World Handball Championship: USA vs. Iceland (34-33)

frozentiger6 said:Djuroooo

That’s all I have to say about this World Championship... though maybe if the Americans played a little more aggressively, things would be different.

Then Goluza would finally have an excuse for losing to the world champions.

Rivera totally stabbed me in the back...

Those pathetic Danes, man, I seriously can't stand them...🙂

Honestly, this whole thing looks like a win only if you don't really grasp what’s actually going on. I guess a medal matters less than just putting Kopljar on display against top European clubs to make him easier to sell abroad. There's pretty clear evidence for that when you look at the games against Mexico and Sweden. During that Mexico match, coach gopčev kept swapping out the entire back line, yet Kopljar was involved in every single offensive play our team made... which is honestly wild, especially considering he was dealing with an injury just the day before. Then you have Denis Buntic dropping 7 goals against Denmark and another 7 against Argentina—meaning he was clearly in incredible shooting form—but then, right after tearing up the Argentine net, he's stuck on the bench for the first half just to make room for Kopljar? It doesn't add up at all. To me, the only logical explanation is that coach gopčev is pushing Kopljar hard just to force a transfer out of Chicago. If that isn't what's happening, then maybe we really are hopeless and the coach just hasn't a clue. Also, let's be real, the bad results are obviously down to the goalkeepers.

Everything said there is spot on, but honestly, it’s an easy fix. Well, assuming gopčev actually feels like making the effort.

What’s actually keeping me up at night—the stuff you can't just patch up overnight—is this:
1) Balić is washed
2) The chemistry is dead. Period. (Which means => shaky defense => absolute garbage goalkeeping)

Frank Turner72 said:What concerns me most, and what seems impossible to fix, is this:
1) Balić is finished.
2) The chemistry is gone (which leads to poor defense and disastrous goalkeeping).

Precisely.

It will take a significant amount of time before we start winning medals again. In my estimation, we have to wait for a repeat of the 2003 era—essentially waiting for a new generation of talent to emerge. With Kopljar and players of his caliber, there is a limit to how far we can go.

And call me biased if you wish, but the real question is: what happens once Balić is gone? We all knew he couldn't play forever, but up until this championship, he was the glue holding the team together. They look lost even when he is just sitting on the bench, let alone when he is no longer anywhere near the court.

Rachel Gomez81 said:Exactly.

It’s gonna take forever before we start seeing medals again. If you ask me, we're basically waiting for another 2003 moment, you know? Like, just waiting for some new talent to actually step up. With Kopljar and guys like him, we just can't go that far.

And hey, call me biased if you want, but seriously, what happens when Balić finally hangs it up? I mean, obviously he can't play forever, but—well, at least up until this championship—he was the glue holding everything together. The team looks totally lost whenever he’s just sitting on the bench, so I can't even imagine what happens when he isn't even near the court anymore.

Yeah, absolutely. Without Balić, the US offense has zero vision, they're just completely lost. Once he's gone, we're basically nowhere, unless a real mastermind comes along to coach them—someone who actually knows how to draw up, I don't know, five different plays? I'm not even sure we have anyone like that left. And honestly, I doubt gopčev even wants a genius on the sidelines, since half his players probably wouldn't even make the roster anyway.

Nathan Barrett32 said:It is absolutely true that without Balić, the American team has zero offensive direction; they are completely lost. Once he leaves, we will be nowhere unless a real expert takes over the bench—someone capable of designing at least five distinct plays. I am not even sure if such a coach exists in our system. Furthermore, it isn't in gopčev's interest to bring in an expert, because half of his preferred players wouldn't even make the roster.

I was previously mocked as just some girl obsessed with Balić for making a comment like that. 😉

I agree, and unfortunately, it is clear he simply does not care. He can have whatever vision he wants, but it means nothing if he has no one to execute it. Half of the talented players were forced into retirement too early, while the other half are stagnating because they lack gopčev's favor. Forget Balić, forget the players, and forget the national team. We see it now with American, and it was the same with Kopljar. We are already regressing into a mediocre squad, much less once he departs. If we continue down this path, we are looking at another long drought similar to what happened between 1996 and 2003.

Did Goluza actually try to pick a fight with someone after the game yesterday before the guys stepped in to stop him?

