January 28, 2020 - The European Handball Championship may be over, but because it is an Olympic year, we won’t have to wait long to see the Croatia handball team in action again.

Namely, two tournaments of paramount importance have already been secured for the Croatia handball team over the next 365 days, and if all goes well, there will be a third.

Gol.hr reports that the Cowboys will now return to their clubs after a few days of rest, then reunite in April ahead of the Olympic Qualifying Tournament, which will take place from April 17 to 19 in Paris. The qualifiers will be attended by 12 teams divided into three groups of four, and the first two teams from each group will be issued a visa for the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Croatia will play in perhaps the toughest group, along with France, Portugal, and Tunisia. 

Despite its failure at the Euros, France is still a handball force, Portugal was one of the most pleasant surprises at the recent European Championship, while Tunisia is the African finalist.

If all goes to plan, and Croatia finishes either first or second in their group, then in the middle of the summer, we will follow the Cowboys on their way to a new Olympic medal.

The Tokyo Olympics take place from July 24 to August 9, and the handball tournament will be in the same format: a total of 12 teams will be split into two groups of six each, with the first four from each group winning a spot in the quarterfinal.

Handball at the Tokyo Olympics begins on July 25, and all matches will be played every two days. The quarterfinals are in the program from Tuesday, August 4, the semifinal games on Thursday, August 6, and the bronze-medal match and final on Saturday, August 8.

When the Olympic Games come to an end, the players will return to their clubs to begin a new season  -  though it won't be long before another major challenge. The World Handball Championship will be held in Egypt from January 14 to January 31, 2021.

Since Croatia won second place in the 2020 European Championship, they will not have play qualifications for the World Championship next year.

Otherwise, the 2021 World Championship in Egypt will be the first in an expanded edition and will feature as many as 32 national teams. With the expansion, the International Handball Federation (IHF) wants to popularize handball in a number of countries, and as part of this initiative, teams such as Cape Verde, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uruguay will participate. 

It will be a busy year for the Croatia handball team; be sure to follow TCN for the latest.

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

January 20, 2020 - The Croatia handball team met the Czech Republic for the third game of the second round of the European Championship.

Croatia secured the semifinal of the Euros on Saturday after a thriller against Germany, though every game was still crucial to determine their place in the group.

Luka Cindric, Croatia’s best player in this championship, did not play against the Czech Republic due to a wrist injury. It is not yet known if he will play against Spain, but should be ready for the semifinal match. 

Kasparek scored the first goal of the match in the 2nd minute, though Matej Hrstic returned on the other side for 1:1. 

Marko Mamic scores a great goal for 2:1.

In the 6th minute, Sarac scored to put Croatia in the lead, though the Czech Republic came back to equalize.

Mamic scored his second goal of the game in the 8th minute. 

Asanin made his first save of the game in the 9th minute, and Croatia went up by two goals for 5:3.

The Czech Republic scored a quick two goals in the 11th minute to equalize.

The Czech Republic retook the lead in the 14th minute, though Horak came back to equalize. 

In the 17th minute, Mandic used a counter-attack to equalize. Neither team had a significant advantage yet. 

In the 19th minute, Hrstic found Maric, who scored Croatia’s 8th goal of the game. 

In the 20th minute, Sarac put Croatia back in the lead, and in the 23rd minute, Croatia was up by two goals. 

Mamić scored his third goal of the match and Croatia went into halftime up 11:9. 

Croatia opened the second half with a goal by Mandic for 12:9 in the 32nd minute. 

Brozovic scored for 13:9 in the 36th minute. 

The Czech Republic reduced the score to 13:12 in the 40th minute, though Mamic made it 14:12 seconds later.

Maric scored for 15:13 in the 42nd minute, and Stepancic scored his first goal of the game in the 44th minute for 16:14.

Duvnjak scored a 7-meter shot for 17:16 in the 46th minute. 

Matanovic scored for 18:17 in the 49th minute, and Mamic scored his fifth goal of the game in the 50th minute for 19:17. 

Matanovic scored his second goal of the game for 20:18 with eight minutes to go. 

Stepancic scored his second goal of the game for 21:19 in the 55th minute. 

With seconds to go in the game, Stepancic scored the winning goal of the game. Croatia won 22:21!

