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

Tickets are booked, car is reserved. Looks like we're heading to Aspen—the goods are officially on the way! 🙂

wearyeagle2 said:Tickets are bought, car is booked. Lillehammer, here I come!!!!!!! 🙂

Just a quick heads-up, don't forget to pack your laptop 🙏🙏

It was a grind, but I’ll take a gritty win over some flashy performance that ends up losing to a fifth-place contender. We move. 👋 👋
John 🙏 and Lac finally showed up, though they can definitely play better than that.
The Vrancuzi seem to have the edge right now, but being better doesn't guarantee a win every time.

vividangler44 said:Look, it’s not what you think. He went in looking to draw the foul, got hyped up, and the guy just wouldn't bite. He had no choice but to shoot or take the steps.

And that player, honestly, he's just some kind of....🤣

Terry Rodriguez41 said:just a heads up, don't forget your laptop 🙏🙏

No need. I've got my PlayStation Portable, and the kid can just hop on the Wi-Fi 🙏

Kevin Morris12 said:Here’s how the betting lines are looking right now... 😁

Is this Photoshop???? 😲😁😁

steelbison14 said:Come on, people, seriously!!...
Lino is a total legend, and honestly, every single player on our national team deserves that title. Balić is the GOAT, but even he couldn't carry this whole thing alone... We really are an ungrateful nation... 🙄
So what, they should be third or fourth place? This is already a massive win...
Let's go, team!!!👍

Balić is a total legend and an absolute beast...

This whole tournament is just pure improvisation on our part. We haven't practiced for shit... you can barely see more than four or five scripted plays before John has to bail us out. Most of the time, nothing is working for him, and honestly, nothing is working for America...

I’m not trying to drag Lin through the mud, but what kind of coaching advice are they actually giving during timeouts?...
Let's go...
Shut up!...
Watch out...
No bans...

What a load of crap... my grandma could give better advice than this...
Balić is basically carrying this whole tournament on his back, just getting one or two extra guys to step up per game... that's the bottom line...

Look, I already said it—this is a massive win. All this whining about "how" we won is just noise... we got the result, and that’s the only thing that actually matters...😉

neonharbor18 said:It’s just that typical, broken mentality we have. After the game against Denmark, the headlines are all "total disaster," "misery," "what a disgrace," "terrible coach," "pathetic players," and so on. Then, one day after playing Mexico, suddenly it's "phenomenal performance," "amazing players," "the perfect national team," and by tomorrow, they're calling them HEROES in every newspaper. But if they happen to lose to France by 10+ points, the headlines will switch back to "scum" and "traitors" instantly. 🙂Our media outlets are honestly pathetic; their only real purpose seems to be stirring up unnecessary drama.☕

Maybe for some people, winning against Mexico or that nail-biter against Norway counts as phenomenal play and a great result. It doesn't for me. We didn't play any better or worse today or yesterday than we did against Denmark. What's crystal clear is that Denmark is clearly a class or two above both Mexico and Norway—something they proved over these three games in our group. If you're saying American journalists love to exaggerate things, I'll sign off on that right now.

goldenbison4 said:They played ugly, sure, but an ugly win beats playing fancy just to end up fighting for 5th place. We move on. 👋 👋
Ivan 🙏 and Lac finally stepped up, though they can definitely play better than that.
The Vrancuzi look sharper right now, but being better doesn't always mean you walk away with the win.

And let’s not forget, Caleb came through with a huge bucket right when we needed it most. Also, who are those players waving at the fans in the camera? This is a squad, a tight-knit group that everyone loves to hate. Just remember one thing—anyone who has to face the US is going to have a massive knot in their stomach.

The French are my top pick, honestly—they’re just relentless, and anyone can get caught off guard by them at any moment. As for whether Germany or Denmark takes it, I'm not entirely sure... I watched the French on DSFU and they looked incredibly solid, really disciplined in how they move. Now the real question is, how much more punishment can our guys actually take before they buckle? The Germans are slight favorites in my book, mostly because they've got that one guy who steps up to the 12-meter line with a cannon for an arm and just...

granitefox16 said:But look, I’ve said it before—this is a massive win regardless. Honestly, obsessing over whether our style of play was perfect is kind of pointless right now. At the end of the day, we got the result, and that’s really what matters most, I guess.😉

Yeah, the scoreline is incredible considering how we actually played... though, if I'm being honest, I have this nagging fear we might end up empty-handed again at Eurovision. 🤮

Sandra Wilson38 said:Is this Adobe Photoshop???? 😲😁😁

No, it isn't... why do you ask? 🤷

Bradley Nelson2 said:It’s pretty much common knowledge that our local news outlets are a total joke. I honestly don't even know where to start with the journalists; if I tried to list their flaws, the list would go on forever. But looking at the national team, they've been playing absolutely terrible offensively over these last three games. There's just zero creativity, no set plays, nothing—everything feels like it's being scraped together by pure luck. We really are just lucky that our players, despite looking completely lost out there, possess enough individual talent to stay afloat. Comparing those first three games to these last three... it's night and day. Aside from maybe a ten-minute stretch during the game against Mexico where they actually looked somewhat organized, it's been rough.

