On Sunday in Poreč, the Croatian national handball team played the first preparatory match before the appearance at the World Championship, which will be held from January 14 to February 2 in Denmark, Croatia and Norway.
Dagur Sigurdsson’s team put on an excellent performance beat the Italian national team 36:20.
The Croatian handball players were not behind at any moment of the game. At the very beginning, they defended the first two attacks of Italy, while Marin Šipić and Mario Šostarić on the other side scored for 2:0. In the tie, Italy only held on until 4:3, after which Croatia ran away with a 4:0 run to the first bigger lead of five goals.
He was phenomenal in Croatia’s goal in the first half Ivan Pešić. In 25 minutes, he collected as many as 12 defenses and was the main and responsible for the advantage of 14:6. That was Croatia’s biggest advantage in the first half, and the Italians took advantage of the weak finish of Sigurdsson’s team and went to the break with, for them, a decent -5 (15:10).
At the very beginning of the second half, Croatia ran away with a nine-goal difference. They scored two goals each Filip Glavaš and Marin Jelinić who paved the way for Croatia to a peaceful second part. The advantage constantly grew, and stopped at the final +16.
He was the best scorer in Croatia Marin Jelinic with six goals, while they each added four Mateo Maraš and Tin Lučin.
After Poreč, the national team will have three days off to celebrate New Year’s Eve with their loved ones, and a new gathering will be scheduled for January 2, 2025 in Prelog, it says Index. As part of that part of the preparation, January 8th at 20:15 in Varaždin, our handball players will play a friendly match against North Macedonia, and two days later the final test is against Slovenia in the Zagreb Arena, also at 20:15.
The World Cup for Croatia starts on January 15 when it plays against Bahrain at 20:30. This is followed by Argentina, which Croatia plays on January 17 at 8:30 p.m., and Egypt, which is scheduled for January 19 at 8:30 p.m. The three best teams from each of the eight groups advance.
(www.jabuka.tv)
