August 22, 2021 - The U19 Croatia handball team took 2nd place at the European Championship in Varaždin on Sunday, losing 20:34 to Germany in the final. 

The U19 Croatia men's handball team played the European Championship final against Germany at 5 pm on Sunday in Varaždin.

Krešo Ivanković's team had the chance to become the third Croatian generation to win European gold in the cadet age but unfortunately fell short against Germany to take 2nd place. Germany proved to be too strong for the young Croatia team this time around. While the two sides were even for most of the first half, Germany's advantage grew to +5 before halftime and increased to +13 advantage in the final few minutes of the match. The final score was 20:34. 

Croatia reached the final with a victory in the semifinal against Slovenia 26:22, and Germany defeated Spain 31:30 in a tense match, entering the final as a slight favorite. These two national teams already met in the second round when Germany was better 26:23. That match, however, was not crucial for Croatia because they had already secured a spot in the semifinals. This was also the only defeat that Croatia suffered in this tournament so far. 

The U19 Croatia team has twice been the European handball champion. The first time was in 2006 in Estonia under the coaching staff of Irfan Smajlagić. Domagoj Duvnjak was then named the best player of the championship, and Ivan Pešić was the best goalkeeper. Four years later, this success was repeated, when Croatia was led by Silvio Ivandija.  

Spain won the bronze medal, defeating Slovenia 37-28 (17-13) in the match for 3rd place.

Arnau Fernandez led Spain with 11 goals, with Jan Gurri and Carlos Alvarez scoring six each. Vid Miklavec was the best for Slovenia with seven goals, and Andraž Makuc scored six.

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August 21, 2021 - The U19 Croatia handball team will play in the final of the European Championship against Germany on Sunday at 5 pm in Varaždin!

A medal has been secured, and Krešo Ivanković's team has the opportunity to become Croatia's second generation with European gold in the cadet category, reports Jutarnji List.

So far, these have been U18 competitions 18, but due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Euros were not held last year, and as a U19 competition was postponed to this year. Croatia has gold from the U18 European Championship in 2006 and two silver medals, one from 2004 and 2016.

The semifinal between Croatia and Slovenia was a duel of teams that know each other at heart. After all, before the Championship, they played two preparatory matches - one in which Slovenia celebrated, and the other a draw. However, in the most crucial match, Croatia was better.

It was a victory won primarily by Croatia's defense, a victory they controlled from the beginning, although Slovenia was always close. Slovenia, however, could not reach Croatia's advantage, which for most of the match was +3.

With two goals by David Jurišić, Croatia went to +3 for the first time in the 9th minute, and even then, Slovenia had to call a timeout. Then, Ivan Barbić increased the lead to +4 (6:2) in the 13th minute. After that, Croatia had +4 (7:3 and 8:4) on two more occasions, and in the 27th minute, Slovenia came to -1, which is how the first half ended.

Dominik Kuzmanović recorded six saves from 15 shots on goal (40%) in the first 30 minutes, and Denis Strašek had five saves, of which one 7-meter throw taken by Barbić. Lisac and Jurišić, who also played the whole game in defense, had three goals each, but they missed goals from the left outside (Grubišić 1/4 and Hršak 0/1).

The second half started with Kuzmanović's defense, and with two goals by Jurišić, Croatia went to +3 again (12:9) in the 33rd minute. Croatia mostly maintained that advantage until the end. The closest Slovenia managed was -2.

In the last 10 minutes, Croatia received three goals from Patrik Hršak from the left-wing while Slovenia tried to press in the end, but it didn't help. Croatia's David Jurišić scored seven goals from 13 attempts, Barbić scored 6 out of 7, and Lisac 6 out of 9, but the key to victory was the defense.

Croatia played six games in this Championship and has lost only once.

This Croatia squad already has one gold from EYOF two years ago, but now they have the opportunity to receive one from a more important competition.

Croatia will face Germany in the final, which beat Croatia in the last game of the second round.

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