Paris 2024 | Plucky Croatia clinch crucial win against previously-undefeated Germany

After a tough loss against Slovenia, Croatia went back to their winning ways, delivering Germany their first loss in the men’s handball competition at Paris 2024, 31:26, as Group A became an even more complicated one after the first match of the third round.

PARIS 2024 OLYMPIC GAMES – PRELIMINARY ROUND
GROUP A
Croatia vs Germany 31:26 (15:13)

Germany were unbeaten in the first two matches in the men’s competition at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, one of the three teams to start with a two-match winning run, but a serious test was ahead for Alfred Gislason’s side, in a battle of two Icelandic coaches, with Germany taking on Dagur Sigurdsson’s Croatia.

The two teams met two times in 2024 and both times, it was Croatia which emerged victorious, with a 30:24 win at the EHF EURO 2024 and a 33:30 in the Paris 2024 Men’s Olympic Qualification Tournament, both matches taking place in Germany, with the former in Cologne and the latter in Hanover.

Things were different in Paris, though, with Croatia coming after two roller-coaster performances, first one a 30:29 last-gasp win against Japan and the second one a loss against Slovenia, therefore they had everything to play for, while Germany would have virtually sealed a quarter-finals berth with their third win.

Properly motivated, Croatia went off immediately and created a 3:1 lead, only for Germany to reply with a 4:1 run to turn the match on its head, as Andreas Wolff made some trademark saves. Indeed, Wolff saved two penalties in the first half, but Germany’s attack, which was efficient against Sweden and Japan, failed to really get going, enabling Croatia to bounce back.

While captain Domagoj Duvnjak, who has been playing in the German Bundesliga at club level since 2009, was the leader in defence, constantly coordinating his teammates, the main responsibility of scoring came on the shoulders of right back Ivan Martinovic, the player who also scored the winning goal against Japan with two seconds left on the clock.

Martinovic, who joined Rhein Neckar-Löwen at club level, and has been playing in Germany since 2018, had six goals in the first half, being virtually unstoppable, emerging as the most dangerous player in Croatia’s attack, as Sigurdsson’s side took a 15:13 lead at the break, with centre back Juri Knorr scoring the last goal of the half in the last second.

Germany tried to cut Croatia’s lead in the second half, yet their attack could simply not produce the needed goods, as two goals from Martinovic and two goals from Duvnjak helped their side create a 5:1 run, which, in turn, opened up the largest lead of the match, 20:15, a five-goal lead which proved unassailable. 

As 22-year-old goalkeeper Dominik Kuzmanovic continued to make some crucial saves, finishing with 12 shots stopped and a 30% saving efficiency, Croatia did just enough in the final minutes to manager their lead and break the group wide open, with their 31:26 win, boosted by nine goals from Martinovic and five from Duvnjak.

Germany and Croatia are on the top two places in the group, with four points each, followed by Sweden, Spain and Slovenia, with two points each and a game in hand. But Croatia look to have the toughest schedule at the end of Group A, with matches against Sweden and Spain following, while Germany play against Spain and Slovenia.