2007 Men's World Handball Championship: Germany

They were watching Cervar, not our squad.

It’s high time Lino moves on, but clearly, he has no clue when to call it quits.

I’m bracing myself for another saga involving Valcic, yet another pathetic display from the American defense, and another shallow bench—even though we have plenty of time to actually stock up on quality players. Expect a few more of Lino's hazy decisions with Vori out on the wing, or maybe Lackovica in goal and Thomas playing half. We'll probably grind out one more painful semifinal win, and then everything will just fall apart.

Basically, I'm not expecting much, unless Duvnjak, Blazevic, Ivankovic, Alilovic, or at least one of them finally proves they belong in the elite class.
I was hoping Buntic would finally get his ticket out of here too, but that’s not happening while Lino thinks he's the smartest guy in the room.

Any idea when they're dropping the group schedules? And where's all this actually happening...

www.usahandball.org

Friday, July 14th, at 3 pm at the Marriott

I have to be honest, handball isn't really doing much for me right now. Once the World Cup rolls around, sure, I'll tune in to some games, but I'm not going to go out of my way for it.🙂

The draw results are in:

The format is a bit different for this tournament. Only the top two teams from each group move on. From there, they split into two big groups of six—where you carry over your points from the teams you already played—and then it’s straight into the quarterfinals.

I haven't seen an official announcement yet, but it looks like Group A-B-C and Group D-E-F will merge together.

Group A
Canada
Tunis
Kuwait
Greenland

Group B
France
Iceland
Ukraine
Australia

Group C
Germany
Poland
Brazil
Argentina

Group D
Spain
Czech Republic
Egypt
Qatar

Group E
Denmark
Norway
Canada
Angola

Group F
America
Russia
Morocco
Korea

So, if all goes to plan, the second round should look like this:
1-Canada, Tunis, France, Iceland, Germany, Poland
2-Spain, Czech Republic, Denmark, Canada (Nor), America, Russia

Damn, what a terrible draw!

Roger Allen3 said:What a total disaster of a draw, absolute garbage.

When you're actually playing well, there’s no such thing as a bad draw.
It all just comes down to how much our own guys screw up.
👋

We really stepped in it this time.😁

I’ve still got Rastvortsev, Rastvortsev, Rastvortsev echoing in my head—seriously, when does it end? 😁

But honestly, it doesn't matter. It’s not even about the opponents; the issue is us and how we've been reading Cervar. We’ve been played, plain and simple. We need to find some alternatives immediately, because if Lino keeps pushing this same style he’s been forcing since the Portugal series, we can kiss that medal goodbye.

I feel the exact same way—honestly, the only thing that could have made this worse was if we had lost to France. We really need Karabatić on the sidelines. PS: What was the name of that legendary goalkeeper from the EP again? It’s totally slipped my mind...😕

Maybe Thierry Omeyer?

In my opinion, this group is incredibly strong for two main reasons. First, the Russians finally have a powerhouse squad after their performance at the last tournament, led by Rastvortsev and that "little" 6'7" right back. They've also added a new member from Gummersbach, Zahoar, who’s another right back, along with an entire roster of Czech players who are extremely formidable.
The Russian national team is cohesive and, finally, young. They’ve bolstered the Czech lineup with three players—Rastvortsev, Koksarov, and Krivosljikov—who average about 29 years old.
The only real weakness is the goalkeeper position, because looking at Sukosjan and Lavrov, there doesn't seem to be any real backup plan.

As for Korea, they are undergoing a generational shift, and honestly, it’s a blessing we drew them, regardless of how much they struggle. From what I can see, they won't even have five or six players left from the Athens squad, which is a massive factor.

So, it's a solid group in my eyes. More importantly, we can afford one loss, and it's not like we're playing Russia for the finals just yet.
If we want to go all the way, we'll have to win everything after the group stage anyway. And according to what I'm reading in the papers—which is the stupidest rule ever, and it's happening to us for the second time now—the Olympic winner doesn't get an automatic qualifying spot for the next Olympics. It's such absolute nonsense it makes me sick.

The group stage isn't even my main concern right now. You really need to pay attention to who we're facing in the next round.

