Handball Euro: USA vs. Norway ends in a 23-23 draw

When is the replay airing on NBC?

Arthur Martinez7 said:And all these people talking trash, including us here online, don't have a clue what it takes to coach a national team and win championships. Americans—we've got 4.5 million coaches. 😍

I honestly don't get it. What were we supposed to say after losing by ten against Denmark? Should we have just said, "Eh, whatever, at least we made it to the European Championship"? Or maybe, "Well, Ivano Balić and the rest of them couldn't do any better anyway"? Should we have claimed they just had bad luck, or gave it their all but things just didn't go their way? I don't buy it. We have undeniably world-class players, and it’s a crime not to demand they play at an elite level. Look, if our opponent runs a 3-2-1 defense and our wingers just chuck two balls out of bounds in sixty minutes, isn't that worth criticizing? (I'm thinking specifically about that last game against France when Lino also dealt with fallout because of media scrutiny)

rapidbison42 said:Honestly, Americans are just a nation that worships total jokers.

As for this whole "autopilot" thing...
Look... when Lin took over, he didn't inherit a dumpster fire. He got a national team that was basically bottom-tier at the last EP, but back then, they had guys from Memphis and Chicago who were playing for some of the top 4 or 5 clubs in all of Europe. He wasn't handed a bunch of idiots; he got a squad of absolute killers.
During that EP in Sweden, a few veterans stepped up, and by the time we hit Portugal, some younger blood joined the mix.
Plus, Lin actually had two solid assistants helping him out, Smajlagić and Bašić.
He started from nothing and climbed to the top... but let me tell you, his role in all of this is way smaller than people think. Like, way smaller...

It’s blindingly obvious that everything revolves around Balić. Once the coaching staff fell apart, we lost our identity. We can play with him, and we can play without him, but we don't have a *system*. It’s pathetic that these pro athletes can’t even string three passes together if the boss isn't out there on the floor. And when he *is* out there? He’s forced to play 1-on-6 on offense for half the game!
Who’s responsible for that mess?
Probably the guy whose actual job is to build an offensive scheme.
Back at the UN in Athens, we had brilliant plays for man-up situations. Now? We don't even have a basic, practiced set play for 6-on-4 scenarios.
So, who’s to blame for that?
Clearly, Lin wasn't the one actually coaching the flow. If he were truly running the show, we wouldn't be stuck with this sterile, improvised offense that looks like a bunch of guys just winging it.
I won't say a word about the defense—they're working hard, the grit is there. But the offense? It’s completely, 100% dependent on Balić.
At the end of the day, Lin isn't quite the clown everyone makes him out to be. He knows his limits. He knows how to lead: push the intensity on defense and just leave the scoring to Balić’s improvisation since he clearly can't manufacture plays during practice. Luckily for him, he pulled it off again this time.
But seriously, it felt so much more stable when Lin was screaming those patriotic slogans from the sidelines while Pipa was talking to the players one-on-one on the bench.
Now, Lin is still yelling, but he’s got nobody standing next to him to actually talk strategy and gameflow with the players.
Don't even get me started on the disaster of the club he coaches. That's separate from the EP, but the club and the national team suffer from the exact same sickness—zero meaningful offensive structure. It all boils down to: "Pass it to Balić" or "Pass it to Lazar." That's it.

In the final minute of today's game, you saw exactly how much weight Lin's words carry—right before Balić went rogue just four seconds after the timeout.
I guess it’s pretty clear who’s really running this team. In these conditions, there's only one person who can lead. Balić.
Everything comes down to his individual improvisation. He decides how we play and what we play. Even a blind man could see that.

But hey, Lin was in the right place at the right time, and he’ll be remembered long after he’s gone. No doubt about it. Who’s going to care in thirty years if the guy was a bit of a joke? Nobody. His name will just be listed next to "World and Olympic Champion."

Still... if he's a joker, he's a world-class one.

