26.11.2007, 12:11
Zagreb pass at the end

After Vardar's success on Saturday, the Croatians only needed a victory against Schaffhausen. The match ended 30-27 for Zagreb...

Zagreb pass at the end

In the last round of Group C, Croatia Osiguranje defeated Kadetten Schaffhausen 30:27 (14:10). With 5 points, the Croats advance to the next round.

7,000 Croatian fans witnessed a match full of ups and downs once again with tensions all the way through to the end.

As it happened in previous matches too, Zagreb had a great start and took a 8:3 lead. But then again the Croatians lost track and the Swiss decreased the margin at 8:7. Every time when the Croatians did not have answer to Schaffhausens’s 5-1 defence, Lazarov took all the responsibility and scored. That was the reason why the home team reached the biggest margin of eight goals – 21:13.

But then again, it happened to Zagreb before; they simply stopped playing and allowed the guests to come back into the match at 29:27. The Croatians managed to score the last goal of the game and the final result of the match was 30:27.

The player of the match was Kiril Lazarov with 11 goals, but Igor Vori was also great with 7.

Zagreb qualify

With 5 points from 6 matches, Croatia Osiguranje Zagreb advance to the Main Round. With the Vardar victory three teams finished the group stage with five points, but Zagreb had more points against Schaffhausen and Skopje (five), so they advance to the Main Round.

Lazarov, the FYR Macedonian right back, commented after the last round: “At first sight our group looked rather easy. But now it is obvious that Vardar and Kadetten are both good teams with great fighting spirit. Our group was the most balanced of all.”

He also warned about the future opponents: “I’m very satisfied that we qualified. After all, I’m sure that in the Main Round we will play much better.”

Nevertheless, it has to be said that the Croatian Champions avoided a catastrophe with a great deal of luck. Maybe now that Zagreb achieved the minimal expectations (Main Round), the team will start to play without pressure and tensions.

TEXT: Ivan Ambros