The term ‘golden generation’ has been used to describe several national teams at the 2015 IHF Men’s Junior and Youth World Championships over the past two months, and the 1996-98 Slovenia squad is certainly one deserving of that title. 

Slovenia qualified for the Russia 2015 Semi-Finals with a 34:29 win against Norway in what was an exceptional demonstration of the exciting future of men’s handball in these two nations – but it was the Slovenian team that once again emerged as victors after an intelligent, fast-paced game where their cooperation made it seem as though they had been on the court together for 10 years. 

In fact the team do know each other well – which is made clear by their harmonious attack and clever defence backed by the second-ranked goalkeeper of the competition, Urh Kastelic (75 saves at 33.6%). Kastelic made three consecutive saves in a crucial period of the game against Norway, allowing Slovenia to keep the Scandinavian side scoreless for six minutes and effectively seal their victory with five minutes left on the clock. 

The partnership between left back Jaka Malus and right back Blaz Janc in particular is exceptional. The pair read each other like the easiest children’s book, leading the team to six victories and one draw so far at Russia 2015. Their draw was against fellow Semi-Finalists, France, who will play Spain in the first crunch match tomorrow afternoon (19 August) at Divs Palace of Sports. 

The draw with France is the first time this generation of Slovenia players have not finished with an outright victory in an official competition match – and the level score line was a bit of a surprise considering Slovenia had had a substantial lead inside the last ten minutes.

“We just stopped playing when we were five goals up; it looked like we thought the game was over – it must not happen to us again.

“That was a warning just in time. Luckily this was the last match of the group phase, but there is no room for error anymore!” said Malus after the match. 

At their two previous official tournaments – the European Youth Olympic Games in Utrecht, Netherlands in 2013 and the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing, China – the team progressed through undefeated to claim the gold medal on each occasion. Now they aim for their third championship trophy – but a difficult opponent awaits them in the Semi-Final. 

Iceland made their way through Group B undefeated, and come into the game against Slovenia with the top scorer of the competition Oeinn Rikardsson, in their midst. Rikardsson has scored 56 goals, with the second top scorer none other than Janc, with 53. Janc has scored 10 out of 11 penalty shots, 19 out of 33 field shots and, interestingly as a right back, 13 from 15 fast break attempts.

The high number of fast breaks from Janc as a back court player are a mark of Slovenia’s style as well as his own. For club RK Celje Pivovarna Lasko Janc is a right wing, as he stands a little too short to compete on the top level as a back at this stage.

Undoubtedly his experience in that position pushes him to run fast breaks, but it is also a clear result of his anticipation in defence and his ability to read the game – something the team do in cohesion. 

Several other key members of Slovenia’s line-up play their club handball with Celje, including Malus, right wing Gal Marguc, centre back Rok Cvetko – who works very well with Janc and Malus, and goalkeeper Tilen Leben. Their experience together in both club and in previous international tournaments is undeniably an advantage for the Slovenia side, as many other coaches have mentioned one problem with their squad at this age is that they have not played so much together yet. 

Whatever the reason, Slovenia are playing a fast, anticipatory style game and showing just how bright the future for their men’s national team is. Now the question is, can they win another two matches and add to their trophy cabinet on Thursday?