🤮

What a legend...😂..man, go do some actual research on Bengt Johansson, Valeri Maksimov, or Brandt. Did they have total control over their superstars? Go ahead, try coming at me with your "expert analysis" after that... every single one of those legends—Magnus Wislander, Tuckin, Torgovanov, Dusebajev, Lovgren, Olsson, Narcisse, Undagarin, and the rest of the greats—were virtuosos. You can't always stifle a genius with "structured offense" if he thinks he can score. Balić isn't an exception... if he thinks he can score, he's gonna shoot. And of course, because of that, Lin is immediately labeled a clown, while Balić is the one actually running the team.🤣🤣..just tell me, is Bengt some kind of joke? I mean, the guy’s got three Olympic silvers, four European golds, two World Championship golds, plus all those silvers and bronzes... and then you have Lovgren driving him absolutely insane with those questionable calls during the clutch moments.. was he even really leading the team?? come on man, if you had actually been there for Tunisia and Sweden, we'd probably be looking at another World and European gold right now.. and in Canada, he wouldn't have stood a chance because of the refs hahaha.. what a "genius" he is..

And Cervar has finally signed up! (in my best sports announcer voice) 😁

Welcome to the party, patriot and motivational guru 😁

Sean Gonzalez95 said:What an expert😂..do me a favor and actually look up Bengt Johansson, Valeri Maksimov, or Brandt. They actually knew how to handle their superstars..then come back with your "expert" analysis..Every one of those legends—Magnus Wislander, Tuckin, Torgovanov, Dusebajev, Lovgren, Olsson, Narcisse, Undagarin, and the rest—were virtuosos. You can't just stifle a player like that with offensive restrictions if they have the touch to score. 🤣Balić wasn't some outlier..he felt he could score from anywhere. Of course, immediately Lin becomes a clown because of it, while Balić is the one leading the squad🤣..Tell me, is Bengt a clown too? The guy has three Olympic silvers, four European golds, two World golds, plus silvers and bronzes while dealing with Lovgren driving him crazy with those shots at crucial moments..was he "leading the squad" poorly? Come on, kid. If you’d actually been in Tunisia or Sweden, we’d probably be looking at another World and European gold right now. In Canada, he wouldn't have stood a chance anyway because of the refs hahaha..what a joke..

Lisa Miller7🙏🙏🙏👍 I'll second that..

By the way—Cervar and Ciro are first and foremost incredible motivators...

frozentiger6 said:And Cervar finally officially registeredyyyyyy (in my best sports announcer voice) 😁

Welcome aboard, Lisa Miller7, our resident motivator... 😁

Man, why don't you go jump into political threads? You're clearly some kind of legend over there with those posts (not even being sarcastic, I mean it... 😉)... this is my turf 😁
... seriously, trying to come at Linin with these mindless takes is just unreal... I'll give you credit for the Kelentrica stuff, we can agree there... but he’s hardly better than those bottom-feeders... maybe call up Marakovica to show us how it's actually done when nobody's playing ball 🤣... and then you had the nerve to say Cupic would be better than Dzomba... yeah, right... Smajlagica is practically on his way too... for now, he's basically hovering around Christiansen's level 🤣... and god knows what else I'm gonna have to read...
At the end of the day, where did Linin even mess up with the roster?!?... We only missed out on medals once... despite all your whining about player selection, the guy still dragged us to the semifinals... clearly he needs Vukic and Kaleb more than he needs prep... when you're the coach, feel free to call the latter.

