2007 Men's World Handball Championship: Germany Recap/Discussion

Roger Allen3 said:I really liked Vukic today, I don't think I'm the only one feeling that way, and honestly, Kaleb isn't going back to the national team anytime soon...🙂

And Zrnic is solid too, probably the best possible move to replace Dzombi.

Vukic played out of his mind today
though he was pretty rough yesterday...
but you gotta admit most of those goals came from fast breaks rather than set plays. Anyway, it's good news. It's not Cavar, but he's definitely not worse than Kaleb...

Are we actually idiots? 🙂

Thinking we’re going to win the World Cup 😕

We should have just taken the loss across the board, like the Spanish did. 👍

I'm calling for an immediate overhaul of the head coach and the entire staff!!!

Kudos to Lin and the guys; this cup was just a little reminder of who really runs the show when it comes to world-class handball. 🙂 I honestly think they can pull off another massive run at the SP, provided the boys stay healthy and Lin experiments with some new tactics—maybe a 2-2-2 defense or an offense running one center paired with five pivots.

Joe Tortura said:Vukic played great today
but he was pretty rough yesterday.
Though, you have to admit most of his goals came from fast breaks rather than set plays. Either way, it's good news. He isn't Chavar, but he's certainly holding his own against Kaleb.

Fast breaks or not, Vukic is sitting at 15 goals right now—that puts him as our third-leading scorer in this tournament after Dzomba and Voria. I really hope Lino stops playing favorites with guys like Pongracic or Horvat on the other side. Zrnic proved today that he’s basically a handball professor compared to them.

Roger Allen3 said:Fast breaks aside—Vukic is sitting right behind Dzombe and Vori as our third top scorer in this tournament with 15 goals. I just hope Lino finally stops playing favorites, much like how Horvat handles things on the other side. Zrnic has proven he’s a total mastermind on the court; he's a professor out there.

🙂

There is one piece of news in this whole situation that really stands out:
- Tony Valcic wants back in with the national team. Honestly, that makes me pretty happy. He reached out, we had a chat, and he told me he’s looking to prove himself during the training camps to earn a spot on the World Cup roster.

He hasn't been in the spotlight for a while—not since he played in the Euro in Canada—but the facts don't lie: he's playing at an elite level right now in Spain for Torrevieja. Even Ivan Vukas will confirm that he's basically the star of the show there.

- He came across very positive to me—open, clear-headed, and upbeat. I heard he’s acting as a leader for his club; he mentioned how they messed up a home game and how he's stepping up to rally the guys, which I really respected. It turns out they managed to grind out a point in Lyon right after that. - that's what Lino had to say about his conversation with Tony Valcic.

So, what do the big stars of our squad think about this development?
- Everyone seems to agree that this could be a massive move. Personally, I believe that’s exactly how things will play out.

Honestly, we would’ve walked away with both points in Lyon if Mirko hadn't been standing in goal making twenty insane saves like that.😁

We always see this exact same kind of interview right before every tournament, and yet nothing ever changes. It would be great if we actually had a legitimate backup for Lackovic, but I’m not holding my breath 😉

Just imagine. Let's say Tony Valcic comes back, Duvnjak steps up to cover Balic, we've got the goalies sorted, the wings and subs are set... if we just had a real replacement for Perkovic, we could walk off the plane and grab the gold medal immediately 🙂

Latest update.

The International Handball Federation (IHF) just dropped their decision: Mirko Alilovic and Dalibor Anusic are officially cleared to suit up for the US men's national team at the upcoming 2007 World Championship in Germany.

The situation stemmed from the fact that both players held dual citizenship with Canada and the US.

Back on November 23, 2006, the US Handball Federation reached out to the IHF to clarify if these guys were eligible to represent the US in Germany, given they hadn't played for the Canada squad in three years.

The IHF ruled in our favor, and the Canada handball federation has officially signed off on the decision too.

Now just throw Valcic, Duvnjak, Vukic, Vukas, and Zrnic into the mix... things are starting to heat up. It’s getting real.

Who needs Anusic when we've got Vorija and Sula anyway?

Any updates on Valcic?

Dalibor Anusic plays for New York City, and Sula betrayed them—what an absolute traitor. 🙂 😁

I was grabbing drinks with one of our guys from the national team this weekend, and he told me straight up—he’d sign any contract right now if we had actual gold at the World Championship, provided we actually had a real goalkeeper.

He isn't signing anything under these conditions, though. He’s convinced we’ll finish first again, just without the easy wins.

