“We could have played better in these three matches, but now there is no sense in looking at Korea, Kuwait and Cuba. The championship starts from Wednesday, next are matches for points against the Spaniards and Swedes. We need to guard from the Spanish counter and half-counter attacks, we need to be more dense in defence, and make as few mistakes as possible. That is the only was that we can beat Spain” said Ivano Balic leading up to the last two matches for the Croatian national handball team in the first round of the World Handball Championship in Croatia.

Tickets for Spain sold out

The Croatian player Domagoj Duvnjak also thinks that Spain must be beaten.

“We have six points, but we have not done anything yet. The Spaniards and Swedes await us, and we have a great opportunity to practically secure the semi-finals with wins. I think that carrying four points would bring us to the door of the semi-finals and this is why we must first beat Spain. I am certain that the spectators in Split will create a hot atmosphere and that they will be our eighth player” said Duvnjak.

All of the tickets for the match between Croatia and Spain have been sold out, whilst for Croatia’s match against Sweden there are still a very small amount of unsold tickets.