Handball Team Fulfills Ambition by Beating Croatia at the European Championship

The Hungarian men’s handball team defeated Croatia 29-26 in the second round of the semi-finals of the Olympic qualifying European Men’s Handball Championship in Cologne on Saturday, thus fulfilling their goal of finishing in the top ten.

The Hungarian team, who progressed from the group stage with an excellent performance, began their semi-final with a 30-29 defeat to Austria on Thursday, before meeting hosts Germany today at 8:30 p.m. and defending Olympic champions France on Wednesday at 6 p.m. The top two finishers in each group will advance to the semi-finals, while the third-placed teams will play for fifth place.

The Hungarian team managed to beat Croatia in the World Cup again after the 1998 European Championship.

The best player in the field was László Bartucz, who contributed with 16 saves and 38 percent efficiency.

According to team captain Máté Lékai, team unity is the biggest strength of the Hungarian men’s handball team at the European Championship. “Team unity, fighting, and the will to do for each other are the biggest strengths of this national team. We are dying on the field, it was our fifth game, we are getting more and more tired, everything is getting tougher for all the teams,” said the team captain, who scored four goals against the Croats.

Hungarian left back Patrik Ligetvári noted that the team unity showed again against the Croats, especially when the opponents took the lead two thirds into the game. “We showed how much we can work together and how much we wanted this win. We followed all the instructions outlined by head coach Chema Rodríguez, both defensively and offensively. It was useful and it worked.” He feels that their defense is working very well, getting better match by match, and he hopes that they will have more than just two more matches in the continental Olympic qualifying tournament, because they can continue to improve.

The most encouraging for us would be to beat Germany and reach the semi-finals. That is the team’s goal and that is what we are fighting for on Monday, but obviously they will do everything they can against us to make sure that does not happen,”

he said.

The winner of the European Championship – or the best team not yet qualified – will qualify for the summer Olympics in Paris. The next two best teams which have not yet qualified will be able to take part in the qualification tournament in March, where the Hungarian team has already secured its place.

Via MTI, Featured image: MTI/Czeglédi Zsolt