Remember this? 🙂

I’m stepping up first—and probably last—to post here. It’s the only way to get the actual truth out there without putting my career on the line. What I’m about to say is something we players all know deep down, but nobody dares to say publicly. Honestly, I’ve had enough. Let’s start with when Cervar first arrived to coach the team back in 2000. After just a few weeks of training, the guys realized they were dealing with some joke of a type. He became the laughingstock of the locker room—you could write a book on how much they messed with him—and Kljaić was leading the charge. He wouldn't dare say anything to anyone except the younger kids; the veterans did whatever they wanted. They played their own game, set their own tactics, and swapped zones and players whenever they felt like it. The first time he actually tried to run things—taking the squad to preseason before the Cup finals and starting the match without some of the old guard—we lost the semifinal to Metković. After that, he didn't dare try his way again. Gobac knew exactly what was happening, but he loved having a puppet he could manipulate however he wanted. A year later, Gobac appoints him as the national team coach. Since he knows what an amateur he is, he sets up Pipeta as his assistant and Baško to handle the heavy lifting. Along with Danijel Jurišić (the strength coach), they do the real work for the World Cup in Portugal. We lose the opening game against Argentina, and in the second, we’re trailing Arap in the first half. While we’re waiting in the locker room, Lino is outside crying about how we’ve embarrassed ourselves and how we’re going to have to crawl back home to the States. Gobac and Baško tell him to shove it, walk into the locker room, and Pipeta and Baško hold a meeting. They switch to a 6-0 zone, we go out, win, and eventually take the gold. After Portugal, Lino’s ego went through the roof because the media started giving credit to Pipeta and the rest of the staff. He became allergic to Pipeta. That rift was already visible during the preparations for Athens and at the Olympics themselves. After Athens, everything shattered. We still took silver in Tunis, but mostly thanks to Ivan and the fact that Gobac pulled some strings with the refs in certain games—not just for us, but for our competitors too. And just like that, Lino became the most decorated coach in history. Before that, he was somewhat normal; now, nobody besides him has any clue about basketball—he talks like he invented the game. The reality is completely different. He just got lucky inheriting a squad that was already dialed in—a core of Metković players plus others—who ran the tactics while they still existed, and he had Ivan, who basically carried the team and playedpass for everyone else. At the last World Cup in Germany, we weren't even the stronger side on paper. They told him to lose to the Spaniards so we'd end up in an easier group—they had the tickets for our fans, the refs, and a planned matchup with Germany in the finals already lined up. When Ivan told him during halftime that we shouldn't embarrass ourselves because we could beat anyone, Lino didn't push back; he just wanted to go down in history as the coach who never lost a World Cup game. The prep for the France game was a disaster. Instead of watching film on France's best plays, we watched a game where they blew us out by 10 and made us look ridiculous. The French crush us constantly using the same two plays they sold us in Switzerland, and we end up walking away without a medal. This national team won plenty, but they could have achieved so much more if a better expert had been leading them. It all boils down to the individual talent of Ivan and the others. On the training grounds, Ivan does whatever he wants; he acts like the sheriff, deciding who makes the roster and who doesn't. So, the most important thing for the players who aren't sure of their spot is to stay on Ivan's good side. Goluža was supposed to be Pipeta's replacement, because Lino always needs a "policeman" to enforce discipline while he plays the "good dad." But Ket was the target of mockery from the old generation in Atlanta, and our generation didn't even give him 5% of that disrespect. Even though he has the most medals, the guy played two great games in his life and spent the rest being a water boy. Besides, he doesn't really have much schooling and can barely string two coherent sentences together, but he joined the Republican Party just like Jović and Lino. He was Gobac's little errand boy all these years, which is why they kept him around as both a player and in the national team and the club. So, picking Goluža is a joke. After the loss to France, Gobac said on the stands that he was sick of Lino and would kick him out, but that very evening, some high-ranking Republican Party official called him and told him not to mess around—don't touch Lino, because they need him to hold things down until the election. The next day, Gobac suddenly shut up and claimed he never said such a thing. He