USA-Mexico and Mexico

Those Canadians, honestly... just wow.👋

It’s a real shame, too... I was actually looking forward to facing them when we were fighting for a medal.😁

Kate Bailey2 said:The Mexicans are out. Bye bye....

The Mexicans and the Norwegians...

Basically everyone we hate.😈

maxi said:Actually, there’s one more thing bugging me😁 (for once)
Why do some people on here—and just in general—think the US national team can't win a single game without having either Metličić or Balić on the floor?
The team isn't just built on Metličić or Balić; it's the entire squad that matters!!!!!

Because ever since Dražen Petrović passed, our basketball scene has been a total disaster.

Look at the state of things now 😉

Metličić and Balić carry this whole roster, especially Metličić. Without him, there is zero offense on the right side, nobody is setting up Dzombu, our scoring takes a massive hit, and don't even get me started on the defense (Pero was easily the best defender at the Olympics in Athens)

I mean, you guys don't really stand a chance against the Francuz.

Samuel Scott54 said:You don't stand a chance against the French.

😂

🙂

Patriotism said:You don't stand a chance against the Frenchman.

Listen, honey, just squeal and go to bed!🙂

Tunis leads that group, with the Frenchmen right behind them!

Someone needs to get a pipa over to the Los Angeles Lakers immediately. Find some talented 15-year-old point guard and get him into handball training.

Because Ballac is a player of pure style—that’s Maxi's whole point. Even when he's being dragged around the court or getting absolutely bullied, he's still somehow a better playmaker than everyone else.

And don't even get me started on Metlicic. Without him, Dzomba isn't seeing any passes, and neither Buntic nor anyone else can score like he does, let alone cover for him on defense.

Sending my best to the whole crew!

🙏
🙏 🙏
🙏 🙏 🙏
🙏 🙏 🙏 🙏

Fair, honest, and handled with class. You have to respect how they carried themselves out there; it definitely wasn't nearly as "bloody" as that old man Susec claims it was. Lackovic and Ballac were playing at a lightning pace, and the second they caught a glimpse of an opening, the ball was already flying toward the rim.
Congratulations.
My only regret—though I don't think anyone can blame fate for this one—is seeing the Americans head home empty-handed.
In my eyes, this game was the real championship before the actual championship. You beat us, and as far as I'm concerned, you're world champions regardless of what happens in the finals. There’s always next year.

Though, it looked like that blind referee was picking his calls out of his wife's knitting bag. I can overlook him tossing the wrong guys out, but giving a red card to Djurkovica instead of Krivokapica? That was just ridiculous.😕

Patriotism said:You guys don't stand a chance against the Frenchman.

😂 😂 :asshole:

with the SC! 🙂 🙂

hamburger... - February 3, 2005 at 1:10 PM (*.hansenet.de)

"::HEHEHE EVERYONE'S saying we're gonna beat them..hehe

it's gonna be a bloodbath"

"ventinove1 - February 3, 2005 at 1:33 PM (registered member)

The refs have started screwing us, dammit. It's almost over, time's up!!!"

"mangupi vam kvare dete - February 3, 2005 at 1:36 PM (*.shawcable.net)

There's no worse crowd than Catholics. Sneaky little acne-faced jerks..."

"Flying_Pot (brxa) - February 3, 2005 at 1:40 PM (registered member)

Tell the Americans El Paso can go to hell"

"CJB - February 3, 2005 at 1:52 PM (registered member)

Are our chances of moving on basically zero???"

Kroll said:But man, that blind ref basically took his wife's glasses to the game. I mean, fine, he was tossing the wrong people out, but giving a red card to Djurdjica instead of Krivokapic? Total joke.😕

Yeah... and then he went ahead and locked up the wrong guy later too.😂

Benjamin Palmer2 said:But seriously, why on earth did they give the red card to Djurdjica instead of Krivokapic?😕

Honestly, it hardly matters who they sent off when they really should have handed out at least two more cards to even the playing field...

Mr.Ex.President said:I'm just watching casually🙂 and recording

A-ha.

I didn't before, mostly because of my well-known phobia of superstitions.

🙂

Benjamin Palmer2 said:Look, sure he was calling out the wrong guys sometimes—but man, giving that red card to Djurdjica instead of Krivokapic? Total mess.😕

Some German commentator (handball expert type) on FDR was saying:
he basically shoved our guy while he was mid-air, practically throwing him right at Djurdjica for a cheap shot.
Watching the replay, it looks exactly like that. There you go.

As long as Tunis doesn't make it to the finals—and honestly, you might as well bet on us that they’re trailing at halftime just so they can pull off a comeback in the second half!👋

Well, we took down the Mexicans. And they had their Mexican allies right there with them.
Everything else is just noise.

Raymond Palmer8 said:Some American commentator—handball expert or whatever he called himself—was talking on FDR:
because he shoved our player while he was mid-air, basically throwing him right at Djurdjica for a volleyed hit to the groin.
On the slow-motion replay, that’s exactly how it looks. There you have it.

It’s possible... but if that's the case, then it's not a foul for the red card, which means Krivokavic isn't locked in for the floor play... and what on earth is going on with the exclusions and ball possession? I've played handball for years and I've never seen anything quite like that.
If there's some sort of implicit instruction being given to the referees, it could be incredibly dangerous for you guys when you face the French.
That's just how it goes in handball, much like water polo; they give the refs far too much leeway with their "subjective judgment," whatever that's supposed to mean. As if we needed that on top of everything else.

A few quotes after the game:

One of the heroes behind the US victory against USA-Mexico—where the Olympic champs and world leaders punched their ticket to the semifinals of the 19th World Championship in Tunis—was Ivano Balić.

"That was easily one of the hardest games of my life. Glad we walked away with the win," said Balić, who, alongside Džomba, led the charge for the US with six goals.

Even though he wasn't playing at his usual peak, Vlado Šola pulled off two massive stops at the end, including a shot from Sudzumov in the final seconds. If that ball had found the net past Šola, USA-Mexico would’ve been the ones heading to the semis.

"We're all exhausted and broken, but we made the semifinals. It was a total toss-up, but we escaped," said Šola, who finished with 10 saves.

"Talk about a heart attack. We proved once again what a miracle this squad is. We clawed our way out when everyone thought it was over," added Igor Vori.

Team captain Slavko Goluža gave props to his teammates for fighting hard and staying focused enough during that insane finish to secure the semifinal spot.

"It was a wild one. We weren't pretty, made a ton of mistakes, but when things started slipping, we had more grit and guts. We wanted this more, and we earned our spot in the semis," said Keta.

Petar Metličić had to watch from the stands. He felt some knee pain during the last practice, and Cervar didn't want to take any chances.

"Watching from the sidelines is the worst. But I stayed calm because I just knew we'd pull it off. The guys fought like hell, and now the path to gold is wide open," Metličić concluded.

Down with Vujo, down with 😁

frozentiger6 said:<slika>
Go get 'em, Vujo, just go get 'em 😁

Man, I don't know... this picture alone is worth its weight in gold, I guess...😁