Croatia Beat Norway to Qualify for Olympic Games Handball Tournament in Rio
- by croatiaweek
- in Sport
Croatia qualify for Rio
The Croatian handball team have qualified for the Olympic Games in Rio this summer after beating Norway on Sunday 27-21 at the Olympic qualifying tournament in Herning…
It what was a must-win match for the ‘cowboys’, Željka Babić’s team never looked like losing the match after starting strong taking a 5-0 lead. Croatia then led 8-1 and at one stage 11-3 to make sure it was not a nervous match for the fans. Keeper Ivan Stevanović was fantastic for Croatia making 13 saves.
Croatia ended the tournament in Denmark with 2 wins (Norway, Bahrain) and one loss against the hosts. Croatia will be chasing their 3rd Olympic gold medal in Rio after winning in Atlanta (1996) and Athens (2004). At the last Olympic Games in London Croatia took Bronze. The Croatian handball team has failed only once (Sydney 2000) in the last 25 years to qualify for the Olympic Games.
CROATIA – NORWAY 27:21 (14:7)
CROATIA: Stevanović, Pešić; Marić 1, Duvnjak 6, Kopljar, Gojun, Horvat 2, Buntić 4, Štrlek 2, Čupić 4 (2), Pavlović, Kozina 1, Mamić 2, Cindrić, Šebetić 4, Slišković
NORWAY: Erevik, Espen; Sagosen 3, Kristensen, Myrhol 1, Hykkerud, Overby, Mamelund, Rambo, Jondal 6 (4), Bjornsen 5, Andre, Gullerud 3, O’Sullivan 1, Reinkind 2, Hansen
