Handball
Team sports have marked Croatia’s short history. When we say short history, we refer to a period of time from the early '90s, when Croatia gained its independence, to these days. One of the sports is handball.
The Croatian Handball Team represents Croatia in the international matches. Their first big accomplishment was the 3rd place at the European Championship in 1994. A year later, at the World Championship they ended up 2nd. They worked on their strategy which finally paid off a year later in Atlanta, at the Summer Olympics, when they won the gold medal.
It was their first gold medal and the experience that only the crew themselves can describe. The final result itself shows how thrilling and exciting the match was. 27:26 — Croatia took victory over Sweden. Different songs were sung by the audience, the Croats who came to support their team. The most memorable one is Zovi, samo, zovi!, a war song usually sung at handball matches to support the Croatian team.
After those achievements, there was a hibernation period; the team was improving, gaining energy, preparing for their comeback. And they made it. In 2003, at the World Championship in Portugal, they showed once again how powerful they were — they won the gold medal. That was such a sweet comeback.
A year later, at the European Championship they ended up 4th. But later that year, they won the gold medal at the Summer Olympics.
After those achievements, the media treated the team as favorites, potential winners at the World Championship in 2005. Unfortunatelly, they lost to Spain in the final match.
In 2006, at the European Championship, Croatia took the 4th place. A year later, with only one lost match, they ended up 5th at the World Championship in Germany.
Croatia is the host nation of the 21st World Handball Championship in 2009. Six Croatian cities will give their best to prove their hospitality and courtesy. The Championship that will take place from January 18th to February 1st will be held in the halls of Zagreb, Split, Zadar, Poreč, Osijek and Varaždin.
To conclude it all, one more thing is left to be said. It concerns Ivano Balić, a member of the Croatian handball team. He is considered to be one of the greatest handball players and was voted best player in the international matches 6 times in a row.