Handball Euro: America vs. Spain 29-33

You have to be losing your mind if you make it to the semifinals seven times and never once go all the way, then try to blame exhaustion every single damn time.

What should I record?
Who isn't recording everything these days?
Am I really supposed to lug around a 55-pound camera?

Jonathan Barnes5 said:Who exactly did you beef up the roster with?.. Mamic ?..? Sebetic?.. Kozlina and Brozovic?..
That’s the whole issue, plus that goalie duo... They basically just left the guys who could actually make the starting seven back home.
Broz signed with Kiel because they’re drowning with injured pivots, and HSV is going straight to hell... I think Anica signed too..

Yeah, sure, you "beefed up" the squad with Brozovic. Maybe our left and right wings aren't exactly elite upgrades, but honestly, I don't even see that being the issue today. Kopljar 4/4, Slišković 6/9. It's not like they were shooting 1/8 or anything, and we didn't have any decent subs to bring in anyway.

Babic lost this game, and it wasn't because the roster wasn't "beefed up" enough.

Basically, if Babić blows his chance at the Rio Olympics 👋 👋 👋
Just stay in Brest and don't look back.

George Ward7 said:Nobody is asking for a world-class superstar here; you just need to pick the best option currently available. It’s like looking at our history and seeing names like Obrvan or Vujović on the table, yet we end up choosing someone else entirely. I don't have anything against Babic, but when you're selecting a head coach, you really ought to go with the most qualified candidate. If you look at the coaching resumes of Obrvan versus Babic, the difference is quite clear.

Honestly, Obrvan likely won't get the job—you can pretty much count that out, especially after everything that went down during the Chicago era. I tend to blame some of the former players for this situation, as it seems everyone is cozy with the federation. They stayed silent while they were playing and even when the players were being let down, and now it feels like everyone is just lining up for various roles within the organization.
It’s the exact same pattern you see in both football and basketball.
The only one who actually seemed to try and offer some real criticism was Kaleb.

The second phase wraps up and they’re already calling themselves "exhausted." On top of that, the national team is constantly being refreshed with younger players. How do the more veteran squads in other countries manage to endure this?

🙄

rustywalker1 said:Phase two is already over and they’re already claiming to be "exhausted." Seriously? On top of that, the national team is constantly trying to swap out veterans for younger players. I don't know, maybe I'm just crazy, but how the hell do the older squads in other countries actually manage to hang in there?

🙄

Give me a break. We’re only two games in after that loss to Norway, and they're already starting with that tired excuse? Seriously? 🤣

That win against Poland really took its toll on us😵

George Ward7 said:Well, you're being a bit too hard on Brozovic. Our left and right wings might not be the deepest part of our roster, but I don't see that being the core issue today. Kopljar went 4/4 and Slišković was 6/9. It’s not like they were shooting 1/8 and we lacked decent subs to step in for them.

In my view, this loss falls squarely on Babic's shoulders rather than a lack of bench depth.

Personally, I remain convinced that our roster lacks true depth, a point I've been making for several seasons now.
It feels like we are experiencing a kind of hyperinflation where we overvalue a handful of players who aren't actually elite.
Today, both Slija and Kopljar performed well, but the strategy seems to rely heavily on just two wing players, yet nobody else is willing to step up to that level.
Suddenly, everyone born around '92 is treated like a superstar—Obranovic, Vuglac, Pavlovic, Kaleb, Kozlina, Corice, Brozovic, Sebetic, Mandalinic... it's endless.
Brozovic has had a solid season or two, even fighting Corice for his spot early on, but there are plenty of players like him.
Most of these guys have spent their careers being "validated" by staying at one single club used as a stepping stone for overseas moves. To me, that style of development has lost its luster.
Why couldn't someone like Sliskovic from Nexe make the national squad?
Ultimately, it is clear that the head coach simply isn't operating at an elite level.
What I am trying to get at is that we are still leaking talent in too many areas.
On top of that, Duvnjak hasn't played particularly well in quite some time—think back to the semi-final against Mexico, London against the Frenchman, Spain against the Danes, or the stagnation in Qatar and Sweden against the Pole and Svedjan.
The reality is simple: when he isn't at his best, the whole American team feels significantly weaker.

Do you guys honestly realize how many gold medals have slipped through our fingers just because of our goalkeeping?

I mean, seriously—how many podium finishes have we missed out on from the days of Goluža all the way up to this very moment?

Why isn't finding a top-tier head coach a higher priority? People seem way too obsessed with individual players...

It actually makes me a little misty-eyed thinking about it—especially knowing we had those Spaniards right there within our reach 🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂🙂

Jesus made his call: the Spaniards are just more devout Catholics. That’s the only real reason we lost.

Why?

