Defeat against Italy

In the 2nd round of the Olympic tournament in Paris, unfortunately the first defeat. Italy was better, you have to be honest in everything, and they deservedly won. Admittedly, we are still, even eternally, looking forward to our last victory over the same rival at a major competition (World Cup in Doha in February this year) much more than our overseas neighbors will be looking forward to this victory at the Games. It is clearly not an excuse, nor a lessening of the bitterness of defeat, but it is a statement of fact.

Barracuda showed almost two faces. In the first two quarters, the game was much better, after all, it was a period in which Croatia was constantly in the lead since the tie in the middle of the first quarter (2:2). It wasn't big, that is, it wasn't bigger than a two-goal advantage, but the plus is recorded. At halftime we were at the beginning. The result is 6:6, although it is clear that regrets remain for some missed opportunities. For example, Marinić Kragić's unrealized five-pointer (Del Lungo defends) when the lead was 6:5 for Croatia. If Jere had succeeded then, they might have gone to the break with a two-goal advantage. This is how Di Fulvio tied the game at 6:6.

In the second half of the game, our big drop in the game followed. In just three minutes of the third quarter, the opponents took a 9:6 lead and got us into trouble and nervousness. The attack started to significantly "bark" with the player more, which eventually ended with numbers 7-16. On the one hand, a lot of kicks, a lot of centers, but the rest of the team also managed to 'kick out' the Italians, even burdening them with personal mistakes, but... It was not capitalized in the realization and that was the problem that led us to defeat.

A setback, like any, is never pleasant, but it is far from fateful. This is only the 2nd round and that should be kept in mind. Our Barracudas will play their next match on Wednesday, August 1 against Romania at 19:30.

Ivica Tucak's menu:

- Well-deserved victory for Italy. More concentration, strength, lucidity. They hit the situations they would create and we missed. When a match like that happens, against an opponent of a quality similar to ours, then you will lose, pay with your head. We were definitely not the right ones, although the first two quarters I would say were very good. Only with a lot of missed chances, a missed five-pointer again, I mean two attacks with a player without a goal anymore. We fell in the third quarter, we got nervous and that's it. I mean, if we had won, he would have been just as calm. This is only the 2nd round, practically the beginning of the tournament. It is still not clear to us, we are not indifferent after the defeat, but there is no alarm, raising tensions.

Konstantin Harkov:
- I congratulate the Italians on this well-deserved victory in a difficult match. They were better than us this time and nothing, let's move on. At the beginning of the match, we had concentration, but we did not keep it until the end, and that was a problem. That said, I remember we didn't use two more players in a row. In such an even match, we gave them the opportunity to break away and maintain the lead until the end

Rino Burić:
- First of all, I also congratulate Italy because today, in this were the better team in the match. Clear as day. We looked very, very good in the first half. Both in attack and defense, but then we disappeared. Our rhythm completely dropped. We weren't real. The player was more bad for us, we knew that, we realized that even during the game, even when we didn't even know the real numbers. The ball went too slowly with the player higher and that is a segment that we have to fix. Of course, also the defense because when you concede 14 goals from a team like Italy, you can't ask for more in a game. Aggressiveness was not good for us, but that applies to the second half. In the first two quarters, it looked quite solid.

Ante Vukičević:
- I can't even say that we played badly in attack. We had head and tail, as they say. We were getting sent off, the attacking player, the action itself was really good on several occasions, but I think we just missed too much. Now, is it a lack of luck, concentration, we can discuss everything. We gave them too much to beat a team like Italy. Today we had some chances of our own to win, but we lacked that 5% reaction. In defense and attack. We didn't have extra aggressiveness, to come back a little faster, "throw" the block more, cut some balls. We have to play with a stronger impulse, when we play with such emotion then it's fine. Again, I don't think we need to make a drama out of this. We all know what an Olympic tournament is like, 5 games are played, we just have to go one at a time and believe in ourselves.

Marko Bijač:
- In the beginning, I think we were pretty good. solid in defense. Maybe the only thing was that we didn't use some chances in the attack to separate a little more, to have a bigger advantage, somewhere around the halfway point of the game. Then we got into unnecessary nervousness and started doing some "stupid things", conceding too easy goals. Towards the end of the game, it no longer resembled our game.