January 20, 2022 - Croatia falls to Montenegro 26:32 in the first match of Group I in the EHF Euro 2022 main round in Budapest. 

The main round of the European Handball Championship began on Thursday. Croatia met Montenegro in their first match of Group I.

Croatia enters the second round of the competition without points. Denmark, France, and Iceland transferred two points each, while Montenegro and the Netherlands also entered without points.

In Group II, Germany, Spain and Russia have two points each, while Norway, Sweden, and Poland have no points.

Croatia coach Hrvoje Horvat was not able to count on Valentin Ravnić today and invited three new players to the national team as COVID-19 plagued the roster. Thus, Mirko Alilović, Ivan Slišković, and Veron Načinović joined the Croatia squad. 

Recap

Cupic scored the first goal for Croatia for 1:0. Cindric scored for 2:2 in the 5th minute. It was 3:3 in the 8th minute. 

Montenegro was leading by 2 goals in the 12th minute - (3:5). Cupic scored for 4:6. Cindric scored for 5:7 in the 18th - and Cindric made it 6:8 in the 20th. 

Cupic scored his 3rd goal of the game for 7:9. Lucin made it 8:10 in the 24th and 9:11 a minute later. 

Montenegro was leading 13:9 with two minutes to go in the first half. A catastrophic end to the first half - Montenegro was up by 6 goals - 15:9.

Croatia goalkeeper Alilovic saved Montenegro's first attack of the second half. Cupic scored for 10:15 in the 31st minute. 

Alilovic saved Montenegro's next attack and Nacinovic scored for 11:15! 

It was 13:19 for Montenegro in the 38th minute before Cindric scored for 14:19 a minute later.

Gadza brought Croatia back to -5 in the 41st minute - 15:20. Cupic scored from 7 meters for 16:21 in the 43rd. Gadza scored again for 17:21. Mandic scored for 18:22 a minute later. 

Cupic and Martinovic made it 20:25 in the 48th. But Croatia's hope quickly dwindled - they were behind by 6 goals entering the final 10 minutes of the game, and Montenegro was up by 7 goals moments later. It was 28:20 for Montenegro in the 51st minute. 

Lucin scored for 21:28 with 7 minutes to go. Jelinic scored for 23:29 with 4 minutes left. Cupic scored for 24:30 with 3 minutes to go and it was 25:31 with 2 left. Cindric made it 26:31. The match ended 26:32 for Montenegro. 

Croatia plays Denmark next on Saturday. 

For today's remaining matches of Group I, France and the Netherlands play at 6 pm and Denmark and Iceland at 8:30 pm. In Group II, Russia and Sweden also met at 3:30 pm, Germany and Spain (6 pm), and Poland and Norway (8:30 pm).

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

January 18, 2022 - The Croatia handball team has learned their first opponent of the EHF Euro 2022 second round, which will be played this Thursday in Budapest. 

Croatia fell to France in the first match of Group C on Thursday, topped Serbia on Sunday, and crushed Ukraine on Monday to advance to the second round of the EHF Euro 2022. Though their fate in the second round wasn't entirely left up to them. 

Because France defeated Serbia (29:25) on Monday to advance to the second round with a maximum of three victories, Croatia too advanced to the next phase of the competition. 

Croatia advanced to the second round of the European Handball Championship as the second-placed team in Group C.

The Cowboys finished in Szeged behind France, which beat Serbia, and now travel to Budapest to play four more games as part of the newly formed Group I.

The competition format is such that Group I will feature the two best teams from groups A, B, and C (with the transfer of points won in the mutual match with the national team that also moves forward). 

First-placed Denmark and second-placed Montenegro passed from group A, which knocked out Slovenia in the direct calculation for the second place. Denmark and France, who is the winner of Group C, transferred two points to the second round.

As for Group B, the last round will be played on Tuesday. So far, Iceland is the best, recording both victories. On the other hand, host Hungary managed to recover from the shock defeat at the opening of the Euro against the Netherlands and beat Portugal in the last seconds of the second match (Hungary and Iceland and the Netherlands and Portugal will meet in the last round).

Although the list of participants in the second round has not yet been completed, Croatia has already learned their first opponents. Thus, Hrvoje Horvat's team will first play on Thursday, January 20, against the second-placed team in Group A (Montenegro).

