THE SPORTS GROUND: CROATIA BEAT ARGENTINA AND PASSED TO THE SECOND ROUND

CROATIA – ARGENTINA 33:18
Croatia: D. Kuzmanović 13/26, I. Pešić 2/7, D. Duvnjak 1/1, M. Šoštarić 3/4, Z. Srna 3/6, I. Pavlović 1/2, M. Maraš 1/4 , M. Mamić -/-, L. Cindrić 2/3, T. Lučin 4/6, I. Martinović 4/6, L. Šušnja -/-, M. Šipić 5/5, F. Glavaš 5/6, M. Jelinić 3/5, V. Načinović 1/1, coach: Dagur Sigurdsson (ISL)
Argentina: S. Giovanola 10/31, L. Maciel 1/13, S. Barcelo Garcia 0/6, N. Bono 1/4, J. F. Gull 0/3, T. V. Canete 2/6, R. Benacedo 1/3, L. Moscariello 1/3, G. J. Fischer -/-, P. Marinez Cami Gar 2/3, R. Martinez 3/5, M. N. Jung 2/2, F. Cangiani 2/2, P. E. Minguez 2 /2, J.R. Saco 1/2, L. Aizen 1/3, selector: Rodolfo Martin Jung

The Croatian men’s senior national team convincingly beat Argentina 33:18 in the 2nd round of Group H and advanced to the second round. In the first meeting of the Croatian group, Egypt won against Bahrain 35:24 and went through. Unfortunately, the captain, Domagoj Duvnjak, got injured at the beginning of the match. What kind of injury will be known after the magnetic resonance during the night?

In the atmosphere that one can only wish for, with the stands of the Arena filled to the brim, Croatia met Argentina. Croatian coach Dagur Sigurdsson made one change in the lineup. Veron Načinović replaced Josip Šimić in the team. The Croatian starting line-up ahead of the match, which won us the second round, was Dominik Kuzmanović in goal, Marin Jelinić and Filip Glavaš on the wings. Marin Šipić held the line. Zvonimir Srna, Domagoj Duvnjak, and Ivan Martinović were in the outer line.

Argentina entered the match bravely. And had two initial leads (0:1 and 1:2). It took the Croatian defense three or four minutes to settle down, steal the first ball from the Argentines, and take the lead 3:2. And just when we arranged the Croatianlines, captain Domagoj Duvnjak was injured, who grabbed the calf of his left leg and soon left the field in tears. That was in the eighth minute.

His teammates seemed to want to relieve his pain. They scored four in a row and went to plus four (8:4). Argentina was broken, so their coach had to call a minute of rest to find new solutions both in defense and attack.

It didn’t disturb the Croatian rhythm one bit. Indeed. Everyone scored from all sides, so the Argentinian captain, Leonel Maciel, was in the proper shooting range. Hence, the coach decided to save him and looked for a solution with another goalkeeper. Croatia was six points ahead before the end of the 20th minute (12:6). She didn’t stop there. Dominik Kuzmanović locked the Croatian door, and the boys on the other side filled the Argentina net without hesitation. They were already nine goals ahead eight minutes before the break (15:6). Argentina went a full ten minutes without a goal.

The Argentinians broke through the Croatian defense and scored only one more goal by the end of the first half. Croatia scored three and went into the locker room with a vast 11 difference (18:7). The great Dominik Kuzmanović made nine saves. The Croatian handball players scored an excellent 78, while Argentina only scored 33 percent. In addition, they had nine technical fouls—Croatia only two.

In the second half, it took the Croatian players more than six minutes to get into the right rhythm and score the first goal. During that time, Argentina scored three goals, gained confidence, and looked a little different energetically.

But everything fell into place soon. Croatia found a rhythm from the first part, accelerated the flow of the ball, and started to score. In the 41st minute, we were again 11 points ahead (22:11). At that moment. It was in the 45th minute when Croatia escaped to 12 goals in excess (24:12). The coach pulled Marin Šipić from the field, who until then had played a great game with five goals from five attempts, and Ivan Martinović and gave them a chance to Veron Načinović and Mateo Maraš.

A little later, he also benched Dominik Kuzmanović, again one of the key figures in the match with 13 saves from 26 shots, or precisely 50 percent. Until the end, there was again a bit too much haste in some situations in the attack, hasty shots that Dagur Sigurdsson was certainly not happy about. But in the end, Argentina was frozen to minus 15 (33:18), so they will quickly forget it. I hope the captain is well. We didn’t score 39 on them like Egypt, but we didn’t concede 25 like them, either.

In addition to Dominik Kuzmanović, who was again the player of the match, Marin Šipić scored five goals without a miss, and Filip Glavaš scored one unrealized seven-pointer. Ivan Martinović and Tin Lučin added four each. Santiago Giovanolo made 10 saves with Argentina, and Ramiro Martinez was the most effective with three goals.

In the Croatian group’s first match, Egypt quickly and convincingly beat Bahrain 35:24. Along with Croatia, Egypt will advance to the second round. On Sunday, the two national teams will meet to decide which will transfer the maximum points.

SOURCE: Croatian Handball Federation