Croatia in the Final

When the final whistle was blown, all Croatian players were dancing on the court, the French players collapsed to the floor in disappointment: Croatia won the first semi-final against the title holders with a 24:23 victory. The best players in the first 30 minutes were Luc Abalo and Daniel Narcisse on the French side and Petar Metlicic on the Croatian side. They all scored five goal. The Olympic champions started better and they remained in the lead until the 36th minute when it was 13:12. France turned the match for some minutes and they took a 16:15 lead with the seventh goal of Narcisse. After 21:19 for Croatia, France scored three consecutive goals and the result was 22:21 for the French. As Karabatic improved and Abalo kept his form, a French victory seemed to be more likely. But on the other side goalkeeper Vjencheslav Somic saved two seven meter throws and right winger Ivan Cupic scored four. Croatia were strong in this period as Ivano Balic scored and gave assists. Three minutes before the end Croatia equalised at 23:23 and just 50 seconds before the end Blazenko Lackovic scored to make the 400 red and white Croatian supporters celebrate.