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

Horvat, Kaleb, and Anusic are all out. Unfortunately, Buntic can't make it either, even though he really should be there.

The goalkeepers look solid, especially Mirko—the guy is a total ticking time bomb.

They absolutely pushed my buttons 🤣 at 15:16 during that chaotic offensive against the Greeks 😠

Man, the way Dominikovic was copying that Greek player—I honestly thought he was going to take him out 🤣

Anyway, what a joke. We wasted so many shots just to scrape a win against Greece. Based on what I saw and what I know (which isn't much 😕), they’re basically playing in the third or fourth tier of handball
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Zrnic was incredible, but I can't say I'm surprised; I expected big things from the Bundesliga's 9th top scorer. Valcic was alright. Duvnjak seemed a bit lost, but okay. Vukovic was especially on fire today... maybe he just had one of those perfect days? 😕 And Dominikovic was putting on a total show 😁. Balic looked completely indifferent, though he was clearly struggling to keep his cool 😠 😁. So yeah, that's how it went. A fun night at Madison Square Garden, and we've got another one against Canada tomorrow
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Edit: Oh, and I don't know if anyone else caught this, but at one point our positioning was all messed up. We had Zrnic playing, Kaleb at right back 😕, and Pero at right wing—I don't even need to tell you how disastrous that attack turned out 🤣

Not a bad showing... the officiating was a bit rough around the edges, but honestly, you can let that slide during preseason tournaments...
As long as they step it up for the World Championship... those French guys always find a way to catch me off guard...

Regarding the Greek squad—they aren't actually that bad... I know calling them "washed up" is the trendy thing to say lately, but let's be real, hardly anyone is playing mediocre handball these days...

Handball has turned into such a positional game now... especially on defense... it’s just not what it used to be...
If we didn't have Ivan, there would be a lot less "flair" in this game...

McAuliffe said:Handball has turned into such a positional game lately... especially on defense... it’s nothing like how it used to be...
If we didn't have John, there would be even less excitement in the game!

Honestly, there wasn't much excitement in today's game either. Just endless short passes and an even higher number of turnovers. If anyone caught the game on TV, they probably saw just how many times our guys lost the ball—the numbers were pretty staggering.

Perkovac really understands how this American team plays. That’s why he bet on a heavy zone defense; he covered our entire perimeter and ended up walking away with about ten fast-break points.

Besides, the Greeks aren't actually that bad. In Switzerland, they were staying right in the hunt for a semifinal spot until the very last minute.

Wow, what a massive celebration today! 👋 Cheers to the President! 👋

The groundskeeper spent quite a bit of time out on the right perimeter today. Does that mean he's actually considering leaving Buntic at home?

I really hope they bench him. Buntic hasn't improved one bit; he's still stuck in his own head.

You're lucky to even have a player like that.

What's the deal with goalkeepers lately? How are they even making saves?

Jerkovich is flailing all over the net like some kind of circus acrobat instead of actually making saves, whereas Alilovic was solid yesterday with fifteen stops under his belt.

Canada is already a tough test today. We're about to see just how much Mirko can actually bring to the table.

The Canadians are playing without Rutenka, Pajovic, Kavticnik, Vugrinac, and Zorman. They're basically down to nothing, and they've only got about a five-point lead over us. It’s honestly embarrassing.

Why on earth aren't they there with them? 😕

Roger Allen3 Asks:
Why aren't they playing without them? 😕

Pajovic and Vugrinec have officially called it quits with the national team. Honestly, they just don't have the drive anymore.

Zorman is banged up, and honestly, I doubt he’ll be ready in time for the World Cup. As for Rutenka, he’s technically training, but his club has officially pulled him from the roster. It’s the exact same story with Kavticnik—he showed up to preseason already injured, so Kiel told him he’s out for the tournament.

Oh my goodness. It looks like Germany and France have already secured their spots in the semifinals. Unless Iceland pulls off some absolute miracle 😕

On our end, we're stuck facing Spaniards, Danes, Russians, Koreans, Canadians, Norwegians, or Czechs..

Man, what a brutal draw 😠

Poland is tough, and Tunis is no joke either. Honestly, I don't think getting hammered by one group will be any worse than the other.

We should be stronger than Korea, Russia, and Canada.

Mirko's doing alright, but those Canadians are losing their minds.😁

I'm not watching... so, what's the score?

14:11 we all know who this is for, even if it's just an exhibition match.

Easy win for our guys. 31-28 and we're almost home...