Croatia Handball Team Marks 30 Years Since First Olympic Gold

The news in Croatian

1. rukometna
   koja se odnosi na rukomet, sport u kojem dvije momčadi pokušavaju ubaciti loptu u mrežu protivnika rukama ↩︎
2. reprezentacija  (f.)
   nacionalna sportska momčad koja predstavlja svoju zemlju na međunarodnim natjecanjima ↩︎
3. osvojiti
   postići pobjedu i dobiti nešto kao nagradu na natjecanju ↩︎
4. medalja  (f.)
   okrugla metalna nagrada koja se dodjeljuje pobjednicima na sportskim natjecanjima ↩︎
5. finale  (n.)
   posljednja i odlučujuća utakmica ili natjecanje u kojemu se određuje pobjednik ↩︎
6. prvak  (m.)
   onaj koji je pobijedio i zauzeo prvo mjesto na nekom natjecanju ↩︎

Translation

Text comprehension

Question 1: Which country did Croatia beat in the Olympic final?

Question 2: Which three countries did Croatia defeat on the way to the final?

Vocabulary

Croatian	English
rukometna	handball
reprezentacija  (f.)	national team
osvojiti	to win
medalja  (f.)	medal
finale  (n.)	final
prvak  (m.)	champion

Read the full story

Thirty years ago, Croatia’s handball team claimed the country’s first ever Olympic gold medal, completing one of the most celebrated chapters in Croatian sporting history.

The road to that historic title was far from straightforward. In their opening match, Croatia trailed Switzerland for much of the game, falling behind by as many as six goals at one point, before snatching a narrow 23:22 victory. Wins followed against Kuwait (31:22) and the United States (35:27), before a tense and pivotal clash with Russia.

That match against Russia produced one of the tournament’s most memorable moments. With the score level at 24:24 and Russia awarded a penalty, coach Velimir Kljaić — known as Kljun — called goalkeeper Valter Matošević aside at the last moment, telling him he had no idea how the shooter would strike and to simply do his best. Matošević saved the penalty. On the counter-attack, Božidar Jović scored from nine metres to effectively seal Croatia’s place in the semi-finals.

Kljaić also showed tactical cunning ahead of the final group game against Sweden, deliberately resting four of his best players to keep them fresh for the semi-final against France, while also concealing some of Croatia’s strengths from the legendary Swedish coach Bengt Johansson.

Croatia defeated France 24:20 in the semi-finals, and Sweden beat Spain 25:20, setting up the grand final — which Croatia won to claim gold. The squad that made history included Venio Losert, Valter Matošević, Patrik Ćavar, Slavko Goluža, Zlatko Saračević, Božidar Jović, and Nenad Kljaić, among others, with the coaching staff led by the late Velimir Kljaić.