European Championship
Croatia’s handball players squander a mini chance of reaching the semi-finals
Croatia was eliminated from the European Championships. photo
© Tom Weller/dpa
With a win against Iceland, Croatia could have hoped for the semi-finals of the European Handball Championship. In the end there is a sobering defeat.
The Croatians suffered a 30:35 (18:16) defeat in Cologne and no longer have a chance of one of the top two places in the German main round group. The best thrower for the winner, who had already said goodbye to the medal fight, was long-time Bundesliga professional Bjarki Már Elísson with eight goals.
The Icelanders had to deal with two personnel setbacks in the early stages. First, circle runner Ýmir Gíslason from German cup winners Rhein-Neckar Löwen was shown a red card after a blow to the head of Croatian Zvonimir Srna. Shortly afterwards, Gisli Kristjansson from Bundesliga leaders and Champions League winners SC Magdeburg also sustained a foot injury and was no longer able to take part. The backcourt player only made his comeback shortly before the European Championships after a long injury break.
Undeterred by the failures and a two-goal deficit at the break, the Northern Europeans really turned up the heat after the break and pulled ahead by six goals (31:25) midway through the second half. In the Group I table, Iceland is now in fifth place with 2:6 points, ahead of Croatia (1:7).