Men's handball team beats Croatia to keep Olympic dream alive
Paris, 29 July - The Slovenian men's handball team beat Croatia 31:29 (13:13) at the Olympics on Monday to bounce back after a game 1 defeat against Spain in Group A of preliminary play.
Paris, France.
The Slovenian men's Olympic handball team.
Photo: Anže Malovrh/STA
Slovenia, who are hoping to make their first Olympic quarter-final appearance since Rio 2016, came back in a tough match against the two-time Olympic champions, delivering the decisive blow in the middle of the second half.
Slovenia's head coach Uroš Zorman said that matches with Croatia "bring special tension, emotions", noting that his players were calm and focused and that he can only congratulate them.
"After the knock-down against Spain, they woke up and they saw they can," Zorman said, while Slovenia's top scorer Blaž Janc added that "if we play with such energy, determination, aggression, even the favourites will have a hard time against us."
Miha Zarabec said that "these derbies between the neighbours are something special. The team that wanted it more was victorious today," adding that "we have room for improvement and this is what pushes us forward."
Zorman's squad, which is playing in their fourth Olympics and which took bronze at the World Championship in 2017, will next face Sweden, Japan, and Germany.
The top four teams from Group A will advance to the knockout stage in Lille, where they will face the best four from Group B at the Pierre Mauroy stadium between 7 and 11 August.