European Handball Championship: Croatia Defeats Czech Republic, Secures Fifth Place

The Croatia men’s handball team defeated the Czech Republic to win fifth place at the European Championship.

In a dramatic finish, the Croatia handball team overcame the Czech Republic to secure fifth place at the Euros in Zagreb. The game ended 28-27 for Croatia in front of 1,000 spectators, reports Gol.hr on January 26, 2018. 

After equalizing in the initial five minutes, in a slightly quiet atmosphere of the almost empty halls of Zagreb Arena, the Croatian handball players held a comfortable advantage (7-3) in the first ten minutes of the game. Ivan Stevanović was quick with defending counters, while goals by Zlatko Horvat and Manuel Štrlek helped Croatia lead 13-7 by the 21st minute. Up by six points, Croatia was in the lead at the half. 

The Czech Republic was able to close the gap in the score with the help of Ondřej Zdráhala, and just two minutes before the game’s end, the score was 27-26. But just a minute and a half before the end of the game, Marko Mamić forced a 7-meter penalty. Zlatko Horvat hit the penalty kick for a two-goal advantage (28-26), which proved to be enough, but barely enough.

The Czechs scored for 28-27 and then got the chance to equalize 20 seconds before the end after another mistake in the attack. The last shot of the match went above the goal, and Croatia claimed the victory. 

With a result of 28:27 the host nation Croatia leaves in a sixth place his rival Czech Republic during the EHF EURO 2018.
Let's watch again the best moments of the game!@HRStwitt #CROCZE #ehfeuro2018 #hypnoticgame pic.twitter.com/rnBGmkqIeh

— EHF EURO (@EHFEURO) January 26, 2018

Croatia goalkeeper Ivan Stevanović was declared the player of the game, who defended 13 of 38 Czech strikes. Zlatko Horvat with ten goals, four from 7 meters, was the most efficient player for Croatia. Five goals were scored by Igor Karačić, and four by Manuel Štrlek and Luka Stepančić. Coach Lino Červar played this match without Luka Cindric and Ivan Čupić.

This was the eighth match between Croatia and the Czech Republic at major competitions (Euros, World Championship, Olympics) and the seventh win for Croatia. The only victory for the Czechs was achieved in 1995 in the group stage at the World Championship hosted by Iceland.

On Friday, a decision will be made to see which national team will fight for the title of European Champion. From 18:00, the first semi-final will be held between France and Spain, and from 20:30, we’ll see Denmark and Sweden.

Translated from Gol.hr

 

Subscribe to our newsletter

the fields marked with * are required

Email: *
First name:
Last name:
Gender:	Male Female
Country:
Birthday:	[DD] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 [MM] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 [YYYY] 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023

Please don't insert text in the box below!