Croatia added their first Olympic bronze medal in a men's handball competition to their cabinet, as the Hungarians remain the unlucky losers. For the fifth time since 1936 Hungary missed an Olympic medal finishing as the fourth-placed team in an Olympic men's handball competition.

 

Bronze final: Hungary – Croatia 26-33 (14-19)

The Croatians, who had lost their semifinal against France on Friday (10 August), won the bronze medal match on Sunday (12 August) in the Basketball Arena 33-26 after leading 19-14 at the break. It is the third Olympic medal after twice winning gold in 1996 and 2004. The Croatians lost the 2008 bronze medal match in Beijing against Spain.

Now the Croatian handball players will turn their attention to, and cross the fingers for, their water polo teammates, who will play in the Olympic final against Italy on Sunday (12 August) afternoon.

Untypically for a handball bronze medal match both teams started at full steam and full speed, with both sides scoring a huge number of goals before the break in their eighth match in 16 days. When the first 30 minutes were over, the 12,000 spectators inside the Basketball Arena had already seen 33 goals.

Hungary had to replace their top shooter Gabor CSASZAR (HUN) before the match due to an injury in the semifinal against Sweden and were further depleted when Laszlo NAGY (HUN) received two two-minute suspensions in the 12th minute, but the Hungarians fought on, keeping close up until the 21st minute when they were just one goal behind at 11-10. 

But then the Balkan team moved up a gear, and started a series of counter-attacks to extend their margin to 18-12 in the 27th minute. At 23-16 the two-time Olympic champions seemed to have decided the game already, although Hungary still showed some resistance, but were not able to turn the match.

Finally the game was decided, when Manuel STRLEK (CRO) scored to make it 31-22 six minutes before the end.

Ahead of the men's final between France and Sweden later today (Sunday 12 August) Croatian Ivan CUPIC (CRO) is in the lead on the overall top scorer list for the London 2012 men's handball tournament. He hit the net eight times against Hungary and now tops the table with 49 goals ahead of Niclas EKBERG (SWE), who has 44 goals on his account currently but still has the chance to finish top if he scores six or more goals in the final.

Second best Croatian shooter was Blazenko LACKOVIC (CRO) with seven goals, the same number as Gergely HARSANYI (HUN) scored for his team.

Statements after the match:

Coach Slavko GOLUZA (CRO): "We wanted to win and wanted to get medals. It was only Croatia on the court, so we were not worried during the game. Our superiority was never in doubt. We wanted to avenge our defeat in the semifinals to France, so I think the team done a good job with that and both Croatian players and Croatian fans should be satisfied with this match."

Player Blazenko LACKOVIC (CRO): "It was a great match. We showed that we are one of the top teams. I am extremely happy because I had to explain to my son why daddy was away for two months and I promised to bring him a medal."

Player Mirko ALILOVIC (CRO): "We wanted to demonstrate we are worthy of medals and the team gave every effort in every position on the court to achieve this very important victory. We have got a good future in front of us. There's a healthy mix of youth and experience in the Croatian team and our older players still have a good three to four years of playing left, so we are optimistic about our next Olympic cycle."

Player Ferenc ILYES (HUN): "This was a big chance for us. We wanted to surprise our supporters but after the semifinal we were too tired. I really wanted to get a medal because probably this was my last chance. This was a big surprise for everyone that we were in the semifinals so that's a huge thing for Hungary."

Player Tamas MOCSAI (HUN): "It's pretty hard to lose the game. We had to fight hard for 60 minutes but we lost against a good team with great players. We made too many mistakes and we had problems in defence."