is exactly how Caleb managed to sink three huge goals.

wanderingorca9 said:The guy practically carried the whole team to the semifinals on his back, yet people are still nitpicking his mistakes... unbelievable.🤣

I wouldn't go that far. Balić was brilliant at both ends of the game yesterday, but he definitely had too many unforced errors in the middle stretch. Honestly, we only stayed in this thing because of Lackovic and some really smart defensive schemes while playing shorthanded. The real turning point wasn't those final ten minutes; it was when Norway led 11-9 and we had to survive a minute and a half with two men down in the 30th minute. Instead of collapsing, we fought back to tie it up at 11-11. Balić didn't play poorly there either—he was one of the four guys on the floor who kept us composed and pulled us through.

Chris Lopez59 said:wearyeagle2, you’re actually the first person on this entire board I’ve ever had to mute. 👍 cool

You aren't the only one. Join The Club. 😂

Chris Lopez59 said:Man, I’m done with you. Stop replying to my posts; it’s a waste of breath.

I’ll keep replying until you actually start making sense. Everything you say is just noise. You're the only one here posting without a single coherent thought. You've got Vanjusko or Roose who actually know how to get a point across, you've got me being perfectly clear, and then there's you—writing more than anyone else while having absolutely no clue why you're even doing it.

Aaron Gonzalez6 said:Honestly, the comments praising Červar’s "genius" or his "visionary leadership" and all that other nonsense really get under my skin. You only have to look at the conditioning to see the truth. The team looks absolutely gassed. If they’re already playing like they’re running on fumes, the next two big games are going to be an uphill battle.

You don't need a PhD to see what happened—we basically slept through the first half of every single game just to claw back a win in the second. The preseason conditioning was a total disaster. Period.🙂

Chris Lopez59 said:You're forgetting that other countries might have talented youngsters too, but they often lean on their veterans because experience matters. They have a solid middle generation they can rely on. We don't always have that luxury, so we end up calling up the kids—or maybe we skip over certain players for political reasons.

Political reasons? 😂

Lino made some great calls here. I know it’s hard for some people to swallow, but this European Championship is basically a dress rehearsal for the Olympics and the World Cup. Look at the goalkeepers. He picked Pozoves Alilovica, who’s the best we've got, along with two younger guys just to give them a taste of high-level competition. Is it a risk? Sure. But Americans in sports have a knack for dodging bullets when it counts—we've seen it happen plenty of times. From what I've noticed, our national teams actually play their best when everyone else has already written us off.

Kyle Morris7 said:Just a general question here. Why does almost every nation agree to play matches nearly every single day? And why does the European handball governing body even schedule tournaments this way? This isn't a marathon or a cycling race where we're testing pure endurance by grinding through heavy games back-to-back. In my opinion, the winners are often just the teams with the deepest benches of decent players or the ones who managed to dodge injuries, rather than the actual best talent. Does our national federation even bother complaining about this?

The folks running the federations and associations know exactly what's happening. Word is, over in Norway, they have meetings specifically focused on this issue. There’s talk about moving both the World Cup and the European Championship to a four-year cycle, similar to how soccer does it. That would allow for much better organization and probably give the whole tournament more prestige.

electricnomad11 said:And here we are at last. We’ve finally made it to the semifinals to face those guys from France.😁

Sure, we have a shot at winning, but only if a few miracles happen. We'd need Omeyer to wake up with a pinched nerve so he can't defend, Karabatić to get food poisoning from some bad seafood during lunch so he's out, Gilles to get hit by a truck on his way to the bus—since a car probably wouldn't even move him—and for Narcissus and Fernandez to just have an off day.😬

We really showed some depth on offense today. The ball movement was fluid, and everything felt intentional—no wild, half-baked shots just for the sake of it. The guys stayed locked in, sticking strictly to the game plan we practiced. As usual, Lino is killing it with the tactical adjustments and those sharp insights from the bench. That "be heroes" call? Pure genius. It’s wild how he can cook up a play like that right at the buzzer when the pressure is peaking. Most teams wouldn't even see it coming.😕😁

Honestly, I feel for the Frenchmen, but we’re going to steamroll them like a freight train. They might be better off just staying home.