The reality? It's frustrating. Nowadays, every single team gunning for a medal has at least one elite keeper—some even have two. We just have mediocre ones. That's why we won't be cruising through the tournament again; our goalies can't even maintain a 15-save average on an off day, let alone match what the other teams are doing.

frozentiger6 said:But Anderson plays for Washington, D.C., and Samuel totally stabbed them in the back—what a complete traitor... 🙂 😁

Anderson’s got nothing going for him on the national team... we’ve got plenty of better pivots who could take that third spot, though I don't even think we need one right now. Victor is incredible, and Sullivan will find his rhythm—once he’s paired up with Balic, they’re basically unstoppable.
Back to Anderson again... honestly, the guy can barely handle the ball. He’s slow and pretty useless on defense. His height is his only real asset. Not sure if anyone’s even heard of Christian Johnson, he’s playing in the NFL (was on the expanded roster this year)... Hill and Jefferson are definitely ahead of Anderson.👍

kuku said:I was chatting with one of our national team players over the weekend, and he told me straight up—he’d sign anything right now if we had actual gold at the World Cup, all because we lack a legitimate goalkeeper.

Well, he isn't signing anything under these conditions, even if he's convinced we'll finish on top again—though it'll be by the skin of our teeth after barely scraping through games.

The reality is, every single powerhouse team chasing a medal these days has at least one elite keeper—some even have two—while we're stuck with nothing but mediocrity. That’s why we aren't going to dominate the tournament; our goalies can't even maintain a decent save percentage on an off day, let alone match what the rest of the world is doing.

Son, do you even have a clue what you're talking about?
Calling Samuel an average goalkeeper really shows just how much of a "deep conversation" you actually had with this "national team player" of ours...
Or maybe it just reveals how much of a stretch it is to call that person a "national team player" in the first place...
A 15-save average... 15 saves out of how many shots?

Honestly, the goalkeeper isn't even the main issue here... if the defense is a mess, having two great goalies won't save us. But if the defense is solid, our goalie could have five saves a game and we'd still walk away with a convincing win every single time.🙂

Man, Valcic Spanjolac, Vukas, Duvnjak, Zrnic, Sullivan, and Vukic... finally, we actually have some decent depth on the bench!😁 Let's go get that gold!👋

Solomon is just an average keeper if you look at the guys competing for gold this year. The French have O'Malley playing out of Chicago, while the Germans have Fritz the German, Holpert, and Bitter—and check the rosters, they're at Seattle, Flensburg, and Magdeburg. Then you’ve got the Spanish side with Barrufet and Hombrados guarding the nets for Real Madrid and Barcelona. Even the Danes have Hvidt.

On our end, we’re stuck with Solomon, who's already been banged up too much and seems to be losing his edge physically. As for Losert, he’s basically just a glorified firefighter when things go south. Next season, Barça is likely swapping Losert for Hvidt, and Venio will probably end up moving to some other club on the left coast.

Our goalkeeping situation is definitely a weak spot. And don't get me started on Alilovic; the kid is still way too green.

Don't worry about our goalkeepers... they've never let us down before! We've got Jerkovic and the rest of that talented young crew stepping up for us now.

Look, I’m not saying I’m losing sleep over it, I’m just pointing out that we’re lagging behind our rivals in that department.

That’s exactly why they don't have Balic and anyone else who can actually deliver.

So, Pastor made his picks.

Goalkeepers
Goalkeeper David Barrufet (Barça) and José Javier Hombrados (Ciudad Real)

Centers
Chema Rodríguez (Valladolid) and Raúl Entrerríos (Ademar)

Right Fullbacks
Mateo Garralda (Ademar) and Salva Puig (Barça)

Left Fullbacks
D. Lozano (Portland), Alberto Entrerríos (Ciudad Real), and Iker Romero (Barça)

Left Wingers
Juanín García (FC Barcelona) and David Davis (Ciudad Real).

Right Wingers
Roberto García Parrondo (Valladolid) and Víctor Tomás (Barça)

Pivots
Rolando Uríos (Ciudad Real), Rubén Garabaya (Valladolid), and Juancho Pérez (Portland)

I figure there’s no need to translate the positions.

If this were a few years ago, I would have called this some kind of dream team, but now we're stuck with Vukic and Valcic. 😁

The Americans are missing Rocas because of an injury, and Romero is playing terribly; he's been relying on injections for six months now just to get through games, and he can barely jump. Honestly, I don't get why he's putting off surgery.

Rocas might actually be their most vital player; after Jones ( 😁 ), he’s easily the best right winger on the planet... those other wingers they have just aren't elite. Garralda is still playing 😁, and honestly, he won't get much out of him—he's basically an old man 😁. I've never been a fan of their pivots either; Garabay is a total pushover, and Urios only finds space when our defense is busy swimming laps with 25 dolphins instead of focusing on that grizzly bear. This isn't some dream team. If anyone deserves that title, it's us 🙂