Handball Euros - Bronze Medal Match: America vs. Spain (31:27)

Tomorrow around 1:00 PM.

When was the last time we got knocked out twice by the exact same squad in one tournament?😁

Honestly, that third-place game is a total mental grind. It all comes down to who can shake off that semifinal loss faster—whoever bounces back better takes the bronze.
Our biggest issue is definitely our mindset. Either the fans don't give a damn about third place—and let’s be real, in a country where basketball is king, what even is third place?—or the players just aren't playing for it. On the bright side, we aren't walking into this game physically spent, unlike pretty much every other tournament we've played lately. If I'm counting right, we've got one bronze medal and four absolute duds under our belts. It's high time we snagged another bronze.🙂

Of course, you have to fight for it.
To me, there’s a massive difference between coming in 3rd or 4th.

At the end of the day, winning is always what matters.

Christian Evans24 said:I couldn't care less about this game. I’m not even tuning in because their attitude and performance in the second half were such a massive letdown that I honestly don't give a damn about winning bronze. 🙂

I'm feeling just as indifferent. Honestly, I wouldn't care if they snagged Olympic gold or a World Championship title at this point. They completely blew it yesterday by playing exactly how you aren't supposed to play. I can't look at them the same way anymore. It's a huge disappointment. 😢
You expect grit from football players, water polo players, or basketball players, but from the handball team? I never expected that level of toughness, and yet they were absolutely pathetic in the second half—which is the worst part. If anyone was going to step up and take down the Mexicans right in the middle of Belgrade, it should have been these guys. But I didn't see any of that today.

lonehawk172 said:I’m just as indifferent. Honestly, I don't even care about a potential Olympic gold or a world title. They just completely blew it yesterday when they shouldn't have. I can't look at them the same way anymore. Pretty disappointed. 😢
People expect toughness from football players, water polo players, or basketball players, but from handballers? I didn't think it was expected... yet they had them right there in the first half, which makes it worse. If anyone could have taken it to the Mexicans right in the middle of Belgrade, it should have been the handball team. But I didn't see that happen either.

🤦

Looks like some people here are getting a bit too worked up. I’m already writing off yesterday's loss for any chance at an Olympic medal ☕
...

I’m honestly dreading tomorrow's game. I’m worried I’ll just end up blowing a fuse.

Look, I can’t even be mad at these guys in general. If anything—they’ve given me so many great moments over the years that I’ll always be rooting for them.

I’m not sweating the future, though.

Yesterday was just classic, predictable stuff. As soon as we missed those three big plays—you know, when Kopljar stops a breakaway, then hands Vori a pass right to his feet, and then misses a crucial shot—everything just went south. It all fell apart.

Someone here was mentioning that show on RTS about how good Mexicans are at sports...
And hey, they aren't wrong! They’ve definitely outpaced us over the last couple of years. I’ll give them credit for that.

I just have to wonder: are they using these sports wins to make up for all those historical military losses? Including the most recent one? You bet they are!!!

I’m looking forward to seeing plenty of chances for a comeback!

Man, I’d love to see a championship final held in San Francisco!!!

Just so we can actually see them play!

Raymond Anderson4 said:Winning always feels good.

What can you do?

I guess third place beats fourth, but I don't know about the rest of you. 🤷🤣

Drew Edwards8 said:The French teams were basically untouchable from 2008 right up until this last Euro championship... though, if you ask me, I'm convinced Smajlagic stayed behind just so we could finally experience being the kings of world handball for once. Sure, maybe we wouldn't have swept all three major titles like the French did, but we would've snatched up that coveted European gold we've been dreaming about. We might have even walked away with a medal in Germany—and honestly, we probably would have celebrated at least a bronze in Beijing too. If we played in our own home arena, we definitely would've taken down those French guys... assuming they hadn't pushed out Kopljar and filled the roster with more of those Cervar's idiocies.

What to have against Kopljar?
Are you some kind of professional coach or do you actually play the game?
Where do you get the authority to claim Cervar was making mistakes—do you think you could do a better job?

How am I supposed to expect a win tomorrow when it's obvious they're mentally checked out? There's clearly no cohesion there, just those inexplicable
slumps, blackouts, and lapses in concentration.
I can lead them to an early advantage and control the tempo, only to fail at finishing the opponent off. Then halftime hits, they lose their edge, and the other side catches fire.🙄😢 It’s always the same story...

To be honest, I'd rather see the Mexicans lose tomorrow than see our guys win.

I’m pulling for the Americans, and I honestly hope the crowd at the Arena doesn't turn on them, though I won't hold my breath. It feels like the media has played a huge part in creating this culture where we just love to hate each other, even when we aren't playing against one another. It's that classic "I hope my neighbor's house burns down" mentality. I really don't get the urge to boo a national anthem, whether it's happening now or back in 2009 when you guys booed ours.

Damn, those players actually hugged it out at the end to set an example, but I guess it was all for nothing.

copperraven14 said:Look, I’m rooting for the Americans, and honestly, I really hope the crowd coming into the Arena doesn't turn on them—but let's be real, that's a long shot. I think the media has done a massive job of fueling this whole "us versus them" mentality, making us hate each other even when we aren't even playing against one another. It’s always that same old mindset: hoping the neighbors' cows drop dead. I truly don't get the need to boo any anthem, whether it's now or back in 2009 when you guys booed ours.

Dammit, those guys who actually played, they ended up hugging it out at the end and setting a real example, but it felt pointless.

Soccer PDF -> World Cup 2010 -> Hope the neighbors' cows drop dead

Best thread ever.