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

January 16, 2020 - The Croatia handball team opened the second round of the European Championship against Austria on Thursday. 

The Croatia handball team and Austria met in Vienna on Thursday to open the second round of the Euros. Croatia had the support of Croatian fans in the stands. 

Both teams transferred two points to the second round, and with a win, would be one step closer to Sweden and the Euro final.

Austria had the first attack of the match in front of a roaring arena boasting 9,500 spectators. The commentators were confident at least half were Croatian.

After an unsuccessful Austria attack, Horvat missed from seven meters during the first Croatian attack. The game was still 0:0 three minutes in. 

However, it was the captain to score the first goal of the game moments later - Duvnjak scored for 1:0. 

Mandic increased the lead to 2:1 in the 5th minute, and Cindric scored for 3:1 in the 6th minute. Austria equalized in the 7th for 3:3.

Austria took the lead in the 8th minute thanks to a goal from 7-meters, though Mandic equalized in the 11th for 4:4. Croatia retook the lead thanks to a Horvat goal moments later, and Karacic scored for 6:4 in the 13th minute. 

Cindric increased the lead to +3 in the 14th (7:4), and Duvnjak made it 8:4 in the 17th minute. Horvat nailed another shot from 7-meters for 9:5 in the 20th minute, and another in the 21st for 10:5.

Cindric scored in the 25th minute for 11:6, and Stepancic made it 12:7 with two minutes to go before halftime. Cindric scored right before the buzzer for 13:8. 

Croatia opened the second half with a Stepancic goal for a +6 advantage in the 30th minute. Horvat scored yet another 7-meter shot for 15:9.

Stepancic scored for 16:11 in the 34th, and Mandic scored for 17:12 in the 36th. The Croatia captain made it 18:13 moments later.

Mandic continued his scoring streak for 19:14, and the two nations had been playing goal-for-goal for most of the second half.

Horvat nutmegged the Austria defense to bring Croatia back to +5, and Stepancic scored for 21:16 in the 42nd.

Cindric was on fire with another goal at 97 km/hour for 22:16, and Duvnjak brought Croatia back to +6 for 23:17 in the 44th. By this point in the game, Croatia had blocked four shots to Austria’s one, while Sego had made 5/17 saves in the game thus far. 

A new 7-meter shot for Croatia saw Horvat lob the ball over the keeper for 24:18. Austria reduced their deficit to just four goals in the 51st.

Sipic scored for 25:20 in the 54th, and Duvnjak intercepted the ball for 26:20. With a minute to go, Karacic scored for 27:22. The final score of the game was 28:24 for Croatia.

Luka Stepancic was named the man of the match! 

The 'Cowboys' next game is against Germany this Saturday at 8:30 pm. 

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

November 6, 2019 - The International Handball Federation has decided on the hosts for the Olympic Handball Qualifiers... and Croatia could be one of them. 

Gol.hr reports that before the European Championships, which will be played in Austria, Norway, and Sweden from January 9 to 26, 2020, the International Handball Federation (IHF) has designated the hosts of the qualifying tournaments for the Olympic Games in Tokyo next year. 

The tournaments will be played in the spring of next year, from April 17-19, and each of the two best teams will compete in the Tokyo Olympics.

France, Germany, and Norway were selected as hosts, while Croatia was named as the reserve country. 

So, what exactly does this mean?

A total of 12 teams will compete in the Tokyo Olympics, four of which are already known: Japan automatically qualifies as the host, Denmark as world champion, Argentina as the winner of the Pan-American Games and Bahrain as the winner of the Asian Qualifying Tournament.

There are eight more spots open, and one of them will be known at the end of the upcoming European Championships. Namely, the best national team at the Euros, not counting Denmark, who has already qualified, will also secure their spot in Tokyo.

Thus, if Denmark takes the gold, then the European Championship finalist will book the spot for the Olympics. This is why it could be important for Croatia.

Namely, if one of the three teams designated to host the qualifying tournaments (France, Germany, Norway) wins the European Championship title (or loses to Denmark in the final), then the qualifying tournament will not be played in that country but in Croatia, which will step in as the first reserve.

Croatia has already hosted this qualifying tournament once, and namely, back in 2012 when the Cowboys locked their spot for the London Olympics in Varazdin, defeating the national teams of Iceland, Japan, and Chile.

