World Cup Handball: The Final Stretch

The Norwegians are coming after us ☕

Looks like the Frenchmen decided they could afford to take an extra day off!

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Is FOX really not broadcasting the semifinals? They’re airing some ridiculous home video at 8:15 PM instead. 🤣

Does anyone know of a reliable, high-quality stream? Thanks!

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Robert Doyle8 said:Are these losers on FOX really not airing the semifinals?! Just some goofy home video at 8:15 PM 🤣

Anyone know a decent stream? Thanks.

They're airing it. Thursday at 9 PM France-Canada, FRIDAY at 8:45 PM USA-Norway👍

Good grief, I've completely lost track of the days. 😵 That isn't happening today...

Tomorrow marks the day of that 😁
...

Yes, I see now 😬 apologies

I honestly don't get why everyone is making such a massive deal out of just reaching the semifinals.

If they had actually fought their way into the finals, I might have something to say, but what does a semifinal even signify? At the end of the day, we could still walk away empty-handed without a single medal if they don't start playing the way they're supposed to. Not that I follow handball religiously or anything—it doesn't exactly keep me up at night—but still.

Looks like Germany missed out too.

Carl Morris34 said:I don't get why everyone is making such a huge deal out of reaching the semifinals.

Look, if they actually fought their way into the finals, I’d have something to say, but what does a semifinal even mean? You can still walk away empty-handed if they don't step up their game from here on out. Honestly, I don't follow handball that closely, so it doesn't affect me all that much either.

http://www.handball-planet.com/frenc...usa-on-18/

Who else besides us and the French can even brag about this? 🍿
It means we're officially in the hunt for a medal!

granitemason4 said:http://www.handball-planet.com/frenc...america-on-18/

Who else can actually claim this kind of run besides us and the French? 🍿
We’re talking a legitimate shot at a medal here!

The move is to just slow the tempo down—grind the game out—and then take them apart systematically... I mean, you've got a handball powerhouse going up against a total underdog here...☕

Carl Morris34 said:I don't get why everyone's freaking out over making the semifinals.

Look, if they actually made it to the finals, maybe I'd shut up—but a semifinal? It's whatever. We could still walk away empty-handed if they don't start playing actual decent ball. Not even that big into handball myself, so it doesn't really move the needle for me...

People are celebrating because we were basically expected to crash out in the quarterfinals—so hitting the semis is actually huge. We aren't that powerhouse team anymore where people just expect us to cruise into the final four. Even the commentators are calling teams like Germany and Spain the heavy favorites against us. Just a few years back, *we* were the ones everyone was betting on. We started this tournament ranked fifth, but based on how things are going, even the Vegas oddsmakers are giving the edge to the Norwegians over us. And those are the same Norwegians we absolutely crushed the last two times we played them...

Honestly, I'm almost with him—they look way better than us right now, just like I mentioned in my other post. Personally, I wouldn't give the Norwegians a massive advantage, more like a toss-up, but the fact that they're even being favored over us is a massive reality check. A few years ago, we’d be the heavy hitters in that matchup.

We're slipping, plain and simple. The only reason we're still relevant is that somehow, no matter how bad we play or how much better everyone else looks, we keep stumbling our way into medal contention. If we'd lost to Spain, nobody would have blinked—just like losing to Germany is totally expected. But hey, our guys managed to take down Spain, and now they gotta handle the Norwegians too.

That's why there's a party going on. Because after watching how we've played, hardly anyone—especially the actual fans—thought we'd even see the semifinals.

Besides, making the semis in any sport is a massive deal, even if you're the biggest favorite on the planet. Denmark, Germany, and Spain know that better than anyone right now.

I haven't watched anyone else because nothing was on TV and I don't have the patience to deal with crappy internet streams. Honestly, I’d give the Americans a 60% shot at winning. It mostly comes down to their experience winning medals, regardless of how good the Norwegians look right now. There's just a massive difference between stepping onto the field after years of winning championships versus someone whose only recent "training" has been scrolling through adult sites.

As for our guys, I’ll give them a 20% chance. It’s not even about talent—we actually have depth and two solid starting lineups for the first time ever, which lets us keep the pace high. Our odds are low because of the refs, the home crowd pressure, and mainly our own mental block when facing the giants who, much like the Norwegians, have a history of grabbing hardware.
When it comes to the bronze medal fight, there are three main wildcards, but I’m giving our team a 50% chance regardless of who they face. Having a rest day on our side while the opponent has to grind through will definitely work in our favor.

Brian Doyle6 said:Honestly, I haven't watched much besides our own games—there hasn't been anything on TV lately and I don't have the patience to stream everything online—but if I had to take a wild guess, I’d give Team USA a 60% chance at winning. It mostly comes down to that "medal pedigree"—knowing how to actually close out a tournament—regardless of how good the Norwegians look right now. It’s just different; you can't expect the same results from a group that’s basically spent their off-season watching nothing but adult films compared to a squad that knows how to win.

I’d give our guys a 20% shot. It’s not because they aren't talented enough—we actually have incredible depth and two solid starting lineups this year, which we've never had before, allowing us to maintain a high tempo. Our odds are low because of the officiating, the crowd pressure, and, most importantly, those mental hurdles we face when playing against giants—especially teams with a similar lack of championship experience as the Norwegians.
When it comes to the battle for bronze, I’m giving us a 50% chance regardless of who we end up facing. One thing working in our favor will be having a rest day, while our opponent won't get one.

Wait, what opponent isn't getting a rest day compared to us? No matter how you slice it, we're the ones with the extra day since we play on Friday...

Brian Doyle6 is Canadian 😁

Adam Williams2 said:Brian Doyle6 is actually Canadian 😁

🙂

USA vs. Mexico in the finals. No fear here. Just go hard ☕

Come on, guys! Let's show them how we do it on our home turf!

Right now, I’m mostly terrified of France’s suffocating 6-0 zone defense. They'll basically force us to settle for nothing but outside shots. Since our shooters are just two inexperienced kids like Henigman and Grebenc, Omeyer is going to tear us apart. It all really comes down to whether Mackovsek is actually dialed in from deep.
So, I'm crossing my fingers for some massive saves from our keeper, then hopefully we can punish them on the break.

Go Austria

As someone pointed out a few days ago, there's nothing quite like watching the romance of Federer and Nadal in the early morning, followed by the Austria vs. USA championship game in the evening 🕺