10.04.2015, 05:27
Current Croatia the great unknown for Norway

NEWS REPORT: Norway's head coach Christian Berge cannot judge the current strength of Croatia, Norway's upcoming opponents in the Men's EHF EURO 2016 Qualification

Current Croatia the great unknown for Norway

Norway's men's national team is looking for moments of success they had to go home already after the preliminary round at the EHF EURO 2014 and also missed out on the World Championship 2015.

And at least for the moment being success returned in the Men's EHF EURO 2016 Qualificaiton for the final tournament in Poland next January.

Norway sit on top of Group 1 with four points from two matches. They kept their record clear so far– just like Croatia, their opponents for the upcoming matches at the end of April and the beginning of May.

"I'm a bit in doubt what Croatia will come up with. It will be interesting to see which players are still in the team, and which ones have been substituted.

"Right now it is a bit difficult to estimate how strong they are at the moment," says national coach Christian Berge.

At the World Championship 2015 in Qatar tp the surprise of many missed the semi-finals, something that forced head coach Slavko Goluza to resign. Goluza has since been replaced by Zeljko Babic.

The matches against Norway will be Babic first competitive ones since becoming Croatia's head coach. His Norwegian counterpart Christian Berge announced his squad for these two matches on Friday.

"It is a young and very promising squad with a lot of potential. Without knowing much about the current Croatian team, I think we have some good chances with tough defensive play and counter attacks," Berge tells ehf-euro.com.

Norway and Croatia meet in Stavanger on Wednesday, 29 April and again in Varazdin on Sunday, 3 May.

The Norwegian squad for the EHF EURO 2016 qualifiers against Croatia:

Goalkeepers: Ole Erevik (Aalborg Handball), Espen Christensen (Lugi HF)

Players: Magnus Gullerud (Sonderjyske), Bjarte Myrhol (Rhein-Neckar Löwen), Petter Overby (Notteroy HB Elite), Magnus Jondal (Oyestad IF HB Elite), Stian Brevik (TV Emsdetten), Lasse Balstad (Tiller IF), Espen Lie Hansen (SC Magdeburg), Johannes Hippe (Baekkelaget HB Elite), Christian O´Sullivan (IFK Kristianstad), Goran Sorheim (Sonderjyske), Sander Sagosen (Aalborg Handball), Kent Robin Tonnesen (HSG Wetzlar), Harald Reinkind (Rhein-Neckar Löwen), Kristian Bjornsen (IFK Kristianstad), Thomas Kristensen (Ademar Leon)

TEXT: Peter Bruun / me