also allegedly said in a social circle in Zadar this summer that he’d rather kick Lino in the ass, but he’s the only man who can't touch him because he's too deeply entrenched with the leadership. That’s the short version of the national team saga. I could write a whole book, but this is plenty. Now, a bit about the club and what's been happening since last year. Last year, we started preseason with Cervar. We played terribly. We dragged ourselves to training just to listen to his demagoguery and stories about how we’re losers, how he’s a world-class Olympic winner, how he created us, and how we don't understand his vision. However, he never actually explained it, showed it, or demonstrated it. He was rarely at practice, or he’d just disappear, acting like he was God. Early in the season, we barely scraped a win against Osijek at home, and then he likely realized he should bail because he saw he couldn't do anything with that roster and would embarrass himself in the Champions League group stage. So, he and Gobac reached an agreement: he leaves once the club builds a real team. At that moment, there wasn't much choice for coaches. Kljaić Sr. and Smajlagić were available. Pipeta wasn't an option because of Lino and because he’d screwed over Gobac regarding a contract, and the elder Kljaić was too dangerous—if he does something with this squad, it'll be impossible to fire him because of his charisma and track record. So, they decided on Nenek. He was financially independent from the sport, they knew he understood the game from his playing days, and if he did something good, great—but if he failed, they could easily shut him up forever because he’s too outspoken. If he succeeded, it’d be easy to tell him to retire citing "business obligations." So, he takes over about ten days before the first game against Flensburg. I knew him from my playing days, both as a teammate and an opponent, and I held him in high regard. After nearly a year, I still feel the same about him as a coach, an expert, and a man with a backbone. In a short time, he managed to fix our defense and explain exactly how we need to play against specific teams. We actually started enjoying training. He was strict and didn't go easy on anyone, but once practice ended, he was the first one ready to hang out. He built us into a real team. Sometimes even I would snap at him when he kicked me off the court, but later, when I realized he’d kicked others off regardless of their names, I understood he was right. When it’s time to work, you work; when it’s time to mess around, you mess around. He only cares about results. The management decided that if we couldn't be first in the group, we might as well aim for third to make it to the playoffs. They judged correctly, because we could have made the finals if Jović hadn't pushed Jurca into the game too early in Leon, earning an extra penalty that led to Leon running a 3-0 streak at a crucial moment. Our performance last season speaks for itself: even with a weaker squad, we gave Leon and the Czech Bears less than 20 points per game. We beat teams like Constanta, Krasnodar, and Metalurg—teams that are at the level of, if not stronger than, this year's Leon, Schaffhausen, and Vardar. Our wins in those matchups weren't accidents. We crushed the domestic league with 20-point leads, except for the games that should have gone differently. We missed the final because Toskić let himself be provoked and got a red card, which collapsed our defense, combined with Jović’s mistake on a substitution. I believe we would have won the final. I remember clearly when Kljaić told me in the spring that he thought they’d bring Lino back. I asked him why, and he said Gobac couldn't even look him in the eye anymore and that he sensed things were shifting. I thought he was just being paranoid and that there was no way they’d bring that guy back. Turns out, he was right. I remember Lino started visiting the players then, telling them he'd be back soon. New season starts. We gathered in the city, did our testing, and headed to Pag for the first leg of preseason. We trained twice a day there, and it was anything but a vacation. The atmosphere was great and the training was intense. Then came the sessions in Delnice—that was the heavy lifting. We trained three times a day. We barely touched the ball because we had plenty of time before the Champions League started, so it was strictly strength and conditioning. In Delnice, we beat Gold Club and went to Velenje for a tournament where we beat Pick Szeged (the Canadian champions) and Koppar. In the final, we lost to Velenje because the refs robbed us so badly it was ugly to watch. We returned to Delnice for one last mini-cycle before heading to a tournament in France—the toughest one, practically without much actual basketball training. We spend all day traveling and basically step off the bus straight into a friendly against a top-tier side like Selestat, which we lose. We shouldn't have lost; we underestimated them, and by the time we realized it, it was too late.

