Croatian Defence Disappointing, But Wings Delight

The defence and the outer strikers are the weakest links, while Vori and the wings are the most powerful ones.

Croatian handball team has played three easiest matches of the World Handball Championship and is now in for the real beginning, matches with Sweden and Spain, which are on a higher level than South Korea, and ten levels above Kuwait and Cuba.

The audience confused, then lifted them

What the Croatian national team displayed so far is good, but not great or excellent. They lacked self-confidence against South Korea, which they lost due to the pressure of playing on home ground, at Split`s Spaladium Arena.

- We got a but lost, so many people were cheering us on and we didn`t want to disappoint them. This is why we failed a bit, but fortunately, we managed to get back and realise that valuable win for an easier beginning – Croatian team captain Petar Metlicic said after the match with South Korea.

He was the hero of that match, with perfect assists and two goals. However, he did not score well during matches against Kuwait and Cuba, although coach Lino Cervar wanted him to. He scored four goals against Kuwait and one against Cuba.

Such poor results would be of no use in the upcoming matches, but Pero is the captain and his presence makes other players` games easier. Therefore, his inefficiency is not that relevant, because he does a better job in defence than others do.

Blazenko Lackovic is a greater problem, once the first scorer of the team, and now its first problem. He did not score against South Korea, he scored four times against Kuwait and only once against Cuba. Too littler for someone of his potential.

Lackovic and Pero don`t score like they used to

Hats off to his play at the previous championships, but Valcic seems a bit more sure and powerful. Perhaps he should be coach Lino Cervar`s first choice. On the contrary, Lac might become a burden, If they took a risk and failed, the outer line would simply be invisible for Croatia.

But no all is black, Lino has acknowledged what the team is missing and turned the game around to the wings, for the first time, because the outer line was forced regardless of anything during previous competitions, while the wings did the scoring only from counter-attacks or if there was a player extra. Now, the wings carry the game. Ivan Cupic is the team`s best striker with 25 goals and has entirely replaced the great Mirza Dzomba.

His sub Vedran Zrnic has equally good results: he scored 14 goals and his calmness and easiness when it comes to scoring are thrilling. Furthermore, Croatia has never before played so many counter-attacks and the team has significantly sped things up in the latest match against Cuba.

The left wings can take credit for this. Eternally crossed Goran Sprem is prepared for the championship of his life. This emotional man celebrates each goal and approaches every match as if it was the final one. Also, he is immeasurably useful when it comes to running in counter-attacks. He has scored 12 goals so far, and he has not even played in the first match of the championship against South Korea.

Mateo Hrvatin was surprisingly good, as the 28-year-old is quite a revelation. He will surely play in a better club than Zamet after this World Championship. Why not when his statistics is charming. He scored 11 goals out of 12 attempts!

Defence and the goal keepers must co-operate more

The wings are Croatia`s least worry and the outer shooters its biggest. The goal keepers are solid, they defend in series and will be useful for the defence, although they should have a brighter shine against tougher teams and have perhaps 15 saves, the way Vlado Sola had in his days.

However, the defence should make things easier for the goal keepers, which did exceptionally poor. It is the worst part of the team, even worse that Lackovic`s inefficiency. However, Lino has whipped them and the lads started playing. We have yet to see what they will look like playing against more powerful teams than their previous opponents.

They seemed a bit slow most of the time, and all sides were easily penetrable. The only encouraging thing is that Croatia is impenetrable from the wings, however, it is from the outside and from the line. Perhaps the reason for this is the absence of Davor Dominikovic, who could not be passed in the combination with Spoljaric. Still, Davor is not here and he gap needs to be filled.

This requires mobility and speed, which was the formula against the Cubans, but it may not be so against the Swedes, because Korea, the fastest team of the championship, has managed to get only two counter-attacks past the Swedes in the entire match.

Lino has finally acknowledged and replaces the faults

This is why the attack has to do the defence`s job, just like the defence has worked for the attack for so long. Igor Vori is prepared for this challenge, probably the team`s best and most complete player.

Duvnjak is in the best form of his life, while Balic will show what he is capable of when push comes to shove. Thus, the impression remains that only Croatia`s outer shooters cannot keep up with the soaring pace of other team members.

However, experts agree, Lino has recognised the faults in time for the first time, he does not force the impossible, but has introduced innovations like Balic and Duvnjak in a combination and he has discovered the wings and counter-attacks, thus eavening the burden.