January 14, 2021 - The Croatia handball team will open the World Championships on Friday against Japan for their first step to the gold medal. 

While some national teams already had to cancel their appearance at the World Championships in Egypt and the World Handball Federation (IHF) scrambles to find replacements, the Croatia handball team is waiting for the start of the competition. A new round of testing has shown that Croatia has no reason to worry. The complete delegation is negative on both tests that were conducted upon arrival in Egypt.

Coach Lino Cervar has one special task until the first match against Japan on January 15 - to mentally prepare the players for what awaits them in Egypt, first at Borg El Arab hall in Alexandria, and hopefully later in the second and final round in Cairo. It is essential that everyone stays healthy and follows the strict instructions of the doctors, but also the hosts. The experiences of other national teams show that only one infected person can bring unrest to the entire team and destroy everything they have been carefully building for months.

The Croatia handball team stays at the Tolip North Hotel, about 80 kilometers from Alexandria, or the hall where they will play. This hotel hosts all national teams and journalists who follow the competition in groups C (Croatia, Japan, Angola, Qatar) and H (Slovenia, Russia, Belarus, and Korea). It is a bubble that can only be left when going to matches, and only with special transport and escort of the competition organizers.

But unlike a similar bubble at the European Handball Championships recently in Denmark, there is room to walk here; you can even get to the sea, especially if temperatures remain around 17 degrees. Unlike Korea, Japan, and Belarus, Croatia is located in the annexes/villas of Hotel Tolip. There are three players per accommodation, which is approximately 120 square meters.

On Wednesday, Croatia held their first training session in the hall where they will play. They had their last real training on Monday night. 

Marin Sego, member of the Croatia national team:

"Impressions are good, the accommodation is good, the temperature is fine, it's not too warm. We had two tests yesterday, settled into a room until the results came, and thank God, we were all negative. This morning we had breakfast, a walk and stretching and in the afternoon we go to the gym for training. We can take a walk in the fresh air within the resort. We already watched the video of Japan; they are fast and quite dangerous. We have to be focused on our game, and I don't think there should be any big problems."

Ivan Cupic, member of the Croatia national team:

"The most important thing is that all the results are negative, that is what we hoped for, and why we are satisfied, that is the first step. We are isolated here in the accommodation and hang out with each other. We will spend two days before the match analyzing Japan, talking to each other, and welcoming the opening of the World Championships with maximum concentration. We are all experienced and collected enough; we know it is a long tournament. There will certainly be a bit of positive nervousness, but I believe we will take that first step already against Japan. Because of the whole situation that is happening in Croatia, in all these troubles, our thoughts are there as well, and I hope that we can help people forget about the problems for two to three hours and try to make them a little happy."

Source: HRS

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September 6, 2020 - The Croatia handball team, lead by coach Lino Cervar, can be satisfied with their draw for the World Championship in Egypt next January.

Egypt will host the 27th World Handball Championship in January, which will be held from January 14 to 31, 2021.

In the draw held in front of Giza's pyramids, the Croatia handball team learned that they would play in Group C against Japan, Angola, and Qatar.

Lino Cervar's team was drawn into a relatively easy group and will play against national teams that are not included in the shortlist of favorites for the title.

Croatia was lucky in the draw because they could have ended up in groups with France, Hungary, Iceland, Belarus, Brazil, and several other dangerous national teams.

"We can't say we're unhappy with the draw. Next year is very demanding because, as you know, the World Championship awaits us, then the Olympic qualifiers, and hopefully after that, the Olympic Games in Tokyo. It is very important that we all stay healthy during this whole corona situation. We recently beat Qatar in Porec at the Croatia Cup, Japan is a national team that is continually growing, and I, as the coach of Macedonia, played against Angola, and I know that they can be challenging. I wouldn’t think and calculate too much further because every game is a story unto itself. We have to be healthy and motivated, and then there should be no difficulties," said the coach of the Croatia men's handball team, Lino Cervar.

The World Cup in Egypt is the first in history with 32 national teams. They are divided into eight groups of four national teams, of which only the weakest will be eliminated in the first round. After that, four groups are formed with six national teams each, of which in the end, the two best go to the quarterfinals, i.e., the knockout phase and the fight for a spot on the pedestal. The round of 16 therefore, no longer exists.

The championship is played in two cities. Three halls are located in Cairo and its wider surroundings, and the fourth is in Alexandria, which is 125 kilometers away from Cairo. Egypt still hopes that spectators will be able to attend the games.

Source: HRS

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