- It starts with me; things just aren't clicking the way I want them to, or how I expect them to, especially within the club dynamics. As for why my defense is slipping... whether I'm putting too much pressure on myself, or if it’s some kind of sudden panic, I honestly don't know. My biggest regret is letting the guys down because I'm not providing the same level of support I'd give to someone playing for Memphis—it's as simple as that. I'm playing with everything I have, pouring my heart into every play, but things just aren't working out here right now. I really don't know what the future holds... - Kirk concluded with a heavy sense of finality, and I suspect we won't have to wait long for an official response.

It looks like Kirk might be eyeing retirement😁

frozenrider112 said:Give me a break.
We should’ve been up by 5 or 6 in the first 15 minutes if Stevens had actually started things off right.
And any decent coach would’ve switched to a 6-0 defense after they scored three times from the crease instead of just standing there watching them hit us 18 times (pretty sure all 18 in the first half were crease goals or fast breaks/semi-fast breaks).
Bottom line? The Spaniard's coach won this game—or rather, we lost it ourselves.
Are they better? Probably. But tonight, we basically beat ourselves.

Look, I admit I wasn't watching the first 15 minutes, but saying you could've settled this game that early is total nonsense. You could still tell the Spaniards had way more energy throughout the whole match.

I know most of you guys act like "experts" at trashing our head coach—which is typical for these low-rent sports forums—but he actually proved himself right this time. He pulled off an incredible +11 against the Poles and was still right in the fight against the Spaniards until the last five minutes, where their obvious superior freshness really showed.

We didn't lose this one because of the goalie. Honestly, the keepers weren't even the main reason we took the L here

Honestly, we could really use a solid psychologist on the staff. I’m being dead serious here—it seems like every single tournament, we end up choking right when the pressure hits its peak during those critical matchups. If our game had been scheduled at the same time as the Fra-Nor matchup, we probably would have choked against the Polk team, too. At the end of the day, the reality is that our greatest sporting achievements always happened when we had true motivators leading the way, like Lin and Chico.

Brian Doyle6 said:I’ll admit I missed the first 15 minutes, but suggesting you could have decided the game in that opening stretch is pure nonsense. Even looking back, you can clearly see the Spanish side maintained much better stamina throughout the match.

I know many of you here act like "experts" at bashing our head coach—which is typical for these amateur sports forums—but this time, he proved his strategy was sound. He secured an incredible +11 advantage against Polk, and even against Spain, we were right in the hunt until the final five minutes, where clearly the opposition had the edge in energy.

The bolded part is an even bigger embarrassment for our players because they were facing:
Aguinagalde (33), Garcia (31), Entrerrios (34), Thomas (30), Rivera (30), Morros (31), Guardiola (31), and Canellas (29).

How can a group of veterans and a national team where 90% of the core players are over 30 be in better shape than a squad ten years younger that only played two games all week?

I'll only buy that "we're exhausted, we can't go on" excuse if you say it BEFORE the game starts and basically admit you're probably gonna choke.

Anything else is just some middle school drama.

Look, let’s be honest: Doug, Cupko, and Alilovic played way below their actual potential during this tournament...

On top of that, I can't shake the feeling that even if we aren't considered top-tier yet, we absolutely had the momentum to go all the way after that game against Polk...

There are plenty of other things—third-place issues, fifth-place struggles, you name it—that everyone else seems to notice, but I'll leave it at that...

After pushing through to the semifinals like we did, I really don't have it in me to blame anyone. I'm just going to toss all the frustrations aside; let's just go out there on Sunday, grab the bronze, and head home with our heads held high.

Harold Long21 said:We honestly need a solid psychologist on the staff—I’m being dead serious here. Time and again, from one tournament to the next, we find ourselves completely Chucking it during those high-stakes games. If our matchup had happened at the exact same time as the Fra-Nor game, we probably would have Chucked against the Americans too. The bottom line remains: our greatest sporting achievements always came when we had true motivators leading the charge—guys like Lin and Chico.

Even Duvnjak mentioned how much more nauseating the losses in the semifinals feel than just losing itself. Honestly, you aren't far off the mark there.

I keep thinking about those moments in American movies where the opponent absolutely crushes you before halftime, and then they head into the locker room for a speech so stirring even a four-star general would be humbled—everyone leaps up, shouting, fueled by pure grit, they regroup tactically, and somehow pull off a win against all odds. It’s a total cliché, I know, but sometimes... sometimes it feels like it could actually be true.

The problem is, we just don't have that kind of leader on our bench right now.

rustywalker1 said:As soon as the second phase wraps up, they're already claiming to be "exhausted." And on top of that, the national team is constantly being refreshed with younger players. I have to wonder how the more veteran squads in other countries manage to endure this...

🙄

Honestly, what a weak argument.
It’s clear Babic just doesn't know how to handle the media, so he resorts to this nonsensical rambling about fatigue or some other surreal excuse when there's nothing constructive to say.