After an unimpressive showing in group stage, the Croatian handball team managed to squeak into the final on Sunday beat Poland 24-21 in the semifinals on Saturday of the European championship for a rematch with France in the final. France was very convincing against Iceland in the other semifinal, winning their game with a result of 36:28.
Croatia didn't play well from the very start of the game and was forced to chase the result the whole first halftime. Poland constantly had a two to three goals lead throughout the first half and it didn’t look good for the Kauboji. However, it was a tale of two halves, as Croatia turned the game around in the second half with four goals in a row from Domagoj Duvnjak. Without a doubt, the player of the match was keeper Mirko Alilović who saved some important shots down the stretch of the game.
In the finals, Croatia will take on France, looking to avenge last years 24-19 defeat in the world championships final in Zagreb on February 1st. Croatia will also look to win their first European championship on Sunday after losing the 2008 final to Denmark. France finished third that year and won the previous tournament in 2006 in Switzerland. The game will take place on Sunday at 5:30pm local Austrian time. We are looking into a live feed. Please link us if you come across a live feed.
~Denis Svirčić reporting from Lakerville
