03.03.2008, 01:21
Zagreb march on

The 27-26 for Zagreb gives the advantage for the Croatians with two rounds left. Lazarov&Co. have their faith in their own hands.

Zagreb march on

Croatia osiguranje Zagreb did it again. After Portland and Flensburg, Hamburg are the third team leaving Zagreb with their heads down.

The mixture of experience and youth in the team of Croatia osiguranje Zagreb, led by the brilliant handball mind of Lino Cervar, still proves to be effective in the CL. This time they defeated Hamburg.

In a fantastic handball match with a thrilling endgame, the Croatian Champions won by 27:26 (12:12). Without much pressure, Zagreb won all three matches at home in the Main Round and they are on top of Group 3 with good chances to reach the CL semi-finals.

Thriller and suspense

Zagreb started with a 3-2-1 defence, but soon they changed it to 4-2. The German team had great problems penetrating it. In the beginning neither team could get a significant lead, but later the Croatians managed to get a 3-goal margin, 11:8. The German team equalised at the end of the first half at12:12.

In the second half result was also close. The players were fighting for every ball and every centimetre of the court knowing that small things would decide the winner. Finally, in an exciting ending Zlatko Horvat scored from a fast break to make it 27:26 and the 7,500 fans in Ledena dvorana started to celebrate.

Mirza Dzomba and Kiril Lazarov scored 7 goals each and Igor Vori scored 6. The top scorer of HSV was Bruno with 5 goals.

Lino Cervar commented after the match: “I want to congratulate all my players and our fantastic supporters. Our fans were once again our 8th player. I’m very happy and satisfied.”

After four rounds played, Croatia osiguranje Zagreb are on the top of Group 3 with 6 points in front of HSV with 5 points.

TEXT: Ivan Ambros