Captain Domagoj Duvnjak was satisfied after Croatia’s convincing victory against Bahrain (36:22) at the opening of the 2025 World Handball Championship in the packed Arena Zagreb.
I didn’t expect this kind of game, they are really tricky. I am happy that we entered the game very well, our defense worked perfectly, aggressive and thick. He claims that the key to victory was Kuzmanović’s defenses and easy goals:
I think that Kuzmanović defended everything that went past the defense, we scored a lot of easy goals and that was the key to the victory. It surprised me, I expected a tougher game, especially in the first half. We played against them two years ago, there was one difference at half time.
As reported by Gol.hr, Duvnjak is praised the transition in the match against Bahrain:
The selector rotated the whole team, every player got plenty of minutes. Every practice we work on transition, we speed up the game, but you can’t speed it up if you don’t play defense. The game against Bahrain showed that, phenomenal defense and it’s easier to run forward. When the game is fast, you have more attacks, you have more mistakes, so we have to find a balance so that what happened to us at the Olympic Games does not happen to us. I think that’s the key to this tournament, to find a balance.
Already on Friday, Croatian handball players Argentina awaits, and then the fight for first place in the group against of unpleasant Egypt:
I don’t know what the Argentinians are like, we played recently and they created problems for us, but they came without the Simonet brothers. They got two reds, it must have disturbed them. Maybe it’s better to have a weaker, then stronger opponent. Two years ago we lost to Egypt and were practically eliminated from the tournament.
Finally, he referred to a wonderful gesture from the fans in a crowded Arena. Already in the 5th minute of the match, a banner appeared in the stands for Duvnjak, who is playing his last tournament in a Croatian jersey:
I saw it out of the corner of my eye, of course I got goosebumps, a wonderful gesture, but you are focused on the field. I hope that after the championship we will all be happy and satisfied. The atmosphere was phenomenal, you have to know that it’s only the beginning of the tournament, but 15 thousand people, thank you very much. We need them, especially in times of crisis. I hope that as the tournament progresses, Arena burn down.
In the first match of the World Cup, Croatia beat Bahrain by 14 points
(www.jabuka.tv | Photo: HRS)