I couldn't agree more, though you also see those big-name teams that play with incredible flair and beauty but ultimately produce zero results—just think back to how the US played against Brazil🙏. It was gorgeous, truly, and nobody else played them quite like that, but what did it get us? We ended up losing and heading home anyway. It's the same with the handball players; you watch them and they look phenomenal, yet they finished in 5th place😢. Now that they aren't playing, they'll probably end up in 1st👍

Terry Rodriguez41 said:Look, honestly? That result was insane considering how much we sucked on the court out there. But I’m telling you right now, I’ve got a bad feeling about this. I’m genuinely terrified we’re gonna blow it again and walk away empty-handed at Eurovision. 🤮

It’s really not that big of a deal.😉
Fuck this game. Seriously. We’ve played way better than this before, and even then, we never had a damn chance of crushing the French, the Spanish, or the Germans. But hey, look at the scoreboard. That's all that matters.😍

I honestly think Denmark is the most well-rounded squad in this whole tournament. Massive respect to Balciu—look, everyone’s allowed to mess up, but seriously? Running an offensive play just thirty seconds before the buzzer right after a timeout? 😲

We are hurting so bad for two solid wings (Kaleb and DJ)—if we actually had them, there would be about 70% less whining about Ana Decke. That other 30%? They'll complain no matter what—they're the type of people who probably blamed Billie for the team's leadership issues back in the day 😁

And obviously, Metlicic from Portugal and Lackovic from Portugal aren't exactly the guys providing the real Vori energy we need today...

We’ve been pulling off wins in the final ten minutes lately...
Talk about clutch performance.
The biggest issue for our guys isn't strength; it's speed. We need pace before we can talk about power.
That late-game defense was solid, though.
Valčić could really pick up the tempo if he actually wanted to, rather than hesitating for five seconds just to get blocked.
If we had a fast-paced Valčić paired with Balić, we might actually have something here.
Hopefully, Metličić finds his rhythm soon too.

I think Denmark takes first place. They’ve been the most dominant so far, while we’ll settle for second.

Everyone keeps complaining about the wings, but honestly, I don't see it. To me, the wingers are fine. The real issue is our lack of rhythm in the offense, and our shooters aren't exactly lighting it up right now. Sure, Lacković stepped up during this game, but overall, they haven't shown that same level of dominance or composure we used to see. When the offense stalls, the defense starts to fray—we’re seeing way too many unforced errors lately.

placidmaker112 said:Personally, I think the Frenchies are the favorites right out of the gate—they’re just ruthless and can snatch a win from anyone. As for Germany versus Denmark, I'm not totally sure, but I caught the French playing on ESPN and they look incredibly strong with a really disciplined system. Now the real question is how much more punishment our guys can take before they fold! The Germans are slight favorites because they've got that one guy who steps up to the 12-meter line with a cannon for an arm and...

Man, what are you even talking about? Your logic is completely backward... stop looking at the betting odds, you sound like a total internet troll 🤣...here's the reality: Germany is going to get absolutely crushed by the Danes. Denmark is on fire right now and their roster is stacked. As for us, we'll leave everything on the court against France if we have to, mostly because we owe them one...

Anyway, stop posting nonsense!😁

Robert Vaughn10 said:We’ve been winning everything in the final ten minutes...
That’s about as much as I can say regarding our grit.
The real issue is we lack speed, which makes the strength thing irrelevant.
Our defense looked solid toward the end, though.
Valčić could really pick up the pace if he actually wanted to, instead of taking five seconds to get moving only to run right into a block.
If we had a fast Valčić playing alongside Balić, things might actually look promising.
Hopefully, Metličić finds his rhythm soon, too.

It isn't perfect, but it works. Of course we're feeling Džomba's absence—without him, we'd be dropping 7 or 8 goals a game easily. I don't think our wingers are bad by any means; maybe the guys in the middle just need to trust them more. On top of that, the opponent played a really physical defense, and the Norwegians didn't manage to break out for a single decent fast break.