October 26, 2019 – After the friendly spectacle at Arena Zagreb earlier this week, the handball teams of Croatia and Germany met again, this time in Hanover.
On Saturday, the men’s and women’s teams of Croatia and Germany hit the court of a sold-out TUI Arena, where almost 10,000 spectators came to support their sides in a friendly rematch.
Unlike in Zagreb, the men’s teams played first, precisely at 2:30 pm on Saturday. But not unlike the duel in Zagreb, it was another close battle that saw Croatia lose 24:23. Recall, Croatia lost 25:26 in Zagreb.
Coach Lino Cervar made three changes to the team compared to the Zagreb game. Instead of Zlatko Horvat, Kristijan Beciri and Marin Jelinic, it was Fran Meta, Marin Maric, and Lovro Mihic to travel to Hanover.
Luka Stepancic led Croatia with five goals, while Uwe Gensheimer celebrated his 33rd birthday with six goals for Germany.
“I think we can be pleased with today’s game; we missed a seven-meter shot when the time ran out. I think we have shown great strength compared to Zagreb, the defense was much better and we can be pleased with the performance here in front of 12,000 people. I don’t think they outplayed us, and we deserved more than defeat. Although Matanovic missed in the end, I have to praise them as well as the younger players. I think we are on the right track, we mean well, we are doing well. We need to be calm so that there are no injuries, to correct our mistakes and make the players in the clubs better prepared,” said coach Lino Cervar after the game.
Recall, the men’s handball side is preparing for the European Championships, which begins on January 9, 2020, and is played in three countries – Austria, Norway, and Sweden. Croatia is in Group A to be played in Graz, along with Belarus, Montenegro, and Serbia.
The women’s teams played in the second event of the day, at 5:30 pm. While the Croatia and Germany drew at Arena Zagreb, in Hanover, it was Germany to win 32:23.
The most efficient for Croatia was Ivana Dezic with nine goals, while Slavica Schuster and Stela Posavec scored three each. Antje Lauenroth and Alicia Stolle scored six for Germany.
Moree soon…
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