World Handball Championship: USA vs. Spain 27-25

Adam Williams2 said:🤣 🙏

Look, if you claim you don't get why we didn't rest up against the Spanish team, you're just showing an inferiority complex toward the French. You're acting like some genius who thinks we should be saving our energy for Belarus, even though in that game we’re basically playing for nothing, whereas against the Spanish, we were actually playing for something meaningful. 🙄

Listen, I think we ought to rest as much as possible against Belarus and just grab the win on the side. 😬 I was actually leaning toward beating the Spanish with our B-team if we could. 😬

There's a massive difference between resting players and playing to lose. One is a legitimate strategy to reach a final goal; the other is just an insult to the sport.

Man, does seriously nobody have a recording of this?

nimblewalker4 said:Exactly! This stopped being about sports or even handball a long time ago, at least in the eyes of those armchair experts sitting on their couches.

Now all these losers are going to be cheering for France, just so they can feel like they were right all along.

Yeah, and honestly? It’s pathetic. It’s tragic because they’re doing it solely because they have a grudge against the coach, despite the fact that he’s built an incredible squad and the guys are actually playing great handball. I really want to see what these critics will have to say when we absolutely crush the French—will they suddenly claim the French just let us win, much like how they did with the Spaniards?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?featur...&v=GzYLUWa-3mM

That guy Goluzi is a complete idiot.

boldfox88 said:https://www.youtube.com/watch?featur...&v=GzYLUWa-3mM

What an absolute moron that Goluzi guy is.

Honestly, that was one of the smartest calls he ever made. Calling that timeout at just the right moment was brilliant; it’s a damn shame the Americans ended up outmaneuvering us later in the game anyway. ☕

silverpuma90 said:Yeah, and it’s honestly tragic. It's happening just because they don't like the coach, even though he’s built an incredible squad and the guys are actually playing handball. I wonder what the headlines will say if we beat the French, though. Probably that they just let us win, much like how the Spaniards did.

And even if we do beat the French, we'll be heading to Dance completely exhausted. Honestly, even if we beat Dance in the finals, we're toast. We could have taken a much smarter, more graceful path to the championship. But no, they're making the exact same mistake again. This guy is once again trying to force some outdated sense of "honor and glory" where it simply doesn't belong.

electricstag9 said:Honestly, that was one of his smartest moves ever—calling that timeout at just the right moment. It’s a shame the Spaniards managed to outmaneuver us later in the game, though.☕

You can tell the players were hungry for a win regardless of the circumstances; Čupko (and Balić too) wasn't getting worked up for no reason. Their plays were definitely in the spirit of fair play, even if that kind of decency usually lands us against much tougher opponents.
Just imagine if we had played dirty tactics and then ended up getting knocked out by the Mexicans—it would have been an absolute nightmare, a total mess of people breathing down our necks. At least this way we know where we stand, even if we are in a pretty tough spot right now.

The Germans keep saying we aren't acting rational, wondering why we'd take the easy way out when there are much tougher paths ahead...

Eric Fox7 said:Look, you can tell the players were hell-bent on winning no matter what. It’s not like Čupko (or even Balić) was just losing his cool for nothing. They played by the rules, which basically means we’re stuck facing the heavy hitters now.
I mean, imagine if we tried some shady tactics and then got knocked out by the Mexicans—it would be absolute chaos, everyone just screaming at each other and pointing fingers. At least this way, we know where we stand, even if our situation sucks right now.

At least then we'd have an answer, knowing we weren't actually good enough for a medal. But this? If we get bounced by the French, people are gonna go nuts cursing them out, because everyone will be convinced we only had a shot at a title if we'd cleared the path through the Mexicans, Germans, Canadians, or Russians first.

George Ward7 said:At least we’d know where we stand—whether we actually deserved a medal or not. As it is, if we get knocked out by the French, everyone is just going to start cursing them out because they'll be convinced we could have snatched another title if we'd just played through the Mexicans, Germans, Canadians, or Russians instead.

Look, I’d love to see them lose too, but my point is that there would still be those people spitting venom over the decision if we got knocked out by the Mexicans (and yeah, it’d be the exact same crowd currently giving us hell).
The guys had the guts—even if they lacked the tactical sense—to take the harder path, and if you ask me, they've earned 👍

bluecrane25 said:And now the Germans are chiming in, claiming we’ve lost our minds—but why take the easy route when there’s such a compelling argument to be made?

Honestly, it seems like Goluzi and Gopcu were more concerned with being the most honorable guys in the room than actually securing first place; who among them was even thinking about chasing a gold medal!

Then there was that ridiculous stunt of his; suggesting that after a blowout game, we should just sit back and watch the young prospects develop.