This time, the competition will undoubtedly be much stronger, and it could only help Croatia if they were to secure their spot for Tokyo at one of the Croatian halls, in an atmosphere that would be excellent.

However, the best-case scenario, of course, would be if Croatia were to skip this qualifying tournament all together… though they’d have to become the European champion first.

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

October 23, 2019 - The men’s and women’s Croatia handball teams hit the court at Arena Zagreb on Wednesday for a friendly against Germany. The women's side drew, while the men's battle saw Germany win 25:26.

The female side was the first to play on Thursday, which resulted in a 21:21 draw against Germany.

This is a great result for Croatia, who was without their players from abroad and Podravka, and with seven debutants.

Croatia trailed behind Germany for most of the game - however, 45 seconds before the end, Kristina Prkacin scored the equalizing goal. Germany was unable to score until the end and the women’s Croatia handball side recorded an excellent result in their first appearance at the Arena.

The heroine of the game was goalkeeper Tea Pijevic who booked 15 saves. Four goals were scored by Dora Kalaus and Ivana Dežić, while Andrea Simara was 3/3. The best for Germany was Emily Bolk with five goals.

Recall, coach Nenad Sostaric is using this test match to prepare for EURO 2020 qualifications. 

The men's side met Germany directly after the women's teams drew. In a close battle, it was Germany to finish on top 25:26. 

After a draw in the first half, Germany led 16:20 in the second, though Lino Cervar’s side found a way back into the game. In the last attack, Croatia had a chance to equalize, but Sebetic failed to score.

Vlado Matanovic led Croatia with five goals, while Luka Stepancic and David Mandic each scored four. Sego recorded nine saves in goal. Tobias Reichman scored five goals to be the best for Germany. 

Recall, the men’s handball side is preparing for the European Championships, which begins on January 9, 2020, and is played in three countries - Austria, Norway, and Sweden. Croatia is in Group A to be played in Graz, along with Belarus, Montenegro, and Serbia.

Both Croatia handball teams head to Hanover for a rematch in three days. 

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

October 11, 2019 - A joint press conference of the men and women’s Croatia handball coaches was held ahead of the meetings against Germany in Zagreb and Hanover.

HRT reports that the women’s handball team will play first at the Arena in Zagreb on October 23, starting at 5 pm, followed by the men’s team at 7:30 pm. Three days later, the teams will meet in Hanover -  the men’s team at 2:30 pm and the women's team at 5:30 pm. 

Lino Cervar is preparing for the European Championships in Austria, Norway, and Sweden, and Nenad Sostaric is expected to continue the qualifications for EURO 2020.

“It is a meeting with a very attractive opponent, and I do not doubt that there will be a lot of support at the Arena. We envisioned this for two purposes - as a controlled gathering, a test of physical and mental abilities, as an extremely difficult Olympic year awaits us. We need to have conversations, familiarize them with the goals. And secondly, we want to see where these players are against a strong rival, as they are constantly with or close to the national team,” Cervar said, explaining: 

“Some are brand new, and we need to expand our base. Those not listed are by no means written off. Part of them opted out due to club or family responsibilities, and some are injured.”

Sostaric pointed out that there were a lot of changes in the lineup compared to the last gathering.

“Some of the handball players are injured, some of them asked for rest. It is a good opportunity for us to see those who play the Croatian Handball League, are constantly part of the roster, but have played little. Germany is one of the best teams in the world. It will be a good check anyway,” Sostaric said.

Both teams will gather in Zagreb at the Panorama Hotel on Monday, October 21, at 1 pm.

Croatia handball team (men's):