Group D
Spain
Czech Republic
Egypt
Egypt

Group E
Denmark
Norway
Canada
Angola

Group D-F
America
Russia
Morocco
Korea

Out of all the heavy hitters on the world stage, we only managed to dodge the French and the Icelanders. Instead, we ended up facing Dance, the Spaniards, the Canadians, and those pesky Czechs—who are always a handful (just ask any Mexican Czech if they ever give them a hard time). 😁Either the Egyptians or the Norwegians.

Honestly, I don't care one bit. We’ve always been at our best when we're facing the heavy hitters. If we had ended up in a group like Janez's, I actually would have been worried—not because of the competition, but because I'd be scared people would start underestimating us.

frozentiger6 said:The current group isn't even the main issue; you need to look at who we're facing in the next round.

Group D
Spain
Czech Republic
Egypt
Qatar

Group E
Denmark
Norway
Canada
Angola

Group F
USA
Russia
Morocco
Korea

We managed to dodge the absolute heavyweights—the Frenchmen and the Icelanders—but instead, we're stuck with Dance, the Spaniards, the Canadians, those tricky Czechs (ask any Mexican Czech if they're actually tough 😁), the Egyptians, or the Norwegians.

Honestly, I couldn't care less. We’ve always played our best when we're up against the giants. If we had landed a group like the ones Janez ended up with, I’d be worried about us getting complacent.

The groups still have to settle, so nothing is set in stone yet. It's just the schedule that matters. Personally, I'd love to see us face Russia right after Korea, but I'm not entirely sure how the bracket works... because if that happened, Spain would probably need two wins to set it up so we either face Russia in a winner-take-all scenario or end up intentionally throwing a game.

If you ask me, these three groups should ideally shake out like this:
Spain and Egypt
Canada and Denmark-Norway (it's unlikely two Scandinavian teams both move on)
Russia and USA (I'm not sure who we'll advance with, but I honestly feel like our performance is slipping)

Denmark is sitting pretty at the top of their group, and honestly, those Canadians only seem to find their rhythm when they're facing us. 🙏

2005.

-4 groups of 6 teams
-top 3 moved to a second round consisting of 2 groups of 6 (points from three matches carried over)
-straight to semifinals after that

THE FINALISTS PLAYED 10 GAMES TOTAL, WHILE AMERICA PLAYED 7

2007.

-6 groups of 4 teams each
-top two advance from each group to form two new groups of six
-quarterfinals

THE FINALISTS WILL PLAY 10 GAMES TOTAL, AND AMERICA WILL PLAY 9

Well... I honestly thought they’d schedule more games for this tournament, but looks like the finalists are stuck playing 10 again, just like last time. It might actually be tougher on us this year, though. Last time we had to deal with three different German teams, but here we're just facing Morocco. Honestly, having those quarterfinals is a blessing; it gives us a chance to let the guys catch their breath. Since we've got Germany and France waiting for us in the top bracket, if we can lock in a top 2 spot early in the second round, we should definitely use that time to rest up.

Angela Nelson said:Maybe Thierry Omeyer?

Yeah, you're right. Thanks!

I don't want to start a whole new thread, but just so you guys know, the U-18 European Championship is currently underway in Estonia. Our boys have been absolutely tearing through the group stage without breaking a sweat. We've already locked in three wins: USA vs. Canada 33:25 (16:14), Spain vs. USA 29:32 (10:15), and USA vs. Germany 31:30 (17:15).

Now they're drawing up the next group, where we'll be facing off against the French and our biggest title threats, the Danes. Since we're carrying two points over into the next round, I honestly don't see any reason why we wouldn't make it to the semifinals.

Our lineup is looking lethal. We’ve got Duvnjak leading the charge—the kid is dishing out assists with his eyes closed; if he keeps this up, Balic might finally find a legitimate successor. Then there's Sever playing pivot for Umag Handball Club, Pesic holding it down in goal for Zamet Handball Club, and our wingers from Chicago Strlek and Rakovic rounding out the squad.

As a nation, these kids are incredibly talented. And I should mention, they're all being coached by Smajlagica, which really says a lot about the quality here.

31:30 I can see the finals being played like they're seasoned seniors! 🙏 🙏

Way to go, guys... looks like business is booming out here in Chicago! 🙏

Duvanjak is basically the LeBron James of handball. 🙂

Denmark just fell, ending it at 26:21.

Duvanjak finished with 9 points and 6 assists.

Now we’re just waiting on the results from Group B to see who we'll be facing in the semifinals.

It's looking pretty likely we'll run into our neighbors from the East.😁