New Croatian Reputation

“There is going to be blood in the arena” is just one of many predictions for today’s match between Croatia and Serbia-Montenegro at World Handball Championship in Tunis. Everyone expects one of the most exciting games in history, with both teams not asking nor giving any quarter.

Everyone except Spanish team, that is.

Before today’s round of matches, Croatia, Serbia-Montenegro, Norway and Spain are in play for two semi-final spots.

Croatian team needs to win in order to secure it, unlike Serbian-Montenegrin team, which can go further even with draw. If Croatia draws, however, everything will depend on Norway-Spain game later in the day. If Spain draws or wins, Croatia will go into semi-finals.

For some strange reason, Spanish media has started circulating stories about Croatian and Serbia-Montenegrin team fixing the match. The game is supposed to end with a draw, because it seems unlikely that the Spanish team will lose against Norway.

Both Croatian and Serbia-Montenegrin players and officials were quick to deny such reports.

In most likelihood, those rumours are more likely to be part of psychological warfare than genuine concern. However, after the recent events in Germany and new Croatian reputation for certain kinds of sports activities, those rumours are more credible than they could have been only a month ago.