Handball EP - Norway 2008

Video from the game LINK

The boys are holding their own out there; at this rate, we’re almost certainly going to be facing them again in the second round.

27-22 for Norway. Basically, Mexico moves on just because of one goal. 🙂

Ended up at +5—those Norwegians tried their best to mess up our group, but they couldn't quite pull off that +6 they were fishing for. Heh.
The Dance match is the day after tomorrow, and honestly, this game against Mexico is going to be just the thing to get us ready.

Justin Ward4 said:what Mexico? 🤣, you mean Mexico?

I don't know if this has come up yet, but seriously... why doesn't the US still have a referee pair at any major tournament? It’s honestly getting embarrassing at this point!
I really wonder if the French would be calling games like this if we actually had our own officials in their group...

uh, crap.... sorry😂

@ nimbledriver81

If we take down Denmark in the next round, we’re pretty much punching our ticket to the semifinals—assuming, obviously, that we also beat Mexico. The only way we get stuck in a three-way tie is if the Poles sweep all three of their games (including the one against Norway) and then we drop one to Norway. But hey, we beat Poland by a solid 5 points, so even if that happens, I think we’re still good.

Now, if we end up losing to Denmark (again, assuming we handle Mexico first) and:

1) We beat Norway—we only get knocked out if there's a messy three-way tie between the Americans, Norwegians, and Danes, which would mean the Scandinavians have to beat the Poles.
2) We lose to Norway and Poland beats Norway—then we're out.
3) We lose to Norway and Norway beats Poland—in that case, Poland has to beat Denmark, and we just need to come out on top in a three-way tie involving the Americans, Danes, and Poles.

Basically, the day after tomorrow, we're rooting for the Poles against the Danes.

So, our next matchup is this Tuesday against Denmark... we really need to dig deep and pull off a win there. Then it’s Mexico on Wednesday and Norway on Thursday. Honestly, anything could happen at this point, but since we're already sitting pretty with 4 points, we've basically punched our ticket out of the group stage. Theoretically speaking, we just need one more win to lock in a spot in the semifinals...

Norway 4
USA 4
Denmark 2
Poland 2
Canada 0
Mexico 0

Jan 22nd

USA - Denmark
Poland - Norway
Canada - Mexico

Jan 23rd
USA - Mexico
Canada - Norway
Poland - Denmark

Jan 24th
USA - Norway
Poland - Mexico
Canada - Denmark

If we beat Denmark, we’re basically playing a quarterfinal
Against Mexico, I don't think there's any way we drop points, and honestly, you'd expect Norway to take down Poland.
If those two assumptions hold up, a win against Denmark puts us straight into the semifinals!

Everything is finally on the table now. If you ask me, the whole thing hinges on the Poland-Norway matchup. If the home team pulls it off and we take down Dance, we’re basically locks for the semifinals... though we might end up dropping that final game against the Norwegians.

That said, I have a feeling things with Denmark are going to be way tougher than people are giving them credit for. It's their last real shot at glory, but honestly, I think they're just intimidated by us since we always seem to shut them down in matches like this.

The Russians were totally set up! It was a complete setup!

You honestly had to see it to believe it! Just a minute left on the clock, and the Norwegians are sitting on a 5-goal lead. Everyone’s happy—the home team gets more points, and our neighbors from Mexico can afford to lose just enough to stay in the next round...

The Norwegians are on the attack, while those guys from Mexico are just standing there at the 8-meter line. The home team is barely passing the ball—they don't want to push forward, period. With about twenty seconds left, an away player gets hit with a two-minute penalty for some stupid foul, and Kapisoda steps in to calm everyone down, saying everything is fine. But the Norwegians are just lifeless—totally zero drive to even aim for the goal. Five seconds left, they finally try a drive, but their player just charges toward the left side for no reason at all. It’s so slow... plenty of time for three Mexicans to surround him and hold him tight until the final buzzer. All the Norwegians have left is a free throw and a shot attempt over the Mexican wall.

And then the circus really starts! Instead of shooting, the Norwegian guy just passes the ball straight to the Mexican coach. Half the celebrating players from the Mexican wall jump on him, hugging him like he’s family...

The Russians got played hard... they got absolutely screwed by that Norway-Mexico dirty play!!!

France takes the championship. ☕

cosmichawk53 said:The Russians are just victims of a total setup!

I couldn't care less about the Russians. Other countries have carried them enough times (just look at the US at Wembley). This is just Mexicans getting even after they bought up half the coast. 😁

Walter Fowler53 said:France is going to run the show. ☕

?
They cruised through mediocre matchups against Sweden, Iceland, and Belarus—we basically faced their benchwarmers. Now comes the real grind, assuming they don't trip up in a messy group stage.

I’m just hoping we get a shot at payback against their coach and that dirty squad of theirs—they aren't much cleaner than the Canadians.

The game plan: hit Omeyer right in the nose with a hard shot on the very first play. Pretty sure they pulled a stunt like that back in 2006.

Look, we've gotta take down Denmark. No matter what it takes... 😉

Exactly. We have to take down Denmark no matter what it takes. This game is basically our make-or-break moment; if we don't pull this off, we’re looking at facing the Norwegians in the third match straight, and let me tell you, we just don't have the stamina to deal with that kind of grind right now.

