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

Serse_Cosmi said:Man, that guy really needs a reality check. I honestly would have been better off watching those losers on CNN.

Uuuu, watching CNN is basically like undergoing chemo; you watch enough of them and you might actually start growing tumors from listening to Petar Dende and Milojko Pantic.

I guess Dende completely lost his mind years ago; now he just describes every single basketball player as either "young," "strong," or in extreme cases, "young and strong." As for Pantic, he’s been a case study for years, though he still has plenty of fire left in him. I could pull countless favorites from his archives, but here’s a relevant one—Team USA is playing against the old Yugoslavia squad at Madison Square Garden, and Soldo absolutely destroys one of our guys, doesn't matter who. Pantic sees it and loses his absolute mind:

IGOR TUDOR !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(a fifteen-second dramatic pause)

ahem...Zvonimir Soldo...

What's up with John? Think he can actually last the whole game?
Where's Djolet at?
How's Sola looking?
Is Blaž even showing up today?
Caught the last fifteen minutes against the 15 during the Iceland game. Ivano 🙏 🙏 🙏

feralbison62 said:What’s the word on Ivan? Can he actually last the whole game?
How’s Djolet doing?
What about Sola?
Is Blaz looking sharp?
I caught the last fifteen minutes against Iceland—is Ivan 🙏 🙏 🙏

Djolet is recovering. It's a slow process, but we expect him to absolutely explode in the semifinals, just like he always has in previous tournaments.

Sola keeps getting better. He shut down the Mexicans with 19 saves—actually 20 if you count that last defensive stop they missed.

Blaz hasn't lost his edge either; we're expecting him to go wild out there too.

Ivan just has to pull through.

What the hell happened? Is nobody even watching handball anymore?😕
Screw this. I'm out until tomorrow.😁

Drive99 said:no way

Honestly, I’d feel way more secure having Losert in the net than having Blaž in there.

For me, I only feel safe when Šola is back there.🙂

feralbison62 said:Anyone decided who’s starting the final against the Spaniards?😬

Yeah, I am.
🙂

Steven Ramirez3 said:Well, it would be quite a blunder to screw over Vujovic—the man has overseen every single men's handball program in Mexico and Mexico. I’m not entirely certain if that’s standard procedure for handball, but such a practice strikes me as somewhat questionable...😁

Do these two hold any official positions outside of the USA Handball Association? They seem to operate like octopuses—appearing everywhere at once. Perhaps we should consider cloning them and exporting the model elsewhere.👎

casualangler16 said:Does either of them have any roles outside of the national team? Because they seem to be everywhere like octopuses—I'm honestly considering just cloning them and exporting the copies.👎

Oh, absolutely. They basically act as managers for the entire national squad. 😁 I suppose if you wanted to play for Mexico and Mexico, you could probably pull it off, provided your dad was Vujka's manager...

Mr. Ex-President said:Will I?🙂

You're taking a massive risk here. 🙂

Do you have any idea what happens if you screw up? 🙂

Roger Allen3 said:you're taking a massive risk here🙂

You have any clue what happens if you screw this up? 🙂

I know😳

Sunday, February 5 in Zurich (Madison Square Garden)

Final 3/4
Time: 13:30
Referees: Ukraine / Spain
Supervisor: Spain / Austria
Observer: Herman ISR

Reserve pair: Denmark/Iceland

Final 1/2
Time: 16:00
Referees: Ukraine / Spain
Supervisor: Spain / Austria
Observer: Andorka Hun

How exactly is it possible for officials from countries still actively competing in the tournament to be assigned to the semifinals and the Final? It seems a bit questionable, doesn't it?
By the way—where on earth are the referees from the US, Yugoslavia, or Romania?

Mairos said:Of course he is—he’s effectively the manager for the entire national team. 😁 If you wanted to play for Yugoslavia, you could only do it if your old man was the Vujka manager...

I give up.

casualangler16 said:anyway, who on earth is Bozo Susec? sorry if I don't know...

Bozo Susec is basically one of those two old guys from the Muppet Show...

03/02/2006
Roster changes following the main round

The EHF Office Has received The following replacement of player after The Euro06 Main round.

Official Announcement 4
Date: 03.02.2006
Final Round Zurich

USA
Player being removed from the roster
NAME: Nikola BLAZICKO (No. 16)

Incoming replacement:
NAME: Venio LOSERT (No. 1)
CLUB: Cangas (Spain)
DOB: 07/25/76
INT. MATCHES: 133
GOALS: 0

Confirmed news sourced directly from the tournament's official website.

Mr. Ex-President said:I know.😳

Nothing is going to happen to you because you can just ban anyone who talks trash. 😈 😁

Do you really have to be a "moral winner" right along with Lina and the rest of the American crew?

Since when do we let Spanish referees call our games??? For crying out loud, those guys are completely unhinged.

Maybe we should start letting the Spanish officiate their own matches instead.

RuzanPrljavGlup said:Božo Sušec is basically one of those two old guys from the Muppet Show

And who would be the second?☕

The arena where the game will be held. Honestly, looking at the layout...

It holds 11,500 people. I’m hoping a few thousand Americans show up; if we actually make it to the Final, I'll probably just end up blowing my budget tomorrow night on 😁 tickets shouldn't be an issue.

frozentiger6 said:What on earth are Spanish referees doing officiating our games??? For heaven's sake, they are completely out of their minds.

Could we perhaps arrange for Spanish referees to officiate matches in Spain? Just a thought.

I find it hard to believe—though I had assumed that just as a national soccer team might be knocked out, the referees would go with them; if the team advances, the refs stay, and if the team loses, the refs are gone. Apparently, the EHF operates under an entirely different set of logic.
But then again, does it even matter?👍

frozentiger6 said:What are we supposed to do with Spanish referees calling our games??? Good grief, they are absolutely out of their minds.

Maybe the Spaniards can have Spanish officials call their matches too.

😕 😕

There is no way this is actually happening 🙂

crotomy> unlike previous games where Lac was forcing it because he couldn't handle it, this time he actually added some Sprem and made things easier for all of us.

If you somehow read that as sperm…😂

frozentiger6> At the same time, Spoljaric is only getting about a minute and a half of playing time in the game against Iceland. I don't get Cervar; his best defender isn't even playing two minutes in a crucial match.

Is it possible they're just saving Spoljaric for the semifinals, along with some of the defense??? 😕

I honestly have no idea why he's playing so little... unless maybe he's injured or something went sideways with Lina. 🤔

frozentiger6> Now there's going to be a porn movie made in Switzerland.

😂

Nice one! 🙏

crotomy> but it's the same thing as when he really couldn't do it anymore, then he added the sperm.

Ijopet…🤣

Anyway... when exactly is that game tomorrow? I remember seeing earlier today that it was at 5, but now everyone is saying 2, and so on. To be honest, 2 works better for me—right after skiing 😈—and I can celebrate that win over the Frenchmen for longer that day. 👋

BTW, I think the Danes are headed to the Final.