THE SPORTS GROUND: WEAKENED CROATIA LOST TO EGYPT

CROATIA – EGYPT 24:28
Croatia: D. Kuzmanović 10/34, I. Pešić 3/7, M. Šoštarić 2/3, L.L. Klarica -/-, Z. Srna 1/6, I. Pavlović 1/4, I. Karačić 0/1, M. Maraš 1/2, M. Mamić 0/1, T. Lučin 0/1, I. Martinović 6/13, L. Šušnja -/-, M. Šipić 3/5, F. Glavaš 5/6, M. Jelinić 3/4, V. Načinović 1/1, Coach: Dagur Sigurdsson (ISL)
Egypt: K. Hendawy 0/1, M. Aly 14/37, O. Yahia 6/13, S. Heny -/-, A. Abdou -/-, A. Hesham 4/4, A. Khairi 1/1, I.Elmasry -/-, S. Elderaa 5/9, A. Yousri -/-, R. Mohsen -/-, A. Yasser -/-, A. Nafea 3/3, A. Adel 4 /6, A. Zein 3/7, M. Sanad 2/2, Selection: Juan Carlos Pastor (ESP)

The Croatian men’s senior handball team was defeated by Egypt 24:28 in the 3rd round of Group H of the 29th World Championship and carried over two points to the second round. Egypt is the winner of the group and still goes with four points. Along with those two national teams, Argentina also qualified for the continuation of the competition, which beat Bahrain with a minimum score of 26:25.

An hour before the critical match of the third round of Group H between Croatia and Egypt, the Zagreb Arena was once again packed and burning with enthusiasm. The winner was allowed to pass with a maximum performance of four points, making his job more manageable in the second round. For Croatia, a point was enough for first place because they had a better goal difference, but they would have transferred three points in that case.

Croatia lost two extremely important players from Argentina to Egypt in two days. First, captain Domagoj Duvnjak was injured in the early stages of that match, and then the day after, Luka Cindrić also felt problems with his thigh muscles due to the blow he received in the 43rd minute. Coach Dagur Sigurdsson, therefore, had to make changes. Thus, Igor Karačića, the captain, and Luka Lovre Klarica, who were subsequently invited, joined the team.

Our initial lineup was, therefore, as follows: Dominik Kuzmanović in goal, Marin Jelinić and Filip Glavaš on the wings, and Marin Šipić on the line. Zvonimir Srna, Ivano Pavlović, and Ivan Martinović were in the outer line.

The Egyptians made a perfect start to the match. They scored two goals in two attacks and led 0:2. Ours seemed to be under manual control, both in defense and attack. After a little more than three minutes, Egypt was at 1:4. We were a little worried when they took a 2:6 lead in the sixth minute because not only did they quickly get a chance to shoot and score, but Mohamed Aly defended brilliantly.

As the flow of our ball in the attack was not fast enough and high quality, captain Igor Karačić had to go on the field after ten minutes. In the 17th minute, we finally caught the connection with a goal by Dominik Kuzmanović into an empty Egyptian goal and reached minus one (7:8). We had finally found a real rhythm.

Two minutes later, we had an attack to equalize at 9:9. Still, the Egyptian goalkeeper prevented it with his sixth and then seventh successful intervention and provided them with two more counters, so the opponent again escaped to plus three (8:11). Because of this, our coach had to call the first minute of rest.

However, Dominik Kuzmanović brought us back to life with two great saves. We also scored two goals, so it was easier to breathe at 10:12 in the 28th minute when the Egyptian coach called his minute of rest. And Egypt made good use of it. He scored two more and conceded only one goal, reaching a nice 11:14 in the half. Croatia was under 50 percent realization (42%) for the first time in the championship, while Egypt had 61. Mohamed Aly had eight saves, and Dominik Kuzmanović had six saves.

We had the first attack in the second half and took advantage of it, thus boosting your confidence a little more. Our defense seemed to choose to show a different face down the stretch with body language. After eight minutes of goal after goal game, we finally scored two in a row and were only one goal behind (17:18). In those moments, the coach sent Ivan Pešić to the door. He was looking for more defense, although Dominik Kuzmanović was very good. And he won since Ivan defended the seven-pointer right after entering.

But Egypt remained very rational. They wore down our defense with long attacks, and it must be admitted that they scored brilliantly. In the 43rd, they were again at plus three (18:21). Ours were in spasm. Their hands got shorter. Nervousness appeared on the field and the bench from their helplessness. The Egyptian goalkeeper continued to have a great night, so the hope of a final success became less and less as time passed.

In the 49th minute, Egypt escaped to the most significant difference of five goals (18:23). The only thing left for the Croatian coach was to call a new rest. Dominik Kuzmanović stood at the door again. The reason was the decision to start with the game seven on six.

But even that didn’t help us. Five minutes before the end, Egypt was at six points, and the question of who the winner would be was resolved. It remains only to see what the final result will be. And it was 24:28. With 14 saves, Mohamed Aly was the first name of Egypt and the player of the match. Omar Yahia gave six goals. Dominik Kuzmanović made 10 saves for Croatia, Ivan Martinović scored six, and Filip Glavaš scored five.

Croatia’s next match will be on Wednesday, January 22,, at 6:00 p.m., against the third-placed team in Group G, Cuba or Cape Verde. We will find out tomorrow who our opponent will be. Slovenia and Iceland have already secured passage from that group.

SOURCE: Croatian Handball Federation