Handball Euro: USA vs. France 25-27

electricraven6 said:They listed them all but missed a truly unique case—Oliver Roggisch had a very "gentlemanly" way of hitting people. Slavko realized he needed a Slišković

Isn't it a bit late for Goluža now? I read a pretty realistic take here suggesting that a semifinal like Sweden vs. Denmark would be incredibly lucrative financially. That seems plausible to me, especially after stumbling upon this article last night:

Now, I suspect this wasn't just an issue when Mexico was hosting. But if what Butulija said is actually true... well, it has looked that way to me for years. Just look back at the European Championship in Canada or the World Cup in Germany. It feels like the players are just "cannon fodder"—the real decisions are made by certain people behind the scenes that we don't see, and the referees just finalize everything.

What else is there to say? I'm always rooting for the US. I couldn't care less about Gobac; Goluža seemed like an okay guy—solid player—until he started coaching the way Gobac "calls" the game. They kicked plenty of guys out of the national team who didn't deserve it and could probably still help us today (they certainly wouldn't have failed us). I won't list names here... but apparently, we're "rebuilding" and creating a team for the future...

All that's left is to see if the Frenchmen and the Swedes play the way it "suits" them. If that happens and we aren't in the top four, we only have ourselves to blame. We went up against the worst, oldest version of France on Sunday night—while we were young, energetic, and led by a "promising" coach like Goluža—and we still blew it.

And Goluža admitted his mistake. By swapping out Mandalinić for Slišković, he’s showing it—though he doesn't dare touch Josip Valčić, and we all know why.

I always say I won't get worked up—they mess up, and why should I waste my energy? But once things start going downhill... maybe I won't even watch them against the Russians today.!!!!

Even if there’s some kind of adjustment coming—though I honestly doubt it, and I actually think the Poles might end up throwing a wrench in Sweden's plans—the Swedes and the French can't be totally sure they won't end up playing right against Dance in the semifinals. Since we're scheduled after them, they're basically stuck waiting to see if the schedule gets shuffled around.

You think we can't pull it off? I mean, the Danes will probably take first, and even if they don't, the French are looking like the favorites here 😕

I was saying earlier that there isn't much incentive to go all out, but maybe there is—sort of a low-stakes warmup before the semifinals, instead of just grinding through a scrap

As for us, I honestly don't see how the French could handle us in a final. It feels like they already assume they've got our number in any game that actually matters