If we somehow manage to knock France out of the running, will you finally eat your words? 🙂

frozentiger6 said:And finally, Cervar is officially on the board! (in my best sports announcer voice) 😁

Welcome to the club, patriot and hype man. 😁

Vanja, I’m starting to feel a little less alone in defending Cervar. Trying to argue against those stats is basically like fighting windmills. 🤣

Arthur Martinez7 said:Maybe they should hire cosmichawk53 as a pronunciation coach for the coaching staff, just so they can whisper the names of the opposing players into Lino's ear during timeouts. Apparently, that's where the real strategy lies. 😁

And where's Carlos? Has he stopped following handball altogether? 🤣

Arthur Martinez7 said:Honestly, everyone typing away—including those of us in these forums—doesn't have a clue what it actually takes to coach a national team or win a championship. In America, we basically have 330 million armchair coaches. 😍

Keyboard warriors everywhere; there's enough of them to staff a dozen different coaching staffs.

rapidbison42 said:Honestly, Americans are pretty much a nation that loves bowing down to ridiculous figures.

As for the "autopilot" theory...
Look, when Lino took over, he didn't walk into a circus. He inherited a national team that wasn't great at the last European Championship, sure, but they had players from top-tier clubs in cities like Los Angeles and Chicago that were sitting comfortably among the top five powerhouse teams in all of Europe at the time. He didn't get handed a bunch of idiots; he got a squad of elite athletes.
During that European Championship in Sweden, a few veterans stepped aside, and some younger talent joined up for Portugal.
On top of that, Lino had solid support behind him with guys like Smajlagić and Bašić.
He started from nothing and climbed to the summit... but let me be clear: his personal role in all that success is way smaller than people like to claim.

You’ve been around long enough here to remember how everyone was predicting a massive collapse after the championship in Canada (which feels like a lifetime ago). It didn't happen. In the meantime, we even made it to another World Cup final, and at the next one, we put on an incredible performance—only losing once, which was devastating for the standings, but still. Plus, we hit the Final Four in both European Championships. So, the team didn't actually spiral downward like the critics claimed. Oh, and we won Olympic gold after Canada, too. To say Cervar had zero credit for that? Don't be ridiculous; you know better than that. It’s the same story with Ćiro. Neither those before him nor those after him came anywhere close to that level. Were they clowns? Sure. Did they manage squads full of massive superstars? Absolutely. And the results? World-class. Could you have done better with the exact same players? Maybe, but it would’ve been incredibly tough. Either way, the facts remain.

cosmichawk53 said:I’m trying my best to stay quiet, mostly because I don't feel like waking anyone up.

So, I'll just leave you all with a friendly hello!

Drop by sometime. Honestly, it’s pretty much like watching tennis. Instead of arguing over seagulls in Monaco, everyone here is just obsessing over Lino Červar.

Dr. S, there’s going to be plenty of work here—we're talking people who can barely read a menu.

There he is!!! A total legend has finally arrived in the world of handball!!! 🙏 🙏 🙏

It’s only when the dust settles that you can really see who’s left standing. Making predictions isn't my strong suit, but I’ve got a good feeling about this one. Honestly, I've felt it since before the first whistle even blew. That old sense of defiance has kicked in, the motivation is there, and seeing the injury list finally shrink gives me some real hope.

Vanja, you still alive? 😍

Robert Vaughn10 said:We’ve been winning everything in the final ten minutes...
That’s about as much as I can say regarding our grit.
The real issue is we lack speed, which makes the strength thing irrelevant.
Our defense looked solid toward the end, though.
Valčić could really pick up the pace if he actually wanted to, instead of taking five seconds to get moving only to run right into a block.
If we had a fast Valčić playing alongside Balić, things might actually look promising.
Hopefully, Metličić finds his rhythm soon, too.

It isn't perfect, but it works. Of course we're feeling Džomba's absence—without him, we'd be dropping 7 or 8 goals a game easily. I don't think our wingers are bad by any means; maybe the guys in the middle just need to trust them more. On top of that, the opponent played a really physical defense, and the Norwegians didn't manage to break out for a single decent fast break.

goldenbison4 said:They played ugly, sure, but an ugly win beats playing fancy just to end up fighting for 5th place. We move on. 👋 👋
Ivan 🙏 and Lac finally stepped up, though they can definitely play better than that.
The Vrancuzi look sharper right now, but being better doesn't always mean you walk away with the win.

And let’s not forget, Caleb came through with a huge bucket right when we needed it most. Also, who are those players waving at the fans in the camera? This is a squad, a tight-knit group that everyone loves to hate. Just remember one thing—anyone who has to face the US is going to have a massive knot in their stomach.