It’s quite telling how those Spaniards, playing with only two men left on the court, just coasted through the end of the game against us.☕

Eric Fox7 said:You can see the players wanted to win regardless of anything else; Chuck (and Billy the Kid too) wasn't getting worked up for nothing. The moves were definitely in the spirit of fair play, even if that fair play means facing tougher opponents.
Imagine if we had played tactics and then got knocked out by the Mexicans—it would have been a total disaster and everyone would be screwing us over. At least this way I know where we stand, even if our position sucks.

Are you kidding me, Brutus? 🤦

Did people even watch the game? You think he called a timeout just by accident? Bullshit. We were throwing games too, but they were just more skillful. When Vory scored, he turned toward the bench and signaled something; you could tell not everyone was on board. And Doug looked so shaky whenever he was getting the ball, it was obvious from miles away.

This is the dumbest example of playing fair play ever. I agree it's fair to chase a win in every game, even when it doesn't matter. But we didn't need to go at it with Chip, Vory, Dustin, and Stryker; we should have used Horvat, Murray, Mouse, Mandalinić, Spree, and the rest. Because of Katrina's stupid mistake, we lost Stryker (even though Ninčević is a good player) and we're short one more sub. Since both Stryker and Lac are out for the rest of the tournament, we're basically screwed now.
And worst of all, the "great" coach is already making excuses about how Vory is tired. For fuck's sake, he didn't even have to play. You have two backup pivots, yet Vory plays over two-thirds of the match and then you complain he's exhausted. If you want to act all "fair play," why didn't you keep Vory on the field against Australia, Algeria, or Egypt? Because if we're going by that logic, it wouldn't be "sporting" for us to bring out our best players after we broke through the Algerians.

I don't know, I think the real issue here is just a complete lack of coordination—it feels like one side was hell-bent on winning while the other was practically begging to lose 🤷

Eric Fox7 said:I don't know, maybe they just failed to coordinate. It looks like one side was desperate to win while the other was practically begging to lose. 🤷

They didn't. That's actually the worst part about this whole mess. 😁

Katrina was pulling one way, Chip was going another, then Vory and Dustin were heading in a third direction. We were all sitting there laughing while Billy the Kid facepalmed... yeah, the whole thing was just a total disaster.

Eric Fox7 said:It’s clear the players were determined to win regardless of the circumstances; it’s no surprise that Chuck (nor Billy the Kid) was getting worked up. Their moves were strictly in the spirit of fair play, even if that fairness means facing much tougher opponents.
Just imagine if we had tried to play games and then got knocked out by the Mexicans—it would have been an absolute disaster and a total embarrassment. At least this way, we know exactly where we stand, even if our current position isn't exactly ideal.

Exactly. We’d be eliminated by those aggressive Mexicans, all while chasing medals through the French and the Danes.

George Robinson43 said:Yeah. They’d probably try to blame some messy Mexicans, while they're actually just chasing medals through the French and Danes.

That's pretty much it.😁If we just play a heavy defense against the Mexicans, they honestly won't have a clue what to do because they're way too slow, and their small forwards are basically useless. I mean, the Canadians showed us exactly what happens—once you tighten the screws on them, all they can do in those last ten minutes is feed the ball to Vujinic and Ilic to let them chuck shots, and we already saw how that ends. Honestly, the Mexicans suck. They might stand a chance if they're playing at home in Belgrade, but anywhere else? We'll probably smoke them by ten points, easy.

😁 This kind of forum optimism started back when we beat Turkey. Bill had no clue, absolutely nothing—he was just getting schooled by the old pro 🤔...that Dutchman. Then came the match against Ireland, and once again, the veteran was on the bench. We thought Tony would tear that amateur Bill apart, but then suddenly Rudic was the problem because he supposedly didn't get water polo, then Stimac was labeled a criminal. It’s a cycle. Just a few years ago, people were claiming Mandzukic had no talent, and they said the exact same thing about Olic... it never ends. We Americans 🙏🙏🙏:

Jerry Myers19 said:😁 This kind of forum optimism was just as rampant back when we managed to pull through against Turkey; Bill doesn't have a clue, he's completely lost, and he's just being carried along by that old fox 🤔 ...that Dutchman. Then came Ireland, and once again, that same old fox is on the bench, promising that Tony will absolutely demolish the clueless Bill, but then suddenly it’s Rudic's fault because he isn't a water polo expert, and then it’s Stimac's fault because he’s some sort of outlaw. It’s always the same cycle; just a few years ago, everyone was claiming Mandzukic had no talent, and they said the exact same things about Olic... it goes on and on like that... and us Americans 🙏🙏🙏:

Did the drug van finally make it to town?

nimbleranger512 said:Did a van full of drugs just roll into town?

🤣 🤣 🙏