Slovenia arrived as first team into the semi-finals of the World Championship in Spain, after a high-tensioned but not high class 28:27 (14:13) quarterfinal victory against Russia in Barcelona. It is the first ever semi-final for the Slovenians in the history of Men’s World Championships – and now they will face host Spain on Friday (25 January) in Barcelona.

The first minutes were completely equal, before Russia scored three straight times to 5:2, increasing this gap to 9:4 and 10:5 after 15 minutes. The Slovenians played un-concentrated, missed some good chances and were not the expected strong competitor. But things changed after the first team time-out, when Boris Denic, the Slovenian coach, sent a wake-up call to his players. It took the Slovenians only three minutes to shorten the gap to 8:10. Finally they were in the match and again three minutes later it was 11:11 and the match was open again. Even when two Slovenian players got a two- minute-suspension, they kept the match equal, as Russia missed two many chances. So Slovenia defended a one-goal lead until the end of the first 30 minutes, also because goalkeeper Primoz Prost saved 58 % of all Russian shots.

In the starting period of the second half Russia again began better, returning in lead by 18:17, before a quattropule Slovenian strike for 21:18 shocked them.  Russian coach Oleg Kuleshov reacted with his first team time-out in the second half, initially without any effect, as the Slovenians forged ahead to 23:18, but then the Russians restarted their engines to bridge the gap for 24:25 after 50 minutes. The match remained close until the last minutes. Just when Slovenia scored for 28:26 15 seconds before the end, the deal was sealed. Best scorers were the Russian players Sergey Shelmenko and Timur Dibirov with six goals each.

Statements after the match:

Oleg Kuleshow (coach Russia): It is my first big tournament as a coach. I only can say, that my team showed a big match. Although we lost today, we believe in our way back to the top.

Sergey Shelmenko (player Russia): We are very disappointed. We were not the weaker team, but we missed a little bit luck to win this game.

Boris Denic (coach Slovenia): We were fighting until the end, although we did not start the match as we expected. Russia was very tough in the beginning. In the second half we were in control of the game and ahead by five goals, but in the end we won because of our knowledge. Now I am very tired, but I will be happy in a few hours.

Sebastian Skube (player Slovenia): In the end we were lucky, but the important thing is that we won. Our dream goes on and the semifinal will be the biggest match for us up to now.