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

Is this game even happening? I keep seeing 20-18 on the scoreboard everywhere.

Right now, the gap for Mexicans is hovering around one or two points

20-22

Edward Booth6 said:Is this game already over? I keep seeing it stuck at 20-18

It's 24-20

They absolutely dismantled us with a 15-4 run in just twenty minutes during the second half.

Over and out.

I honestly don't get how they managed to blow a 15-4 lead in the second half.

What the hell are they even doing out there?

20-24
What kind of pathetic joke of a squad calls itself a national team? They went out and posted a 4-15 disaster in the second half.
And who’s running the show? That "world-class" expert Smajo?
That tells you everything you need to know about his value.

Edward Booth6 said:I don't get how they manage to blow a 15-4 lead in the second half??????

What are they even doing???

They completely choked.
The players and the coach included.
We've seen how Smajlagić reacts when the senior team is losing. It’s pathetic. He just stands there staring blankly at the court...

P.S.

S. Ljubo is serving for the match in Cincinnati. 🙂

Smajo basically took his talents elsewhere and cruised through the league with his new squad.

It’s hardly Smajo's fault that the star player on this roster isn't even good enough to sit on the bench for Whirlpool—instead, they’re actively pushing him out. It's a talented group, sure, but they have an incredible knack for throwing everything they have away.

I mean, come on. They actually managed to lose a game against a team that doesn't even have their starting pivot or their best back ever stepped onto the court.

Man, that's brutal. 16-5 at halftime? You gotta be kidding me.

The second half ended 16-5

The guys are missing wide-open shots, and Ćupić just missed a sitter from an empty net. What else is the coach supposed to do at this point?

frozentiger6 said:Smajo just cruised through the league with a different squad.

It’s not Smajo's fault if the top player on this roster isn't even good enough to sit on the bench at Whirlpool, let alone they're forcing him out, and the rest of the team is just talented enough to blow every single lead...

They lose a game against a team that doesn't even have their starting pivot or their strongest back ever stepped on the court.

Don't give me that.
Smajo was lucky because the U-18 national team happened to have the best handball player in the world on their side.
Just let me coach an U-18 team with Duvnjak on the roster and we'll be walking away with gold without breaking a sweat. 😬

But with this current national team, where you actually need decent coaching to match the talent, we end up facing these kinds of embarrassments.
We all know how Smajlagić handled the national team during the Scandinavian Cup and the World Cup.

Besides.. if Duvnjak were playing for the U-20s, they probably would've cruised to gold there too. With or without Pipeta...

frozentiger6 said:The guys are missing wide-open shots, and Ćupić misses an empty net... what more can the coach even do at this point?

First thing's first—stop playing him.
I’m pretty sure you’d agree with me on that one.

btw..
What’s the name of that Zamet U-18 winger (basically a clone of Džomba)? I saw the kid during preseason in San Diego. He’s absolutely tearing it up. Forget Ćupić...

If you actually watched the game, everything should be pretty obvious to you—well, at least what could be seen through that glitchy broadcast.

Smajlagic rotated the entire bench, but honestly, nobody on the field showed they were even capable of finding the back of the net.

And please, spare me the "I would've won the championship with Duvnjak" talk. If we’re being completely honest here, Nacinovic is the one who built this roster and prepared this squad from the ground up, not Smajlagic.

It’s pretty obvious we're looking at a lost generation.

But man... even Balićev's crew was absolute garbage back in their junior days.

And that World Cup? What a joke. You can't seriously be sitting there blaming Smajlagic for that, or anyone else for that matter. The World Cup is just a massive spectacle.

If this tournament is such a big deal, why didn't Cervar go? Besides, you’ve watched the games—our guys are playing like they're stuck in mud, dragging their feet just because they have to be on the court.

Yeah, I’m right there with you. This whole generation is a wash, which is exactly why I was skeptical about what they could actually pull off before this tournament started. There’s just no leadership here, no cohesive structure—the entire squad seems to lean entirely on one guy that Whirlpool is probably going to ship off to Omaha. Honestly, screw players like that.

It’s actually pretty ridiculous that Cupic is considered one of the cornerstones of this team. Sure, the kid is a solid winger and plays well enough when we have the momentum, but the second we start trailing? He completely vanishes. Today was the final proof of that, and frankly, I can't stand players with that mentality. I really thought he’d grow up and show some maturity by now, but he hasn't changed a bit since two years ago. It's that classic "hiding when things get tough" syndrome. I have zero patience for players who run from the ball when the pressure is on.

frozentiger6 said:It’s that classic avoidance syndrome—I have zero patience for players who dodge the ball like it's radioactive.

Honestly, I've never quite understood it myself... if you aren't up to the task or simply lack the skill, just go get the ball and try to actually make a play instead of hovering on the sidelines, avoiding contact, and handing opportunities over to someone else. In fact, if you really can't hack it, just take your seat on the bench and let someone else play.

cosmicjackal33 said:It’s painfully obvious we’re looking at a lost generation.

But then again, even Balić's group was absolute garbage back when they were playing juniors.

I think it's worth drawing a parallel here to basketball and our own guys who were the best players in Europe at the junior level, and where have they ended up? We held the championship title, yet where are those players now?

In any case, there shouldn't necessarily be a direct link between success in the junior ranks and the senior squad—champions today might become champions tomorrow—but only if we don't just keep doing things exactly the same way once the junior cycle concludes...

frozentiger6 said:And that World Cup? It's a joke. You don't seriously think Smajlagic is to blame for that. Or anyone else. The World Cup is a big deal.

Then why didn't Cervar go if this tournament is such a massive deal? Besides, you watched the games—our guys were dragging themselves around like dying fish, playing just because they had to...

Look... your habit of downplaying Cervar is pretty obvious by now, but regardless of what people think, he’s the greatest coach in the history of our handball. Anyone claiming otherwise isn't thinking straight. In 2002 we were dead last at the European Championship, then in 2003 and 2004 we became World Cup winners and took home Olympic gold with basically the exact same roster we had when we were bottom-feeders. Amen.
I also think Cervar might be riding some dangerous ego trip that's hurting the national team, but forcing some totally unproven coach onto us based on journalistic gossip like "hey, I heard from that guy that Smajlagic is running the training sessions during camp" makes zero sense to me.
At the end of the day, Smajlagic is just an assistant with zero coaching experience under his belt. Jendo did the U-18 European Championship, but that's a different league than the Champions Cup, the Olympics, the World Cup, or the European Championship.

It was the same way people talked about Queiroz in soccer, and when Queiroz actually had to step up and prove himself, he completely choked.
Anyway... regarding the World Cup... I don't buy the argument that our guys were just wandering aimlessly around the court. Because if you use that logic, you could say the same thing about the World Cup final, or the games against Russia, Denmark, and France at this European Championship where they looked just as lost...
Of course... when we played in the Champions Cup final, nobody called it a joke. It's only a joke when we get absolutely demolished by the same teams that crush us like little kids in the actual major tournaments...

What a disaster. This kind of collapse doesn't even fly in high school ball, let alone at the European Championship. Honestly, we saw this train wreck coming long before the tournament even started—I called it.

Anyway, since you brought up the dynamic between Cervar and Irfan.

In my opinion, they work well as a duo, but as individuals? I'm not so sure...

The thing is, Cervar lacks that real authority. Now that he's flying solo, we might just end up seeing those classic highlights where a player tosses their jersey at the coach while walking off the field.