December 18, 2020 - The Croatia women's handball team met the current European champion France in the semi-final of the 2020 European Championships in Herning, Denmark on Friday evening. 

By entering the semi-final, Croatia achieved the best result in the history of Croatian women's handball, and thus secured a place in next year's World Cup, where Croatia has not played since 2011.

Croatia traveled to Denmark as complete underdogs, building great form from game to game. On Tuesday, they played a fantastic match against Germany and advanced to the semi-final with a 23:20 victory.

Unfortunately, mighty France was too powerful for Croatia tonight.

France v. Croatia Recap

Croatia opened the game with a goal by Kalaus in the first minute of play. France equalized moments later for 1:1. Debelic made it 1:2 for Croatia in the 3rd.

Stellar saves by Pijevic in the 6th and 7th minute kept the score at 2:2. Micijevic scored for the Croatia lead in the 8th minute - 2:3.

France took the lead for the first time in the 10th minute - 4:3, and scored again for 5:3. France was up by three goals in the 12th minute and four in the 14th. 

At this point, Croatia hadn't scored a goal for seven minutes. 

By the 17th minute, it was 10:3 for France. By the 18th minute, Croatia hadn't scored for over 10 minutes. Croatia finally scored for 11:4

Croatia hit the post twice in the minutes that followed. France called a team timeout. 

Vidak finally scored to slightly reduce France's lead to 13:5, but France scored again in the 28th for 14:5. The match ended at 15:5 at half. 

Croatia defended France's first attack of the second half and Simara scored for 15:6, bringing Croatia 9 goals behind France. Valentina Blazevic made it -8 in the 32nd minute (15:7). A Krsnik penalty made it 16:8 in the 34th.

Pijevic saved France's next attack, and Jezic scored for -7 - 16:9. Blazevic scored for 17:10, and Micijevic for 18:11. Croatia was still behind by 7 goals. 

Croatia was behind by 8 goals in the 43rd minute - 21:13. In the 46th minute, it was 23:13 for France.

With 10 minutes to go, Croatia was behind by 11 goals - 25:14. With five minutes to go, France was up 27:17.

With a minute to go, it was 30:18 for France. With 10 seconds to go, Croatia scored a penalty for 30:19, which was the final score of the match. 

Denmark and Norway will play the second semi-final tonight at 20:30.

Croatia will play in the match for 3rd place on Sunday at 15:30.

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

December 5, 2020 - Croatia handball kicked off the 2020 European Women's Handball Championship with a huge victory against Hungary on Friday evening in Denmark, resulting in a warranted celebration after the game.

The Croatia women's handball team kicked off the European Championships in Denmark with a victory, and in the first match in Group C, played in Kolding, they defeated the favorite national team of Hungary 24-22 (12-12).

Ćamila Mičijević was the best scorer for Croatia with four goals, while Katarina Ježić and Ana Debelić scored three goals each. Valentina Blažević, Marijeta Vidak, Dora Krsnik, Larissa Kalaus and Stela Posavec shook the net twice, and Paula Posavec, Josipa Mamić, and Tena Japundža scored once. Goalkeeper Tea Pijević recorded ten saves.

Hungary was led by Katrin Gitta Klujber with nine goals.

The second match of this group, in which the Netherlands and Serbia will meet, is scheduled for Saturday. Croatia will play against the Netherlands on Sunday (18:15).

In an even match, Nenad Šoštarić's team reached a crucial victory, which could mean a place in the second round of the competition, thanks to a calmer and more precise game in the final 13 minutes in which Hungary entered with a goal advantage (19-18).

However, a 5-0 Croatian series followed, which gave them a decisive four-goal advantage. In the end, Blažević and Debelić scored two goals each, and Kalaus and Ježić scored one goal each. By the end of the match, Hungary only managed to mitigate the defeat.

No one gave Croatia much chance in the opener against Hungary, but they knocked down the favored opponent 24:22.

Just before the opener, the Croatian Handball Federation posted a video of the team's synchronized dance. 

But after the match, they sang. 

The team erupted into song, specifically Thompson's "Ljepa li si", a Croatia national team standard. 

Croatia plays next on Sunday against the Netherlands at 6:15 pm. The advantage for Croatia will also be that the Dutch will have a day less of rest.

Namely, the Netherlands was meant to play against Serbia after the match between Croatia and Hungary, but due to a COVID-19 positive Serbian player, the match was postponed for 24 hours. The Netherlands will not have even 24 hours between the two games.

Source: HRT

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.