21st World Handball Championship (for men’s) in 2009 will take place in Croatia. 7 Croatian city’s will host the World Cup, 3 of them are in the continental part of the country (Zagreb, Varazdin, Osijek) and 4 on the coast (Porec, Pula, Zadar and Split).

The opening will take place today in Split with Croatia versus Korea at 20:30.

The price of tickets for the preliminary group in Osijek, Porec, Split and Varazdin are 150 kuna. The same amount can is for the second round matches that are played in Zadar, while the main group tickets in Zagreb cost 200 kuna.

Semifinal match in Split costs 150 kuna, the second semifinal game is played in Zagreb, and tickets for this match are 300 kuna.

Final meeting and the game for the third place is on 01 February in Zagreb and the ticket cost 350 kuna.

Final Round

Main Round

	Team advanced to the Semifinals
	Team will play Placement Matches

Group I

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GDIF	Points
Croatia	5	5	0	0	137	118	+19	10
France	5	4	0	1	139	112	+27	8
Hungary	5	2	1	2	127	135	-8	5
Sweden	5	2	0	3	135	140	-5	4
Slovakia	5	1	1	3	124	137	-13	3
South Korea	5	0	0	5	119	139	-20	0

Group II

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GDIF	Points
Denmark	5	4	0	1	156	145	+11	8
Poland	5	3	0	2	150	141	+9	6
Germany	5	2	1	2	147	133	+14	5
Serbia	5	2	1	2	153	161	-8	5
Norway	5	2	0	3	138	141	-3	4
Macedonia	5	1	0	4	132	155	-23	2

Preliminary round

Group A	Group B	Group C	Group D
France Hungary Slovakia Romania Argentina Australia	Croatia Sweden Spain South Korea Kuwait Cuba	Germany Poland FYR Macedonia Russia Tunisia Algeria	Denmark Norway Egypt Brazil Serbia Saudi Arabia

Preliminary Round Timetable

Group A ( played in Osijek) January 17, 2009 16:30 Slovakia v Argentina - (27:25) 18:30 Hungary v Australia - (41:17) 20:30 France v Romania - (31:21) January 18, 2009 15:00 Australia v Slovakia (12:47) 17:00 Romania v Hungary (27:30) 19:00 Argentina v France (26:33) January 19, 2009 15:30 Romania v Argentina (30:26) 17:30 Hungary v Slovakia (24:24) 19:30 France v Australia (42:11) January 21, 2009 15:00 Australia v Romania (20:40) 17:00 Hungary v Argentina (31:20) 19:00 Slovakia v France (26:35) January 22, 2009 15:00 Argentina v Australia (36:16) 17:00 Slovakia v Romania (28:23) 19:00 France v Hungary (27:22)

Group B ( played in Split) January 16, 2009 20:30 Croatia v South Korea - (27:26) January 17, 2009 16:30 Spain v Kuwait - (47:17) 18:30 Sweden v Cuba - (41:14) January 18, 2009 16:30 Cuba v Spain (20:45) 18:30 South Korea v Sweden (25:31) 20:30 Kuwait v Croatia (21:40) January 19, 2009 16:30 South Korea v Kuwait (34:19) 18:30 Sweden v Spain (34:30) 20:30 Croatia v Cuba (41:20) January 21, 2009 16:30 Cuba v South Korea (26:31) 18:30 Sweden v Kuwait (30:19) 20:30 Spain v Croatia (22:32) January 22, 2009 16:30 Kuwait v Cuba (23:26) 18:30 Spain v South Korea (23:24) 20:30 Croatia v Sweden (30:26)

Group C ( played in Varazdin) January 17, 2009 15:30 Poland v Algeria - (39:22) 17:30 Germany v Russia - (26:26) 19:30 Macedonia v Tunisia (24:25) January 18, 2009 15:30 Algeria v Macedonia (19:32) 17:30 Tunisia v Germany (24:26) 19:30 Russia v Poland (22:24) January 19, 2009 15:30 Poland v Macedonia (29:30) 17:30 Germany v Algeria (32:20) 19:30 Russia v Tunisia (36:31) January 21, 2009 15:30 Algeria v Russia (28:29) 17:30 Macedonia v Germany (23:33) 19:30 Poland v Tunisia (31:27) January 22, 2009 15:30 Macedonia v Russia (36:30) 17:30 Germany v Poland (30:23) 19:30 Tunisia v Algeria (36:25)

Group D ( played in Porec) January 17, 2009 16:15 Norway v Saudi Arabia - (39:23) 18:15 Egypt v Serbia - (22:30) 20:15 Denmark v Brazil - (40:27) January 18, 2009 16:15 Brazil v Norway (21:39) 18:15 Saudi Arabia v Egypt (18:26) 20:15 Serbia v Denmark (26:27) January 19, 2009 17:00 Brazil v Serbia (32:30) 19:10 Norway v Egypt (30:20) 21:15 Denmark v Saudi Arabia (32:13) January 21, 2009 17:00 Saudi Arabia v Brazil (24:26) 19:10 Norway v Serbia (26:27) 21:15 Egypt v Denmark (17:26) January 22, 2009 16:15 Serbia v Saudi Arabia (38:29) 18:15 Egypt v Brazil (25:22) 20:15 Denmark v Norway (32:28)

All times are Central European Time (UTC+1)

Game results and reviews

January 16, 2009

Croatia v South Korea - (27:26)

Croatian handball team began the race in the World Championship in a difficult game for them. The  27:26 result gave victory against South Korea. The hit of captain Petar Metlicic decided the game 65 seconds before the end.

