German Olympic Handballers - - Slovenia coach fuels speculation
Following Germany's clear 36:29 win against Slovenia in the final group match of the Olympics, Slovenian coach Uros Zorman fueled speculation about an intentional loss by his team. "We didn't want to repeat the mistake from Rio, where we met Denmark in the quarterfinals and had almost no chance of winning. This time, we decided to be smarter and wiser," Zorman said after his team's loss.
Germany's victory secured them the group win, and they will now face European champions and Olympic gold medalists France. If Slovenia had won against Germany, they would have faced this tough challenge on Wednesday. Instead, they will play against Norway.
There will likely be some criticism
Zorman had kept some key players on the bench during the first half, which was also the case for the German team, where top scorer Renars Uscins and captain Johannes Golla were largely rested. "There will likely be some criticism, but we know why we're here, why we're working. We made this decision together and have nothing to reproach the players for," Zorman said.
After a good start with a two-goal lead, Slovenia kept up until 13:13 (20th minute), but Germany then pulled away to a nine-goal lead by halftime. German coach Alfred Gislason explained after the match on Sunday: "There was much talk about it: do both teams want to win, do both teams want to lose? In the end, both teams came out to win. It's almost impossible to go into such a game and say, 'Let's just play at half strength.'"
Slovenia's strategy in the Olympics seemed to be influenced by their previous experience in Rio, where they faced Denmark in the quarterfinals and struggled to win. The coach mentioned wanting to avoid a similar situation this time around.
Despite the controversy surrounding Slovenia's tactics, they will now face Norway in the next round instead of the tough challenge against France, had they won against Germany in Rio-like circumstances.
