Handball Euro: USA vs. France 25-27

Well, I really blew it. I predicted they'd come out for the second half at 7-6, but it ended up being 9-8. ☕

electricorca112 said:They’re definitely much better than the Swedes, who haven't managed to beat them since the last century.

Still, they aren't exactly invincible. It’s never quite as simple as just picking a winner on paper. One bad call, one mental lapse, or one player having an off night can easily derail everything and land them in a semifinal against Denmark instead.

By the way, back when we played France, we had Ivano Balić in his prime, and lately, it’s been Domagoj Duvnjak—basically the best players on the planet. We just always forget to give Nikola Karabatić a heads-up before the game starts, so the guy ends up looking rude every single time.

Ryan Vaughn7 said:But honestly, there's a huge difference between planning for one specific outcome—which isn't easy anyway—and someone actually messing up, missing a play, or just screwing it all up and landing them in a semifinal against Denmark.

Even before the tournament started, everyone expected Denmark to win on home soil.

It’s the same logic as expecting France to take the 2017 World Cup at home.

That's the one thing we just can't seem to pull off.

Kenneth Clark18 said:Even before the tournament started, everyone assumed the Danes would take it all on home soil.

It’s just like how France is expected to sweep the 2017 World Cup at home.

That's the one thing we just can't seem to pull off.

And the Mexicans 😍

electricorca112 said:It’s actually the other way around. This whole idea of a "French complex" is really just a convenient myth cooked up by our local media and the public at large.

If you set aside the exhibition matches and look strictly at the European Championships, World Championships, and the Olympics, we've faced them 12 times since 2003, and the record is perfectly split with six wins apiece. Interestingly, throughout that entire stretch, no one side has ever managed to string together more than two consecutive victories.

So, when you look at the big picture—or even just the recent matchups where we've taken two out of the last four—it's clear we are on completely equal footing, with the wins alternating back and forth like clockwork.

That's exactly why the French have plenty of motivation to try and knock us out by letting the Swedes slip through with a one-point margin. 🙄

We beat them during the group stages in Spain. If we consider Tunisia a legitimate threat, then we're looking at semifinals; the European Championship in Switzerland leads to a final, much like the World Championship in Germany where the stakes are just as high regarding elimination. We'll face them again in Norway for the European semifinals, while they tend to take the Olympic gold. Whether it's the World Championship final in Chicago or the European final in Austria, the pressure remains. We face them in Mexico, though they knocked us out in London and also handled us in Spain last year. We've been eliminated by them four times, while they've been ousted by us six times. Ultimately, winning in the group stage doesn't carry much weight if those victories don't decide who moves on to the next round.

Ryan Vaughn7 said:But it’s definitely a lot smaller than the chance of someone forgetting a play, messing up, or just blowing it during the setup of a single predetermined outcome, which would land them in a semifinal against Denmark.

I wasn't really talking about sixty minutes of active score-fixing; honestly, that sounds way too complicated to pull off. If the Frenchmen can beat the Swedes by ten points, they’re going to walk right in and do it without breaking a sweat.

It's a tall order, though.

But, if we head into that final minute with things looking pretty even—say, the French are up by maybe one or two (which feels much more likely) .... 🙄

Even the Poles were playing a decent, honest game until it hit 59:50 ... And then those last ten seconds? They were just painful to watch.

Kenneth Clark18 said:Even before the tournament started, everyone assumed the Danes would take it on home soil.

Just like how France is supposedly going to win the 2017 World Cup at home.

That’s the one thing we just can't seem to manage.

Consider this bolded, roflamed, and liked.
Does that mean Qatar will get a trophy handed to them next year, too? 🙂

You didn't mention Poland back in 2016, though I suppose I wouldn't be surprised if you skipped that one as well.

Well, here we go.
The guys left it all out there on the court and absolutely exhausted themselves. They really should’ve capitalized on those French mistakes just like they were making their own.
And man, Mus is playing way too wild—he needs to dial it back a notch. All he's doing like this is racking up fouls.

Kenneth Clark18 said:How do you explain what happened in Chicago back in '09?
How do you explain that total blackout during the 2007 games in Germany?
And how do you account for that absolute stupidity at the Beijing Olympics?
What about Mexico? Yeah, Mexico. 🙂
How do you explain the London Olympics after that +7 loss against Denmark?
Or that nonsense in Spain where we practically begged for a harder bracket by picking the tough route?

So, Smajlagić isn't on the coaching staff? 🤷

Ryan Vaughn7 said:And those Mexicans 😍

Honestly, if we had hosted the World Cup back when we were at our peak—performing way beyond our actual talent level like those Mexicans did years ago—we probably would've crushed France by 15 points in the final. 🙄

Good grief, as if everything isn't already falling apart right in front of us. Who gave you the authority to act like that? Goluža was incredibly, painfully late with his substitutions—I’m not even saying it would have changed the outcome, but damn, and don't even get me started on the lack of timely timeouts. Zet is playing at a decent level, but Vuković is basically just there to pad the stats. Let's be real: even if we somehow scrape by to the semifinals, there's no way we can compete with this offensive performance.

