It should be clear who is considered the favorite for the win, but Croatians do not take it for granted
“We are the favorites, but we clearly need to improve in attack,” said Croatian left wing Manuel Štrlek, adding: Egypt stand strong in defence, so we will have to adapt our tactics.” This Croatian team is confident, but not arrogant, so one should not expect any surprises on January 22, 2017, in Montpellier.
Both sides have fulfilled their expectations at France 2017 so far, Egypt a little bit higher after beating Qatar in the preliminary to finish third, Croatia a little bit lower after the defeat against Germany in the group final in Rouen.
Though both teams are part of international handball competitions for decades, the number of duels is relatively rare. The last time, the Croats faced Egypt was at the 2013 World Championship in Spain, when they gained a 24-20 win. Both sides have started a rejuvenation, with both sides aiming high to be a host of major handball tournaments: Croatia is the location for the EURO 2018, Egypt for the World Championship 2021.
Both sides have injury problems: Egypt will miss their top star Ali Zein, while on the Croatian side, once again team captain Domagoj Duvnjak is in question for the match on Sunday.
The overall Croatian statistic speaks for itself, as they always had made it among the top 6 of the last 15 major tournaments, and hopefully, that tradition will continue in France. To ensure that, coach Babić made a daring move, and replaced goalkeeper Filip Ivić with Ivan Pešić. The decision concerning goalkeepers are probably the hardest there are in handball, so we can only hope that Babić’s gamble will pay out.
The match kick off is scheduled for 20.45 CET. The winner of the Croatia Vs. Egypt duel will face Spain in the quarter-final on Tuesday, again at Montpellier.