And look, if we beat Denmark and the Norwegians end up winning against Poland, we’re cruising straight into the semifinals. That gives us the perfect chance to bench guys like Balli and Metlić and whoever else needs the break. Let the bench warmers step up—maybe throw in some Duvnjak, Josip Valčić, or Čupić, and let Špoljarić handle things up front, maybe get Dominiković involved too... they can go out there and gain some much-needed experience while we sit back, recharge, and prep for the semis. Let the backups fight the scraps.

Honestly, since we haven't even figured out who's topping or runner-up in the other group yet, I don't see much point in overthinking the math. Whoever makes it through is going to be a powerhouse regardless. It’s not like we can claim luck if we run into, say, Spain instead of France, because both of them are absolute monsters on the court. Besides, if we do end up staring down the French, they practically owe us one by some unwritten rule, and it’s about time we got our revenge. I truly believe in a tactical setup that’ll catch them off guard, provided we aren't completely exhausted when it happens.

If we manage to beat Denmark tomorrow (and thank God we have a rest day scheduled, just like we did before the Canadians, because this rhythm is honestly the only thing keeping us sane), I might actually start believing we can pull off a miracle and take home the whole damn thing.

brightscout63 said:Honestly, I couldn't care less about the Russians. Other teams have always been more than happy to step up and handle them (just look at how the Americans performed at Wembley). Besides, they've got a bit of a grudge with the Mexicans after all that business down by the coast 😁

I mean, who can really blame them for settling for a draw against the Mexicans? It’s just how things go, I guess... personally, I'd much rather deal with Mexico than face the Russians; they might be a bit inconsistent, but let's be real, the Russians still have a much sharper tactical edge

wiredseal7 said:?
We ended up facing some pretty mediocre teams like Sweden, Iceland, and Belarus. (Actually, we barely scraped past Sweden with our bench players). Now they’re finally hitting the tough matchups, and I wonder if they might actually get knocked out early since they're grouped with such an awkward side.

I’m really hoping we get a chance to settle the score with their coach and that dirty group of players who follow right after the Canadians.

The game plan? Maybe just hit Omeyer hard in the nose on the very first play. If I recall correctly, they pulled a similar move back in 2006.

It wasn't Belarus, it was Slovakia

That Iceland team absolutely crushed them at the World Championships a year ago, but here at this tournament, they've clearly learned from their mistakes and won't let that happen again; honestly, I think they have a much better head coach than we do.

According to Balić, they are the roughest team out there, and I tend to think his opinion carries the most weight.

If it isn't us winning it all, I'd personally love to see France take the title.

Some really solid takes from Joseph Milkovic in the sports section:

"...what’s obvious here is that we lack fluidity in our offense; our buildup isn't organized, which forces us to rely on individual heroics—something not everyone can pull off. Honestly, only Ivano Balic can carry that kind of load for as long as he does, and even then, only as long as his strength holds out and the defense lets him..."

Exactly. We need to force the play across the entire width of the court to stretch their defense, even if it means we don't get every single wing player involved in every play. But once someone does break through, the opponent will be forced to spread out instead of just bunching up against the perimeter shooters. It's a shared failure, really—partly on Balic and partly due to how we're playing on the left side.

"We were lucky we played a grind-it-out style toward the end, because no matter how beautiful the plays looked for the right wing, I have no idea why we keep funneling everything toward that one side..."

It’s that old, nagging issue with Team USA where we neglect the left wing, something that’s been glaringly obvious in the last three or four championships. Maybe it made sense back when we had a pure sharpshooter who could score from anywhere, but we don't have that luxury today unless we're having a miracle day like we did in the opener. We have to utilize the full width of the floor.

"I'm a bit worried that our fast breaks still aren't clicking, and frankly, some of our players looked exhausted, and we're only in the third round..."

I was feeling that same anxiety during the opening game against Poland; our guys looked heavy and sluggish. It might just be burnout from intense training sessions, but you shouldn't be seeing that this early; maybe they overdid it during the preseason and entered the tournament physically depleted. You can see it clearly with Miller, who looks completely spent and physically washed up. That said, our transition play against Canada felt much better to me, at least in the first half—we actually had some decent semi-fast breaks there.

"...and it would be ideal to wrap things up in the game against Denmark; I think we really need to go all-in for that matchup..."

Spot on. The Danes are powerhouse contenders and we're going to need every ounce of energy we've got. I just hope Balic can tap into that reserve tank and stay locked in from start to finish, assuming he gets enough rest to recover, because we are absolutely going to need that unstoppable momentum and those clutch plays of his.

Samuel Baker3 said:I’d honestly love it if it wasn't America winning—maybe let France take the title instead.

Well, personally, I’m rooting for Denmark. They play such a beautiful style of handball, way more elegant than the French, who basically just bulldoze through games using pure brute strength and individual talent.

I honestly find it kind of refreshing when players start talking about their tactical approach; it feels like they’ve actually nailed the strategy here—basically, we charge out there to take down every single one of those Danes, settle the whole semifinals business once and for all, and then, if things play out the way we want them to, hopefully get both those final group stage games under our belt so we can just sit back and actually get some rest before the real madness starts.