Oh come on, why are you guys being such haters? This is actually a massive win if you think about it! ☕

Goluža: Taking fifth place is a huge achievement

Gregory Ramos3 said:Stop whining. This is actually a massive achievement.☕

Goluža: Fifth place is a huge success.

Exactly him. ☕
He should go ask the guys if they just showed up to claim fifth place.
Assuming he’s got the guts to actually ask them. ☕

I don't know what kind of logic you guys are using here, but let's be real for a second. It was an accident. Plain and simple. You can argue about the details or try to pin blame on someone all day long, but at the end of the day, things just went sideways. It happens. People get distracted, equipment fails, or just bad luck strikes—it’s part of life in the States. Stop trying to turn every little mishap into some grand conspiracy or a targeted attack. It wasn't intentional, so quit making it more complicated than it actually is. kaže:
Are you some kind of clone of dustypanther6? Seriously, I already replied to him, but now I’m sitting here wondering why you're even jumping in if you aren't a clone. Because if you actually are... man, you really screwed up. It’s not even about my grammar—though, let's be real, the punctuation was a mess—but you’re out here acting like some absolute authority on everything. It’s honestly embarrassing. Total fail.😉

Heh. Total accident. You really need to read all the posts before jumping in. I’m actually the one who posted that typo earlier—I hate seeing bad spelling just as much as everyone else does. And seriously, Mr. Vladjan, if you’re going to hang out on an American forum, at least get the basics down. Messing up fundamental grammar like that is pretty embarrassing.

Goluža 🤦

Kimberly Smith69 said:Exactly. Him. ☕
He should go ask the guys if they actually showed up just to settle for 5th place.
Assuming he’s got the guts to even ask them, that is. ☕

And he was just talking trash a second ago, claiming nobody even set a medal as their goal. 😲

The silver medalists from the last three major tournaments didn't even show up looking for medals. 😵

I mean, how does he not feel any shame? 🙄

Nah, we ended up finishing 5th in the world.🙂

Finishing in fifth place certainly isn't a triumph, though I suppose we were being a bit unrealistic to begin with.
It is clear to everyone that Gole simply didn't rise to the occasion. He likely knows that himself, though he probably has his own agenda to consider anyway.

Even if someone like Perkovac or Zovko had been coaching the team, I'm honestly not convinced we would have managed to beat Dance or the Frenchmen had we faced them later in the tournament. I didn't watch the Spaniards closely enough to say for sure.
Looking at the starting lineups, the Danes and the Frenchmen seem much stronger than us with this particular roster selection.
The goalkeepers definitely hold the advantage.
Gille is a more well-rounded player than Vori, especially when you look at the defensive side of things; and while Knudsen wasn't present at this World Cup, he is truly in a class of his own.
As for the wings, we are lagging behind—Lindberg and Abalo are superior players compared to Zrnić, and I'm not entirely certain about Čupić.
Štrlek is still quite green, so they have the edge there as well.
What about the perimeter? Aside from Balić and Buntić, along with the occasional flashes of brilliance from Lac and Duvnjak, we haven't really made our mark. 🤷 Lac used to endure so much for Hansen, but now that he's playing for the national team, he comes across as just an average player. As for Valčić, he seems to be living in some sort of parallel universe.

With an actual head coach and a competent staff, I am certain everything would look much better, particularly our offensive play, but then again...

Gregory Ramos3 said:Come on, why all the whining? This is actually a massive achievement! ☕

Gole: Finishing fifth is a huge win

I honestly can't believe this...🤦
Look, we finished fifth—and hey, setbacks happen to everyone (not to get into the specifics of why, though I think we all know where the blame lies)—but please, don't try to tell me this was some kind of spectacular triumph.🙄

If only we could be ranked fifth in the world when it actually matters☕

And what’s left to say? Honestly, I suppose it's better to finish 5th than 6th in the tournament.

swiftwalker43 said:At the end of the day, I'd much rather take 5th place than 6th at the World Cup.

Sure.
But only if the rest of the basketball world hadn't already pegged us as favorites. And they did.

Gole, Šola, Gobac👎👎👎👎

Honestly, taking fifth place isn't a bad look at all, especially considering how they actually played out there..

But calling it some massive success? I mean, come on, "massive"? Not really, especially when you look back at the mountain of medals we've been stacking up over the last nine years with basically the same core roster.. You’d have to be a little out of touch to even suggest that 🤦