C2 (Croatia) will play against A1 on Saturday, January 22, the current world champion Denmark.

There will be a clash against the winner of Group B on Monday, January 24, and two days later (Wednesday, January 26) a match against the runner-up in Group B.

From this second-round group, the two best teams will advance to the semifinals of the European Championship, while the third-placed team will play for fifth place. All this will take place from January 28 to 30 in Budapest. 

Source: Gol.hr

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

August 6, 2021 - Croatia defeats Montenegro in the 5th-8th place playoffs on Friday. Croatia will meet the winner between Italy and the USA in the match for 5th place on Sunday. 

The Croatia water polo team met Montenegro in the playoffs for 5th to 8th place at the Olympic Games in Tokyo on Friday.

After the quarterfinal defeat to Hungary, Croatia has to play two more games for the 5th to 8th place. The first was today against Montenegro, who lost to Greece in the quarterfinals. 

Croatia led the 1st quarter 1:0, while Montenegro came back in the 2nd which ended 5:4 for Croatia. In the 3rd quarter, Croatia and Montenegro were even, ending with 3 goals each. The score going into the final quarter was 9:7 for Croatia. 

Croatia and Montenegro were equal in the final quarter at 3:3 for the final score of 12:10. 

Croatia has already played against Montenegro in Tokyo, recording a victory in the group (13:8), but then it was an important game in the fight to get to the quarterfinals and the stakes were high. Playing for the ranking is something completely different, and after being eliminated in the quarterfinals, the motivation is certainly lower.

Croatia thus plays for 5th place on Sunday against the winner between Italy and the USA. Montenegro will play for 7th place.

"These are now the two worst games ahead of us. They bring nothing, they mean nothing, but we have to play them. We have to try to give as much as we can and try to win. There will be wishes, but we will see how good it will be on both sides," said Barracuda captain Andro Bušlje.

"I don't see the point of all that, we are the only collective sport that plays from the fifth to the eighth place. Unfortunately, the rules are like that and it is our duty to do it to the end," said coach Ivica Tucak.

The semifinal matches are scheduled today in which Greece and Hungary will meet (8:30) and Serbia and Spain (12:50).

Source: HRT

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 February 20, 2021 - Croatia falls to Montenegro in the semifinal match of the Olympic qualifying tournament and will play in the 3rd-place match on Sunday for a spot in Tokyo. 

Croatia and Montenegro met in the semifinal match of the Olympic qualifying tournament in Rotterdam on Saturday evening. A win was enough for Croatia to automatically secure a spot in Tokyo, as the top three national teams from the qualifiers advance to the Olympic Games. If Croatia lost, they would have to play (and win) the match for 3rd place. 

Behind Croatia are six rounds made up of five victories and one defeat at the Olympic Qualifying tournament in Rotterdam thus far. Recall, Croatia won their first match against Romania at 16:6, defeated the Netherlands 25:8, topped France 10:13, lost to Russia 13:14, and beat Germany 22:8 in the final group stage match. 

Croatia thus finished the group stage with eight points, four wins, and a defeat against Russia, which finished first with nine points. 

In the quarterfinal match on Friday, Croatia was better than Georgia (15:6).

Montenegro v. Croatia

Montenegro opened the game with a goal for 1:0 with 7:07 to go in the first quarter. Maro Jokovic scored Croatia's first goal for 1:1 a minute later. 

Croatia led for the first time thanks to a goal by Vukicevic for 1:2 with 2:36 to go, though Montenegro retook the lead for 3:2 with just under a minute to go, which is how the first quarter ended. 

Andro Buslje opened the second quarter with a rocket for 3:3. Vukicevic scored his second goal of the game for 4:4 with 4:15 to go in the second. Croatia retook the lead thanks to a penalty by Luka Bukic with just over 3 minutes to go (4:5). The second quarter ended at 5:5. 

Fatovic and Bukic made it 7:7 in the third quarter and Buslje equalized for 8:8 with 1:43 to go - and scored again for the Croatia lead in the final seconds of the third quarter (8:9). 

Bijac was brilliant in goal with two crucial saves to start the final quarter and keep Croatia head. Montenegro equalized at 9:9 with four minutes left in the match. Luka Bukic nailed the goal for 9:10 Croatia with 2:32 to go. Montenegro equalized for 10:10 with 24 seconds to go. The game went to penalties, in which Montenegro was better. 