1.    Marin Šego – Montpellier HC

2.    Matej Ašanin – PPD Zagreb

3.    Moreno Car – Nexe

4.    Zlatko Horvat – PPD Zagreb

5.    Fran Mileta – Nexe

6.    Vlado Matanović – Gorenje Velenje

7.    David Mandić – PPD Zagreb

8.    Lovro Mihić – Wisla Plock

9.    Marin Jelinić – Nexe

10.    Željko Musa – SC Magdeburg

11.    Marin Šipić – PPD Zagreb

12.    Marino Marić – MT Melsungen

13.    Kristijan Bećiri – PPD Zagreb

14.    Marko Mamić – Leipzig

15.    Domagoj Pavlović – MT Melsungen

16.    Domagoj Duvnjak – THW Kiel

17.    Josip Šarac – Celje pivovarna Laško

18.    Luka Cindrić – Barcelona

19.    Igor Karačić – PGE Vive Kielce

20.    Matej Hrstić – PPD Zagreb

21.    Luka Mrakovčić – PPD Zagreb

22.    Luka Stepančić – MOL Pick Szeged

23.    Ivan Martinović – Hannover – Burgdorf

24.    Nikola Jukić – Chartres

25.    Ivan Slišković – Göppingen

26.    Leon Šušnja – Wisla Plock

Croatia handball team (women’s):

1. Tea Pijević – Lokomotiva

2. Magdalena Ecimović – Podravka Vegeta

3. Lucija Bešen – Sesvete Agroproteinka

4. Paula Posavec – Lokomotiva

5. Korina Karlovčan – Podravka Vegeta

6. Tena Japundža – Lokomotiva

7. Ana Debelić – Podravka

8. Ines Domjan – Koka

9. Sara Šenvald – Lokomotiva

10. Marina Glavan – Lokomotiva

11. Dora Lacković – Osijek

12. Selena Milošević – Podravka

13. Stela Posavec – Lokomotiva

14. Dejana Milosavljević – Podravka

15. Dora Kalaus – Lokomotiva

16. Lea Franušić – Podravka

17. Kristina Prkačin – Lokomotiva

18. Katarina Mrazović – Koka

19. Lea Vukojević – Zrinski

Call ups:

1. Mara Budić – Dugo Selo

2. Andrea Šimara – Lokomotiva

3. Nataša Miočinović – Umag

4. Josipa Kašelj – Lokomotiva

5. Josipa Mamić – Bjelovar

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

The European Men’s Handball Championship next January will be the first major competition in handball history to be held in three countries. The draw for the highly anticipated tournament was held on Friday, which saw the Croatia handball team grouped with rivals they know well, reports Gol.hr on June 28, 2019.

The Croatian men's handball team will fight in Group A of the European Championships, which will take place from January 9 to 26 next year in Austria, Sweden and Norway. Croatia’s group includes Belarus, Montenegro and Serbia, with all games held in Graz, revealed the draw in Vienna on Friday.

For the first time, the European Championship will include 24 teams, which will be divided into six groups with four teams in the first round, with the two top teams from each group continuing to the second round.

If Croatia continues in the competition, in the second round, they will move to Vienna to meet against the two first-place teams from Group B, which includes Czech Republic, Northern Macedonia, Austria and Ukraine, and Group C, which boasts Spain, Germany, Latvia and the Netherlands.

The two best teams from both groups of the second round will secure a place in the semifinals.

Both semifinals and the final will be played in Stockholm.

Recall, at the last Euros in January 2018 in Split, Croatia took fifth place. The title was won by Spain, who defeated Sweden in the final, while the bronze went to France.

So far, Croatia has won five medals at European Championships, two silver (2008 in Norway and 2010 in Austria) and three bronze medals (1994 in Portugal, 2012 in Serbia and 2016 in Poland).

? Men’s #ehfeuro2020 Final Tournament Draw: #dreamwinremember pic.twitter.com/0Mxh5JOi2u

— EHF EURO (@EHFEURO) June 28, 2019

Group A (Graz): Croatia, Belarus, Montenegro, Serbia

Group B (Vienna): Czech Republic, Northern Macedonia, Austria, Ukraine

Group C (Trondheim): Spain, Germany, Latvia, Netherlands

Group D (Trondheim): France, Norway, Portugal, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Group E (Malmo): Denmark, Hungary, Iceland, Russia

Group F (Gothenburg): Sweden, Slovenia, Switzerland, Poland

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

In the fourth round of the 2020 European Championship qualifiers, the Croatia handball team achieved their third victory.

Croatia and France played a decisive match to fight for the semi-finals of the European Championship.

After the last three major tournaments - the World Championship in Qatar 2015, the European Championships in Poland, and the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 - Croatia has won only one medal and that is the bronze medal from Poland. The Croatian handball team is facing a new challenge - the World Championship - which will be held from January 11 to 29 in France.