After a series of defeats in crucial matches, Croatia took revenge against France and eliminated the defending champion from the World Championship in Spain. The Croats had beaten France in a defence battle in the quarter-finals on Wednesday (23 January) by 30:23 (13:12). Now they will face Denmark in the semi-final on Friday (25 January, throw-off 21:30) in Barcelona. The second semi-final of host Spain vs. Slovenia will start at 19:15. For Croatia this result was the seventh victory in the seventh match in Spain.

In the previous tournaments they had been beaten by France - like in the finals of the World Championship 2009 and the European Championship 2010 and the Olympic semi-final 2012. In Zaragoza their defence, goalkeeper Mirko Alilovic and the nine goals of brilliant Domagoj Duvnjak were the keys for the win. France missed the chance to become the first ever team to win three straight World Championship after becoming champions 2009 and 2011.

The match had started with a shock for Croatia, as after only 46 seconds Drago Vukovic received a direct red card after a severe foul against Xavier Barachet. But the Olympic bronze medallist remained calm. Backed by the saves of Mirko Alilovic and boosted by the goals of Domagoj Duvnjak they dominated the opening stage clearly. France was unable to score and weak in defence, the consequence: Croatia was away by 10:6 after 20 minutes.

But then the French goalkeeper Thierry Omeyer improved and spread confidence among his team mates in a combative match. Due to this saves and as Croatia became nervous, France was close to equalize the match in only seven minutes, when they netted for the 10:11 – and this one goal margin remained until the halftime whistle (12:13).

Like in the first half, the Croats had the better start, increasing the gap by their counter attack goals, including the sixth and seventh Duvnjak strike for 16:13. Still both goalkeepers – Alilovic and Omeyer – imprinted this encounter.

France changed their tactics, defended Duvnjak man-to-man – which intermediately was convincing for the defending champion, bringing them close to 20:21, when Croatian coach Slavko Goluza took his time-out. And his player had understood his words, scoring three consecutive to 24:20 in minute 51 and even extending this gap against a resigning French team. Even when the match had been decided  - latest after the 27:22 four minutes before the end – Croatia did not stop and finally reached a never expected clear result, while France will have to return home on Thursday. On the other hand, the Croatian fans were shouting “Barcelona, Barcelona” – where their team will play their fifth World Championship semi-final in history. And when the final whistle was blown, the Croats jumped for joy, knowing they had ended their “French curse”.

Statements after the match:

Slavko Goluza, coach Croatia: We have beaten the greatest handball team of the last ten years. It is always something special, when Croatia plays against France. It was hard for us especially as we lost Drago Vukovic so early. But I told my team in the break that we can not disappoint the people in Croatia, for whom the handball national team means so much. Now we face Denmark, what even might be harder than the match against France. A lot of people asked me, why we went the hard way through the knock-out stage. But I even could not appreciate a gold medal, if we would have lost against Spain on our purpose. We did not want to go the easy way. Thanks god for giving us the strength to play this way.

Domagoj Duvnjak, player Croatia: We showed a great performance, a perfect performance. The key to this victory was pour defence, where we sacrificed ourselves. No we have to recover to be fit enough for the semi-final.

Claude Onesta, coach France:  After a match like this, I am really frustrated. The only thing I can say is congratulation to Croatia. We could never cause problems for them.

Jerome Fernandez, player France: We had hoped for a tight distance, but we never could find our rhythm. Croatia is a great team since more than a year, not only proved by the fact that they beat Spain in Spain. So I have to congratulate them for this match.