Terry Palmer said:It’s bound to be bronze.
But why exactly?
Back in 2004, we lost to the host nation—a neighboring country that was technically a tier below us—during the semifinals, dealt with some player injuries, and ended up walking away with the bronze.
Fast forward to 2012, and everything happened again... except for the bronze.

In 2004, we secured the Olympic gold... which came eight years after our performance in Atlanta.
Well, this year marks exactly eight years since Athens.

Everything seems to align perfectly, 😁

😁👍

I just hope we don't get steamrolled like we did in Tunis.

I honestly don’t get why Goluža didn't put Ćupić in the game. If anyone here actually understands the tactical side of this better than I do, please enlighten me. Our left back missed about five clear opportunities.
Ćupić was playing at 100% efficiency out there.

lonehawk172 said:I just don't get why Goluža didn't sub in Ćupić. If anyone actually knows what's going on here, please enlighten me. Our left back missed like five shots.
Ćupić was playing at 100% out there.

Goluža, subs, rotations 🙏

If you ask me, this guy just doesn't have a clue when it comes to making subs. It felt pretty bad seeing young Batinovica thrown into the deep end when we were down by three. And of course, the kid misses his first shot. It’s his first time ever playing in front of more than 500 people, and now everyone expects him to pull off some miracle so we can catch up? Give me a break.

I'm really hoping for a win today if they've recovered a bit. I'm sure the Spanish team is feeling the pressure too—their first loss, and it's happening right in the semifinals.

nimblesailor3 said:How am I even supposed to stay optimistic about tomorrow's win when it’s blindingly obvious these guys are a total mental wreck? It’s like there's zero chemistry left in the locker room, you know? They just don't click, and honestly, they always seem to be tripping over their own feet with these bizarre, inexplicable mistakes that make absolutely no sense.
So we’re really doing this? We're sitting here talking about crashes, black holes, and those absolute joke "yellow minutes" like they actually mean something in the grand scheme of things? Honestly, it's all just noise. You look at these sudden drops—total freefalls—and then you see people acting like these little gaps in logic or these useless, wasted stretches of time are part of some master plan. They aren't. It's just chaos masquerading as a pattern, and frankly, if you're looking for stability in that mess, you're dreaming. It's all just empty space and bad timing, nothing more.
I mean, I can totally take the lead early on and dictate the whole damn tempo, but then I end up missing that crucial moment where you actually put the nail in the coffin, right? So then halftime rolls around, we lose our edge, they catch their second wind, and suddenly the other team is playing like they’ve got nothing to lose while we're just standing there watching them go nuts.🙄😢 And it’s the same old story, every single time...

Honestly, I’d much rather see the Mexicans take the loss tomorrow than see our guys pull off a win.

That’s exactly what I was getting at.😁

Let's go, Denmark! 👋

Donna Bailey67 said:What's your problem with Kopljar?
Are you some kind of handball coach or do you play the game yourself?
Where do you get off calling Cervar's moves "idiotic"? Think you could do better?

Look, I don't have anything against Kopljar personally, but let's be real—aside from that one game against France and this recent one against Mexico, he hasn't actually done much for the national team. Back in 2009, he was just a young prospect who had no business being in such a high-stakes game, especially when you had guys like Buntic ready to go. And honestly, what's more "idiotic" than putting someone like American in for almost the whole tournament instead of Sprema, only for nobody to even remember his name before or after? Or moving Horvat to right back and putting Vori on the wing during the finals? That’s the stuff I call stupidity, and I bet plenty of other people feel the same way about him. Don't get me wrong, he did some good things and gave the younger kids a shot, which is respectable, but you can't overstate that. While he was on the bench, our defense was absolutely rock solid, but the second we needed actual offensive strategy, he was totally out of his depth. Most of the tactical calls were basically coming from Smajlagic, who actually knew how to fix things on the fly. They were a hell of a duo, because without Smajlagic, we didn't win a single gold medal despite having a generation of players built for it. That's not luck; that's just Cervar's lack of coaching depth. I mean, when players start telling the coach how to do his job—like what happened in Germany back in 2007 when they decided at halftime to just throw the best guys on the court and stop playing like fools against France and then Germany in the semis—that's a disaster. I'm pretty sure that would never happen under Smajlagic.

We’ve got talent, but our leadership—both on the sidelines and at the league level—is a mess. At this point, the only thing that might decide this game is a bit of pure, stubborn spite from a few players. As for that water boy on the bench, I’m not expecting anything remotely intelligent or useful from him.

I’m leaning towards the idea that Denmark will take home the championship this time, leaving our guys to settle for that third-place spot they’ve missed out on so many times before.

Of course, if the Mexicans manage to pull off a massive surprise and snatch the gold, I suppose I’d be perfectly fine with seeing Spain take the bronze instead.😁

I’m not even stressing about how this tournament ends—honestly, the truth is we just lack consistency. We have zero backbone whenever we face a decent opponent. Instead of digging deep, pulling out some tactical tricks or playing our cards right, everything just falls apart. Still, we have to deal with the fallout from that game 🙂

It’s a shame because there’s enough individual talent here for gold, but I can't wrap my head around what happened to their mental game again. Turns out it's not just the "atomic Americans" causing issues. If someone told me back after Athens that we’d play four finals and a bunch of semifinals without ever touching gold, I would've stopped watching handball altogether. There's always someone else who shows up mentally and tactically superior. If it wasn't for that early surge from the old guard, we'd be the biggest losers in the sport. Actually, maybe we already are. You can't really blame the scoreline alone, but it feels like we left way more on the table than we did. The World Cup is only six months away—let's hope for the best and pray Goluza can actually fix their heads by then.

That pathetic performance against the Mexicans really got under my skin, so I’m skipping today's game entirely.

But of course, wouldn't you just love to see the Spaniards crush them?