Hosts Croatia still looking for first win
RIJEKA — As competition continued on the second day of the FISU World University Handball Championship, the men’s game between Egypt and Portugal was the standout match of the day. In a tightly contested match, Portugal won 30:28, with Diogo Coelho scoring incredible 11 goals.
“This game was very difficult, Egypt is a good team,” he said after the match. “About my 11 goals, I think the most important thing is my team and goals are the consequence of our team work.”
Portugal now have their eyes firmly set on the semifinals. Another team looking good to make the semifinals is Republic of Korea. Both the men and the women’s teams registered victories over Poland, 26:30 and 31:32 respectively. The Japanese men also did well, winning their first game against Chinese Taipei 29:25.
Hosts Croatia are still looking for their first win, even though they have had two very close matches. In a hard-fought and aggressive game against Czech Republic, they found themselves at 25:25 in the last few seconds and the game ended in a draw.
Croatian right wing, Toni Ezgeta commented, “We have two draws so far but I believe everything is still in our hands. Next, we play against Lithuania and even though these are the first ever matches that we are playing together, I think everything is possible.”
Day 3 will see the Croatian women in action, as they take on Brazil. The current champions, Spain, will also be back on court, with a match against the Republic of Korea. All the daily schedules and results can be found .