America vs. France: Semifinals - Feb 4, 2006 @ 2:15 PM

rapidbison42 said:Valčić’s main job is playing defense and covering the left wing.

—but let’s be real, he was also a solid sub for Lacković up front.

What on earth are the French doing on offense? They’re just throwing the ball out of bounds in the first half like they’ve completely lost their minds. I already said that if we shut down their attack, they wouldn't have a clue what to do—specifically, if we neutralized Karabatic.
And that's exactly what happened.

But here's the kicker: our own offense was a complete disaster. Why??? It’s all because of Cervar and that ridiculous tactic playing with two pivots. Once Dinart figured out how to shut down Balica, it was game over. Cervar looked totally lost; he had no answer once Balica was neutralized. The guy didn't even attempt a Plan B.

Bottom line? This loss is squarely on Lin Cervar.

The Spanish defense is an absolute joke—Denmark is playing out of their minds

If we’d faced Spain today, we might have actually walked away with a win

frozentiger6 said:I just went through the game footage on tape, fast-forwarding through the plays.

You know what? This is a textbook failure of coaching and strategy. Cervar has been forcing this exact same playbook throughout the entire EP.
The French coach saw right through him; he had him figured out today.

This isn't a loss for the players; it's a loss for Lin Cervar, the tactician.

Exactly.
Cervar’s little gimmicks weren't working. The only reason we stayed in it was pure individual talent.
Lino centered the whole game around his own ego.
Maybe he thought he'd grab the gold and then brag in the papers about how he "reinvented" the sport.

rapidbison42 said:Exactly.
Cervar’s nonsense tactics never worked. The only reason we stood a chance was because of raw individual talent.
Lino played entirely for himself.
He probably thought he’d grab some gold and then spend his time bragging in the papers about how he "reinvented" the game.

He likely cooked up the most idiotic strategy in the history of American handball—cutting off the left wing entirely.

just ignore the fool.

rapidbison42 said:Exactly.
Cervar’s tactical gimmicks just weren't working. It was all about individual talent carrying the weight.
Lino made the whole game revolve entirely around himself.
I guess he wanted to grab the gold and then spend his time bragging in the papers about how he "reinvented" handball.

It's all five, really. You don't invent a new style of play or try to cook up chemistry during the tournament itself; that work happens much earlier, during training camp... 🙄
Someone once said it best:
When things are going perfectly, that's when you focus on perfecting them...

Hopefully the Americans crush those Spanish losers.
Don't think I'll even have the energy to watch the third-place match.
9:7 USA.👍

The Danes are up 9:7

If they pull this off, we’re absolutely sunk--game over.

rapidbison42 said:100%.
Those tactics from Cervar just weren't cutting it... the only reason we even stood a chance was because of our raw individual talent.
Lino basically turned the whole game into his own personal ego trip.
I guess he just wanted to grab that gold medal and then spend the rest of the week bragging to the press about how he "reinvented" the sport...

his ego absolutely wrecked him
and totally trashed our chemistry too...

feralbison62 said:Hopefully the Americans crush those Spaniards.
I’ll probably have the energy to watch the third-place match
between the US and Denmark.👍

Give me a break—it's going to be way easier to beat the Spanish than it is to take down the Americans.

James Vaughn3 said:Denmark is leading 9:7

If the Americans pull this off, we're absolutely sunk.

Personally, I’m rooting for Denmark just so we can have some fun mocking those hysterical, angry trolls...
We really need to make up for today and last year's finals. 😎

Sandra Hernandez13 said:I just want us to get that win against Denmark, then we can finally shut up all those hysterical, dark-red activists...
We've gotta get some payback for today and that whole mess from last year's championship... 😎

I honestly just can't bring myself to watch the replay of last year's finals... it's just too much...

October 10th, Denmark vs. Spain... personally, I think I’m leaning towards a Dance victory...👍

Look, we just keep pushing forward—we have to secure this win tomorrow if we want at least one reason to celebrate a medal.

But honestly, this tournament has proven we aren't the undisputed top dogs anymore—though we’re definitely still sitting comfortably in the top three.

I'd rather we just lose the bronze than let those guys from Spain walk away with the gold.
20. minute 11:10 for Dance.👍

Drive99 said:Just taking things one step at a time. We really need to pull off this win tomorrow just so we have a medal to celebrate.

But honestly, this tournament has shown us that while we might not be the undisputed #1 anymore, we’re definitely still in that top three tier.

Even if we aren't the absolute best,
we certainly have the most talent. Our only real issue is dealing with all these injuries, and I feel like Lino was playing around with Merlin a bit too much this time. 😁
When our roster is healthy and Lino isn't overthinking the strategy, nobody can touch us. We're the best. 😍

Fox said:I’d rather we take bronze than let those Spaniards walk away with the gold.
20th minute, 11:10 for Dance.👍

Yep..
Gold for the Danes!!!!

Why all this immediate defeatism and constant attacking? In the top tier of American sports today, there are at least a dozen teams where any single squad can take down another on any given day. Look at how the German national team is being showered with praise for finishing fifth—nobody is even whispering about firing their coach. Our guys have been consistently reaching at least the semifinals in every major tournament for years now (and there’s plenty of examples of that in American handball). It’s obvious that fatigue was the deciding factor here. We had to play three back-to-back games, and every single one was a high-stakes grind. Meanwhile, the Americans had a bit of breathing room after playing Ukraine and Poland. You could see everything clicking perfectly for those first 15 or 20 minutes, but then exhaustion just set in and the focus evaporated. When you miss seven or eight easy shots in a row, there isn't much left for a coach to do.

and hey, if you're feeling wiped out, there’s always a cure... it’s called a longer bench

Denmark is absolutely crushing Spain 14:11—these guys are playing defense way higher than we are