Angry Sigurdsson: ‘I’m disappointed, this was criminal’

It was an even match, extremely even, but in the end, the Germans punished our mistakes and deservedly won. Riječ is about the national team that demonstrated to the Arena what everyone knows, which is that they are aiming very high at the European Championship.

The arena applauded our handball players, who gave a solid performance and held up very well against one of the favorites for the medal, but coach Dagur Sigurdsson was angry. He went around the games, which is atypical for him, especially when it comes to a friendly match.

– I am disappointed. I’m not happy with the way we came back either, especially in the first part. It was criminal, horrible. The vast majority of goals fell through the middle of our defense. We didn’t come back fast enough and that’s something we have to work on. In defense, we moved too little. There were too few aggressive moves and that’s why we have a lot to do in order to improve.

You were criticized a lot after this match.

– Yes, I am very critical. We have to analyze everything and work on the mistakes we made today. We are all in the same boat. We have to try to find a way to correct the mistakes.

Germany is a tough opponent, and such opponents await you at the championship as well.

– This was a difficult match. They are a strong team, we have to be at the best level in order to win against them and other teams of that rank. First we have to analyze the opponent and see where we went wrong.

What was the atmosphere like?

– It was great to be back. Many thanks to the fans for supporting us, even though the match did not end in our favor. We always want to do better, but today we couldn’t. We have to stay focused and work to be better – concluded Sigurdsson.

In three days there will be another match, this time in Hannover.

– I managed the Germans 10 years ago, there are still three, čfour gamesč. They are always tough games, we have won the last few, but it was always uncertain. Let’s do everything to turn the result in Hanover.

German coach Alfred Gislason, Sigurdsson’s compatriot, was expectedly in good spirits.

– It was a great test before the European Championship. I’ve tried most of the games and I’m happy with a lot of things. The defense was very good, the transition was great, but Croatia was also very good. It was important to play a good match, for the players to do what I asked of them. We are happy about the victory, but that was our focus, it was more important to play a safe and good match. We made technical mistakes in the first half, but overall, I’m satisfied. I wish Croatia all the best and I am convinced that it will go far in the tournament. We will see each other again in three days – said Gislason.