Just the usual choking we do whenever we face the French...

I mean, when everything was clicking, we were totally on even footing—just neck and neck with them. But the second they turned up the heat? Man, it was game over. I guess it also felt like Omeyer just absolutely wrecked us, though honestly, looking back, we had a really solid run of shots in the second half that should have been easy money against a goalie of that caliber, but we just couldn't finish—so, yeah, whatever... The refs definitely did us dirty too, some of those penalties seemed pretty questionable, but it doesn't even matter; we didn't really earn the win anyway.

And honestly, people were acting way too proud at the very start of the game 😢
There are just so many moving parts here:
But let’s be real, the biggest issue was Goluža. It feels like every single time we hit a high-stakes matchup, he steps onto the court tactically unprepared while convinced he’s got it all figured out... You can't just run the same lineup for nearly 45 minutes and then sit around waiting for a timeout once we're already drowning in trouble.
Vuković spent the entire game stuck on the bench, and Buntić, Horvat, and Mandalinić didn't see meaningful action until halfway through the second half.
Alilović struggled today; sure, the stats might tell one story, but he wasn't anywhere near his usual level. And mus shouldn't have been playing that aggressively once it became obvious how the officials were calling the game.
The officiating was fair enough. There were complaints, sure, but you can't say they were blatantly biased against us—they were calling those frequent lane violations on the Frenchmen that usually go uncalled.
Between a bit of luck for France and our own team looking completely lost during those critical moments, it just gave them the edge they needed. 😢
If we somehow manage to stumble our way into a bronze medal, we should consider ourselves incredibly lucky.

It’s honestly embarrassing.
France just gave us another masterclass on how to protect a lead.
Goluža is struggling out there; Onesta has had to school him more times than I can count.
We took everything we did right in the first half and completely threw it away during the second.
Kopljar was absolutely dominant in the first half, but suddenly, he just forgot how to shoot in the second.
As for Bićanić, he really doesn't belong on this national roster.
And Čupić... what an amateur. He looks most convincing when he's playing pretend as the second center, or when he's just sprinting down the line with the ball like a kid who has no plan and zero vision.

Ryan Vaughn7 said:And Mexicans 😍

Honestly, nobody expected anything from them anyway. I guess that's their only medal for the next 20 years. 😁

Look, regardless of what those amateurish, small-time pundits over at NBC might be rambling about, we aren't just playing by our own rules anymore. We’ve essentially handed control over; now, we could easily lose to the Russians or the Poles by ten points and still face elimination.
Moreover, I’m pretty convinced the Swedes and the French will find it relatively easy to rig things in their favor.

Beyond that, it's pretty obvious that this loss kills any hope of us grabbing anything better than a bronze medal. Even if we somehow grind our way into the semifinals, we'd be facing an exhausted, hyper-motivated squad of Danes playing on home turf.

If you can't see that this defeat has practically knocked us out of this WC, you probably need to go grab a pair of glasses.

The Prince of French Handball🙏

Titij 🙏

Air France 🙏

Luc dominance !!!! 🙏

Dominance !!!!

Let's go get that gold🙏

Jonathan Barnes5 said:We lost to them in Spain during the group stage. Tunisia is a legitimate threat, maybe even semi-final material. The European Championship in Switzerland will be a fight for the finals, and the WC in Germany will be just as cutthroat. We’ll face them again in Norway for the European semis. They take the Olympics. They take the WC final in the States, and they take the European final in Austria too. We play them in Mexico, but they beat us in London and in Spain last year. We've been knocked out by them four times, while they've knocked us out six times. Winning in the group stage doesn't mean much if it doesn't decide who moves on.

Amen. They beat us at home in the final. That's enough.

electricorca112 said:It’s actually the opposite. This whole "France complex" thing is just a total fabrication by our media and the general public.

If you ignore friendly matches—looking strictly at the WC, WC, and Olympics—we've faced them 12 times since 2003. Each side has walked away with exactly 6 wins. And in that entire stretch, nobody managed to string together more than two wins in a row.

So, it’s a dead heat—both over the long haul and in the short term (we took 2 out of the last 4; the wins have been alternating perfectly steadily).

That’s exactly why the French have plenty of motivation to knock us out by letting the Swedes slip through with a -1 advantage. 🙄

A dead heat? Give me a break. They knocked us out in the semifinals of the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, crushed us in the quarterfinals of the 2007 WC, beat us in the 2009 WC final, and took us down in the WC 2010 final. In that same window, we shut them out in the 2008 WC semifinals and the 2013 WC quarterfinals. Sure, we have a few group stage wins to our credit. Honestly, I’d trade this "equality" for their record in a heartbeat. Not to mention that whenever they beat us, they usually end up draped in gold and cementing their status as a powerhouse, while we're left dealing with nothing but psychological baggage and nightmares about Omeyer and Karabatić...