Greece and Russia will meet in the second semifinal on February 20 at 20:00.

The finalists of the qualifying tournament, as well as the national team that wins the match for third place on February 21, will qualify for the Olympic Games in Tokyo, which are scheduled from July 24 to August 8, 2021. 

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

January 26, 2020 - The Croatia water polo team met Montenegro in the game for third place and the bronze medal at the European Championship in Budapest.

After falling to Spain on Friday in the semifinal, Croatia met Montenegro in the bronze medal game on Sunday. Croatia and Montenegro had already met in the group stage of the tournament when Croatia won 11:10.

Croatia won the sprint and, thus, the first attack of the game, which resulted in no goal. 

Jokovic scored the first goal of the game from a penalty with 6:25 to go in the first quarter and 0:1 Croatia.

Jokovic scored Croatia’s second goal from another penalty for 0:2. It was 1:2 with just over a minute to go. Vukicevic scored for 1:3, which is how the first quarter ended.

Montenegro opened the second quarter with a goal for 2:3 with 7:25 to go.

Vrlic scored for 2:4 with six minutes to go and Bukic scored for 2:5 with 4:38 to go.

The game was 3:6 for Croatia with two minutes to go in the second quarter.

Loren Fatovic scored for 3:7 with 1:41 to go.

Josip Vrlic scored for 4:8 with five minutes to go in the third quarter. With 2:22 left, Montenegro decreased Croatia's lead to 6:8 - and to 7:8 with 47 seconds to go.

Montenegro won the sprint in the final quarter though neither team was able to score until there were just over five minutes left. Fatovic increased Croatia's lead to 7:9. Montenegro came back to -1 for 8:9 with 4:52 to go.

With 1:36 left, Montenegro equalized at 9:9 - and with 1:00 left, they took the lead for 10:9.

Croatia was unlucky in their final attack, and Montenegro took the win and the bronze medal. 

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

January 16, 2020 - The Croatia water polo team met Montenegro in the second leg of the European Championship in Budapest on Thursday. 

In the first match, the ‘Barakudas’ defeated Germany 17:9. The match against Montenegro was decisive to win the first place in the group, which secures a spot in the quarterfinals. 

“We have really positive results against them lately. We easily won in the quarter-final of the Kazan World Championship, in the semi-final of the Olympic Games, the quarter-final of the European Championship, some big matches where we had them as an opponent and we managed to win,” said national team coach Ivica Tucak just before the start of the match.

Montenegro opened the game with a goal by Brguljan three minutes in. Croatia’s first goal of the match didn’t come until Andro Buslje scored for 1:1 with less than two minutes to go in the first quarter. 

Luka Bukic scored during an extra-man play for 1:2 Croatia, which was the final score of the first quarter. 

Bukic opened the second quarter with his second goal for 1:3. Maro Jokovic nailed the net for 2:4. Xavi Garcia increased Croatia’s lead to 2:5, while Josip Vrlic was brilliant in front of the goal for 2:6. The second quarter ended at 3:6 for Croatia.

Croatia’s brilliant defense prevented Montenegro from reducing the result in the third quarter, and goalkeeper Marko Bijac was unstoppable in goal. Croatia scored the first goal of the third quarter with four minutes to go - Luka Loncar increased the lead to 3:7.

Hrvoje Benic hit a rocket for 3:8, while Bukic recorded his third goal with just over two minutes to go in the third quarter. The game was 4:9 for Croatia. 

With less than two minutes to go, Vrlic scored his second goal of the game for 5:10, which was the final score of the third quarter. 

Montenegro reduced the deficit to 8:10 four minutes into the last quarter. And it was 9:10 with three minutes to go. Croatia had yet to score in the fourth quarter. 

Montenegro made an incredible comeback to equalize with just over two minutes to go. It was a completely different game for Croatia, and Tucak was not happy.

Xavi Garcia scored a crucial goal with just over a minute to go to put Croatia back in the lead for 10:11, but they weren’t out of the woods yet. 

Bijac, however, made an incredible save to crush Montenegro’s hopes. The game ended at 10:11 for Croatia. 

Croatia will play its final game of Group A against Slovakia on Saturday at 4 pm.

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

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