Day two of the tournament started with us trailing Ciudad Real by 10—they jumped out to a 6-0 lead and we just couldn't claw our way back. The rest of the games were basically a grind, one goal at a time. Kljaić was rotating everyone, trying to figure out who could actually be counted on in the defensive rotation. In meetings, he made it clear: the results right now weren't his priority; he believed we’d find our rhythm when it actually mattered. He did lose his cool once, though—during a meeting where he demanded to know who was leaking false info and painting a picture of a fractured locker room. He warned us then that they’d find an excuse to fire him the second we got home, just because people were hunting for reasons to justify a change. The players huddled after that and realized none of us had said a word. It turned out to be Jović—which, looking back, was spot on. The guy had been on a direct line with Gobac, trashing us and claiming Kljaić had completely lost control, alleging the team was a drunken mess and that Kljaić was too distracted by... well, you know. The truth was much simpler: we just needed some rest and actual training sessions. We proved that just two days after Kljaić was ousted, we went to Canada and won the whole tournament because we finally felt refreshed. After he was let go, Kljaić actually came into the locker room before a practice to give a speech. I had a lump in my throat listening to him, and I could see the same thing in the guys' eyes. When he finished, we all stood up and gave him a standing ovation. It was a massive shock to the system; everyone felt for him, except maybe Šol, since Kljaić didn't take any crap from anyone—not even him. At the meeting in the corporate offices, Šol even had the nerve to tell him he was overweight and shouldn't have even shown up to preseason. Honestly, the whole thing makes me sick. We found out the real story: the Republican Party was leaning on Gobac to bring Lino back to coach so they could kick off their election campaign. They wanted to make sure Červar stayed in the spotlight, otherwise, the sponsorship money from CO and ExxonMobil would dry up, and the new sports complex wouldn't get built. Some members of the board refused to hear about Lino, which is why Jović’s role was so critical—he had to smear Kljaić and make the team look broken. It worked perfectly. Once the switch happened, it was easy for Gobac to install Lino because there was nobody else available. They didn't fire Kljaić at the end of last season because the board would have insisted on Zovko. They moved him to Kraft Heinz first, and then they just manufactured a reason to dump Kljaić by attacking his private life. He’s a rogue, sure, but a good kind of rogue—players look up to him because of how he carries himself and the cars he drives. People are just jealous. His personal life never touched our training or our games; if anything, it was relatable. If we wanted to go out and blow off steam, he’d tolerate it, provided we were the first ones on the court the next morning. Now, Gobac, Goluža, and Jović are spreading this narrative through town that Kljaić lost his mind and the players revolted. Meanwhile, Jović conveniently forgets that he used to run alongside him on every single trip without ever losing his head. Why the sudden change? Because the Republican Party got what it wanted. I can only say again: it’s a damn shame Kljaić was forced out. As for the current state of affairs? It's a mess. Lino shows up to practice occasionally, then he’s gone. One minute Magi is leading, then Baško has his own ideas, then Gobac steps in with his own vision, and we’re just wandering around aimlessly. No tactics, no cohesion—preseason prep has been a disaster. Lino is clueless. The players can't stand the sight of him, nor can they stand Jović, who is working overtime to make himself look good. Lino’s entire coaching philosophy is just "do it for the fans" and "don't let the supporters down." He talks about grit and defense, but he can't explain a single tactical shift or how to adjust a zone. We don't have an Ivan here—someone who can just grab the ball and dictate play—we have experienced players who just aren't driving the game. The best example of his incompetence was against Vardar; we struggled the whole time playing a 3-2-1 while their tallest guy is only 6'3". If we had played a 6-0, we would have cruised to a 10-point win. Now he's making excuses that the squad isn't ready or lacks stamina, even though he's been with us for over a month. If he'd taken over a team from scratch, a month would have been plenty. That's his pattern: when we win, it's his brilliance; when we lose, it's someone else's fault. I'm tired of writing this. I just hope we can scrape through the group stage so we can see some European competition this spring. And I hope that after the elections, he gets booted for good so we can finally get a normal coach—assuming they don't punish us any more than they already have and tear the team apart entirely.

