ZAGREB, CROATIA – Whatever the outcome of the final world handball championship match between Croatia and France may be, almost everything is ready at Zagreb’s main Ban Jelacic Square for a phenomenal greeting of Croatia’s players at 8:30pm. And even through the game has not even started yet, people have been celebrating since the early morning hours. 

- We bought the tickets for the finals before Christmas at a price of 350 kuna. The seats in the hall are not great, but all that matters is that we are there. We have all the cheering props: flags, jerseys and trumpets – said 21-year-old Matej Smolic from Nova Gradiska, while his friend Ivan Artukovic added:

- Beer is also an unavoidable cheering prop.

With a smile on their faces and tickets in their pockets, three friends from Nova Gradiska arrived in Zagreb just for the finals. As they said, they expect Croatia to win.

Zvone from Sibenik: We arrived at the tent at 6am 

But not everybody was so lucky. A large jolly group from Sibenik, who watched the Croatian team in Split, arrived in Zagreb hoping to get tickets for the finals. They tried everything, but did not manage to get any, as all tickets have been sold out long ago. Not even a red and white chequered hat which they put on the ground of the tent to get a few kuna. Tourists liked that idea, so they threw a few kuna into the hat.

- We arrived from Sibenik at 6am and we were here first in the tent. All is excellent! The defeat to France will not happen again, we will win 36:26 – 24-year-old Zvone said, adding that the atmosphere in Zagreb could be  better than it was in Split.

The rest of his friends sang and had fun, holding their beers and expecting more fans to arrive to the tent.

The Portuguese also cheering for Croatia 

Apart from Croatia’s faithful fans, 32-year-old Vitor Marques and Ricardo Coito from Portugal will also cheer for the Croatian team.

- We arrived from Portugal to watch the World Handball Championship. We like Croatia because of the fun the hosts will provide us. We think Croatia will win over France, it has better players and an excellent audience which will exert pressure. We have already been to Zadar and Split. We arrived to Zagreb on Tuesday and we like it – they said.

See the photo gallery: Fans Celebrating in Tent Since 6am