CROATIA
Two times Olympic Champion (1996, 2004), World Champions (2003) – however you look at this, the European Championship title is missing from the list of the Croatian successes.
The Croats stood in the two past finals, lost however in 2008 against Denmark and in 2010 against France, between these two events, they also lost to France at the 2009 World Championship final in Zagreb.
However, in the qualification for the EHF EURO in Serbia – where the Croats can hope for a loud support from many fans in Vršac - the team of Coach Slavko Goluza showed an extremely strong and stable performance and finished the qualification phase as one of the two teams without any loss of points and succeeded among other things in defeating Spain twice.
Goluza is the successor of coaching legend Lino Cervar. The always high expectations were met with a damper at the 2011 World Championship, when the Croats for the first time since 2007 missed out again on the semi-final of a large tournament and at the end ranked fifth.
Goluza’s teams has amassed enormous international experience - alone with Ivano Balic, Igor Vori or Denis Spoljaric. In addition, to the team legends, there are a few up and coming players: the ones to watch for instance are Ivan Cupic, the great Marco Kopljar and defense specialist Jakub Gojun and Domagoj Duvnjak on the right wing.
And in goal Mirko Allilovic has developed extremely positively during the 2009 World Championship on home soil. Therefore, Croatia is the favourite in Group D.
GETTING TO SERBIA
Croatia was the second team with a flawless performance in the Qualification winning all six matches easily securing their place at the top of Group Two.
KEY PLAYERS
Igor Vori
The exceptional pivot and defence specialist has won nearly every title that the sport has to offer but the European Championship gold medal remains elusive. In 2003 he won World Championship gold, swiftly followed by Olympic gold in 2004. After the start of his professional playing career in Zagreb, Vori spent two years in Italy before returning to RK Zagreb. 2005 saw him move to FC Barcelona for two seasons before another stint with Zagreb. Since 2009, Vori has been part of HSV Hamburg. Vori, with his Croatian national teammates, has also won four silver medals (WC 2005, 2009 and EHF EURO 2008, 2010).
The 23-year-old playmaker is already being considered as the rightful successor to the legendary Ivano Balic.
Domagoj Duvnjak
Duvnjak, a true innovator, not only has a good connection to his teammates, but also is an extraordinarily gifted goal scorer due to his ability to handle himself in 1-on-1 situations. His international career started at RK Zagreb before he moved to HSV Hamburg in 2009 where he plays with fellow countrymen Vori and Lackovic. Duvnjak was selected to the senior national team in 2008 and since then he has won three silver medals (EC 2008, 2010 and WC 2009). Additionally, he also won the national championship with HSV.
THE COACH - Slavko Goluza
After spending four years as his assistant, Slavko Goluza took over the reins of the national team from the legendary Lino Cervar in 2010 and at his first major tournament in charge, the team ranked 5th at the 2011 World Championship in Sweden. Parallel to this he was also coaching in the Croatian first division. As a player, Goluza made his mark on the back court and has numerous medals and titles to his name: Olympic Gold in 1996 and 2004, World Championship gold in 1995 and 2003, European Cup winner in 1992 and 1993 with RK Zagreb and several national championship titles as well. After a stint with Metkovic Jambo, Goluza moved to France and then Hungary, where he played for Fotex Veszprem, before returning in 2004 to RK Zagreb only to win two more national titles.
CROATIA IN ACTION
| Date | Time | Game |
|---|---|---|
| 16.01. | 20:10 | CRO vs ISL |
| 18.01. | 18:10 | SLO vs CRO |
| 20.01. | 20:10 | CRO vs NOR |
PAST PERFORMANCE EHF EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP
| 1994 | Portugal | Bronze |
| 1996 | Spain | 5th place |
| 1998 | Italy | 8th place |
| 2000 | Croatia | 6th place |
| 2002 | Sweden | 16th place |
| 2004 | Slovenia | 4th place |
| 2006 | Switzerland | 4th place |
| 2008 | Norway | Silver |
| 2010 | Austria | Silver |
FURTHER INFORMATION
Croatian Handball Federation Website: www.hrs.hr
