Doha: The former geographical area of Yugoslavia has produced a lot of famous players and coaches during the past few decades and has been coined one of the most prolific schools in the history of handball.
These players and coaches have helped this sport grow, and you could argue, have helped it become a global sport. Even two decades after the breakup of Yugoslavia, the Balkan region is bustling with regional competitions and joint projects.
All of this makes the area between Slovenia and FYR Macedonia, one of the most important in the handball community. With four teams, seven coaches and a few assistant coaches, the ex-Yugoslav countries are a driving force at the 24th Men’s Handball World Championship in Qatar.
The majority of the Balkan handball population will be paying close attention to the Preliminary Group B in which three teams – Croatia, FYR Macedonia and Bosnia and Herzegovina-- will fight for a place in the eight-finals.
Apart from the teams coached by Slavko Goluza, Ivica Obrvan and Dragan Markovic, two more coaches from the former Yugoslav area will attempt to reach the knockout stage with their squads – Borut Macek with Iran and Sead Hasanefendic on the Tunisian bench.
The two most successful World Championship campaigns by African handball teams can be accredited to coaches from this prolific handball region.
In 2001 at the World Championship in France, Balkan coach Zoran Zivkovic took his Egyptian side to fourth place in an impressive outing. Four years later Tunisian head-coach Hasanefendic matched this success by taking the fourth spot on home soil, only narrowly losing by one to France in the bronze medal game. Having took bronze in Spain in 2013, Croatia come to Qatar with the highest expectations. With Olympic gold medalist Slavko Goluza on the bench, the Croats aim to build on the success of the past on their road to Rio de Janeiro. FYR Macedonia, who have Ivica Obrvan calling the shots, will be one of the biggest threats along the way for Goluza’s side. The Peninsula