Man, if it’s actually true, it’s such a massive headache trying to track which guys from last season played in Portugal, Tunisia, Canada, AND at the last Handball World Championship while playing for a club like the Lakers... honestly, this whole story is just a joke, I don't even know what to say... if he actually stepped up as the head coach, he’d probably crush it... names like Johansson, Maksimov, Brandt, and all those other guys? Total nothing compared to him... the whole system is full of holes and it stinks big time...

Sean Gonzalez95 said:And if you actually believe that, it’s honestly impossible to track which players from last season were playing in Portugal, Tunisia, Canada, or at the last World Championship while also putting in work for Chicago... this whole story is just a joke, there's nothing left to even say about it. If he actually gets hired as the national coach, I'm sure he'll have massive success... Johansson, Maksimov, Brandt, and the rest don't mean a thing to him. This whole setup is just full of holes and smells terrible.

Yeah, I totally buy that story, every single word.
Lino is a total joke. Nobody listens to a word he says.
Just look at yesterday—he tells them to run a long possession with 1:10 left on the clock. And what happens?
Balić takes a shot after ten seconds and, naturally, misses!
The advice he gives during timeouts is laughable. Honestly, I could lead a national team better than that. To quote him: "Play a long possession, but make it aggressive and active!" It would be funny if it wasn't so pathetic.
Plus, our style of play has zero structure. The wingers might as well not exist. Everyone just crowds the middle, jumping at defenders from the 8-meter line (like Metličić did yesterday).
Everyone is just panicking and looking for Balić, dumping the ball off as fast as possible because they have no clue what to do with it.
Then Lino starts his bullshit about the referees. He spent the entire time before the game whining that the Norwegians would play dirty and that the refs would be biased against us. Just looking for an excuse. Neither the Norwegians played dirty, nor did the refs give us any special treatment. In fact, it was one of the most fairly called games out there.
I won't even dignify his tasteless comments toward ESPN. There was neither the time nor the place for it. And who does Lino think he is, calling out people on TV ("Citizens, don't fall for it") just because someone wrote something negative about him?
It’s pathetic and sad, the perfect image of a desperate guy.

To wrap it up, we got lucky yesterday since the Norwegians didn't know how to punish our terrible play. But if we keep playing like that, we aren't standing a chance against the Frenchmen.

frozentiger6 said:And finally, Cervar is officially on the board! (in my best sports announcer voice) 😁

Welcome to the club, patriot and hype man. 😁

Vanja, I’m starting to feel a little less alone in defending Cervar. Trying to argue against those stats is basically like fighting windmills. 🤣

Sean Gonzalez95 said:if it's actually true, it's damn hard to figure out which players from last season were in Portugal, Tunisia, Canada, and the last World Championship, all while playing for Chicago... this whole story is a joke, nothing left to say... once he takes over as coach, he'll definitely have massive success... Johansson, Maksimov, Brandt and the gang don't mean squat to him... the whole thing is full of holes and stinks to high heaven

so what's your actual point?

the US plays great, the flow is smooth, we aren't struggling, our center isn't taking three times more hits than the pivot, Balić is basically experiencing Lino, Lac didn't actually mean what he said after yesterday's game, China is obsessed with Lino, we've got solutions with an extra player, our 3-2-1 works, we have an answer for the 6-0, Balić doesn't solve 80% of the plays alone...

if the US doesn't make the finals, all those nobodies from the national team will float to the surface and then you'll see what they really think about Lino—Ivano, Lac, Pero...

you think they're being cowards for no reason? nah, man, they're acting like that because they play for top-tier clubs and train under elite coaches, which Lino definitely isn't, so they get it... and when they eventually brush him off, they won't have anything to complain about because he snubbed Smajlagic even worse, and he doesn't want to hear a word about his own contributions to American successes either.

wearyeagle2 said:Vanja, I’m starting to feel a little less alone in my defense of Červar. Honestly, trying to argue against the raw statistics is just a fool's errand, like trying to fight a windmill. 🤣

you might as well throw in the towel too...

the guy is an absolute charlatan...

it's a good thing someone actually caught onto the kind of nonsense he's barking during those timeouts...