Statistics:

	Goals	Scoring Efficiency	Goalkeeper Efficiency	Shots	Attacks
Croatia	27	51 %	33 %	51	53
South Korea	26	50 %	41 %	42	52

January 17, 2009

Poland v Algeria - (39:22)

Outcome for this game was expected to be like it is. Polish team came to this world championship with huge ambitions. Polish head coach Bogdan Wenta said: “We are here to defend the world silver. Although the team has suffered some changes since then, the appetites are still large, but the first objective is to pass the group.”

	Goals	Scoring Efficiency	Goalkeeper Efficiency	Shots	Attacks
Poland	39	65%	39%	52	60
Algeria	22	37%	17%	50	60

Norway v Saudi Arabia - (39:23)

Norway as predicted easily won against Saudi Arabia  in the first match of group D .

	Goals	Scoring Efficiency	Goalkeeper Efficiency	Shots	Attacks
Norway	39	63%	36%	55	62
Saudi Arabia	23	37%	15%	49	62

Spain v Kuwait - (47:17)

Spain team did not let any surprise to come, they won against Kuwait with 30 goals difference. Spain had 4 minutes of exclusion of their players and Kuwait had in total 6 minutes of exclusion.  Spanish goalkeeper David Barrufet saved 8 shots.

	Goals	Scoring Efficiency	Goalkeeper Efficiency	Shots	Attacks
Spain	47	77 %	47 %	56	61
Kuwait	17	28 %	10 %	38	61

Slovakia v Argentina - (27:25)

Slovakia hardly won against Argentina. Slovakian coach Zoltan Heister said that Argentina is an great team and very aggressive in defense.  He also has admitted that Slovakia was quiet passive in defense and in attacking.

	Goals	Scoring Efficiency	Goalkeeper Efficiency	Shots	Attacks
Slovakia	27	52 %	40 %	41	52
Argentina	25	47 %	18 %	48	53

Germany v Russia - (26:26)

Current world champions Germany could not win against strong Russian team. The match was tough for both, with lot exclusions on both sides. The game was uncertain to the end, in 47th minute Germany had 4 goals advantage, but 30 seconds to the end Russia equaled to 26:26.  Germany missed their last attack and with it also the chance to end the game in their favor.

	Goals	Scoring Efficiency	Goalkeeper Efficiency	Shots	Attacks
Germany	26	46%	33%	54	56
Russia	26	46%	37%	45	56

Sweden v Cuba - (41:14)

Cuba, as expected lost against Sweden. Cuban team had only 4 minutes of exclusion and Swedes 12 minutes. Swedish goalkeeper Sjöstrand (10 defense) and Sandström (9 defense) together have saved 19 shots. From Cuban team Randy Diaz de Armas has showed the most scoring 5 goals.

	Goals	Scoring Efficiency	Goalkeeper Efficiency	Shots	Attacks
Sweden	41	61 %	58 %	58	67
Cuba	14	21 %	18 %	46	68

Egypt v Serbia - (22:30)

Egypt was playing good in first 30 minutes and the 1st half of the game ended with 12:12. After that Serbia came back to the game and ended the match with 8 goals difference in their favor. Serbian goalkeeper Dimitrij Pejanovic saved 17 shots. Best Egypt shooter with 8 shots was Ahmed El Ahmar. Best Serbian shooter was Aleksandar Stojanovic.

	Goals	Scoring Efficiency	Goalkeeper Efficiency	Shots	Attacks
Egypt	22	39%	27%	57	57
Serbia	30	53%	49%	48	57

Denmark v Brazil - (40:27)

Denmark also did not had any problems to beat Brazil 40:27 (19:12). Implacable Lars Christiansen showed his experience scoring eight goals from nine shots. At Brazil team, which is much better in football,  Edinaldo Silva highlighted with 6 goals.

	Goals	Scoring Efficiency	Goalkeeper Efficiency	Shots	Attacks
Denmark	40	65%	31%	55	62
Brasil	27	44%	15%	49	61

Macedonia v Tunisia (24:25)

In Varazdin in front of 4500 spectators, of which many were the Macedonian supporters, Tunisia won with  25-24 (13-14).

Ile Temelkovski said: ‘I’m sorry that we have lost the game, but congratulations on the triumph of Tunisia. We played two different halftimes, the first in which we had a good result, and then we thought that the game is solved. The another halftime was followed by mistaked, and after that defeat. Life goes further, in the next four matches we will try to achieve a better result “…

	Goals	Scoring Efficiency	Goalkeeper Efficiency	Shots	Attacks
FYR Macedonia	24	41%	24%	48	58
Tunisia	25	43%	41%	39	58

Hungary v Australia - (41:17)

	Goals	Scoring Efficiency	Goalkeeper Efficiency	Shots	Attacks
Hungary	41	66 %	53 %	54	62
Australia	17	28 %	16 %	45	61

France v Romania - (31:21)

	Goals	Scoring Efficiency	Goalkeeper Efficiency	Shots	Attacks
France	31	53 %	42 %	52	58
Romania	21	37 %	32 %	51	57

Related links:

Wikipedia - en.wikipedia.org

Official site - www.croatia2009.com

International Handball Federation - www.ihf.info