play, play... push, push 😂🤣😂🤣

Man, what a game—my nerves are absolutely shot after watching that, though I suppose we managed to pull through in the end 😛

neonharbor18 said:Honestly, it’s just that classic, fickle American mentality we deal with! One day, after a tough loss against Denmark, the headlines are all doom and gloom—complete disasters, total shame, calling the coach useless and the players failures, you know the drill. Then, a day later, if we play against Mexico, suddenly it’s all about how phenomenal Cervar is, how incredible the players are, and what a perfect national team we have! We become HEROES in every single newspaper. But if we happen to lose to the Frenchman by ten points or more? Well, then the headlines shift overnight to calling us vermin or TRAITORS. 🙂 I truly feel our media outlets are just a bunch of jokes that exist solely to stir up unnecessary drama and set fires everywhere.☕

I really have to agree with you there...

If we keep dropping balls like that, we don't stand a chance against the French...😂

I kind of expected a game like this, honestly. I knew we wouldn't absolutely blow it, but I also didn't think the Norwegians would be able to go on those massive scoring runs like the Danes do.

I have to say, it definitely helped us that Lino wasn't out there. Myrhol really fought for the ball on the line three times, though he did blow two of them.

This win—if you can even call such a messy scramble a victory—was gutsy. They pulled it off through pure exhaustion, pain, and injuries, relying on nothing but raw motivation and heart.

But look, I’m going to start with the critiques, and let me tell you, there are plenty to go around...

1. Vori played way below his level. This is the second game in a row where he's just been making silly mistakes. He only took two shots, both of which were absolute sitters. When you have a player of his caliber, you expect an 80% conversion rate or better, but he's been playing well below his class the entire tournament, especially in these last few games. One small silver lining is that he took a beating, but those two blunders happened right at the start because of some brainless plays—trying to go against the flow and a bad pass to the line. After that, he basically just vanished.

2. It was obvious the main shooting threat was coming from Hagen, and the guy practically threw the same shot over and over—that quick, low shot to the far corner without jumping. I mean, what was the defense thinking at the start, letting him shoot to his heart's content? (That was basically the defender's job, after all.) And what was the keeper thinking? Most of the time, he was just a total amateur. What kind of game prep is that?? (On top of that, both Strand and Solberg were shooting way too early in the first half.)

3. Ege jumps like one of the best keepers out there; he’s got incredible reflexes, but he also makes a lot of shots based on guesswork. He constantly gets tripped up by balls bouncing off the floor. Balić tried to play him smart, but since a good chunk of the players weren't following suit, they basically tore him apart early on. It drove me crazy. Things improved later, though. Lac wasn't playing particularly smart, but luckily he was able to overpower them with sheer strength and precision. Given the pain he was pushing through, I have to tip my hat to Lac for his heroism and those penetrations; 🙏 it was his first truly solid game of the championship.

4. Balić taking the first penalty? WTF?? The guy clearly wasn't prepared to be the designated shooter during practice, so I don't know what the logic was there... we all know who is actually ready; regardless of any misses, it should have been either Duvnjak or Cupic.

And now, for the end-game tactics:

4. That last exclusion we took from Kaleb was pure stupidity! The player fakes him out, breaks past him, and Kaleb hits him from behind—what on earth was he thinking? Luckily, it didn't ruin everything in the end, because Kaleb actually played great overall (props to him for several excellent assists). He did his job and used his chances well, even if Skoglund gave him way too many easy looks in the second half, but whatever. We still had a few other dumb, unnecessary penalties.

5. Balić was driving through the defense, but when he got totally gassed, he started coughing up the ball. Overall, though, he was the hero—he provides way more value than harm. However, the tactics during those final attacks after we built a three-goal lead (22:29) were completely baffling, if not outright stupid. First, we burned through an attack way too fast instead of milking the clock, and then the penultimate attack was rushed even more. Balić shoots, Ege saves, and suddenly the Norwegians have the ball and 40 seconds to run the floor against us... what were we trying to achieve? Thankfully Alilovic makes the save and Balić scores on the second attempt. He pulled us out of it, but it could have been a total disaster; we could have lost purely due to sheer stupidity. 👎

The praise will follow in my next post. 😉