Luka Maros scored six times for Switzerland against Croatia.
Picture:
Keystone
The Swiss national handball team concedes a narrow defeat in the first of two international matches against World Cup runners-up Croatia. Andy Schmid’s team lost 26:29 in Gümlingen.
A scoring drought in the final quarter of an hour robbed the Swiss of the chance to win. Up until the 45th minute, the hosts were on level terms with the Croatians despite many key absentees. The score was 22:22 when the Swiss offense faltered and went ten minutes without scoring. Croatia seized the opportunity to open up a five-goal lead and bring about a preliminary decision.
After an interim dry spell, which Luka Maros ended with the score at 23:27 in the 56th minute, Switzerland came back to within two goals. However, there was not enough time to catch up again. Together with Noam Leopold, Maros was the Swiss team’s top scorer with six goals. Mathieu Seravalli from BSV Bern made eleven saves in goal.
The second clash with the Croatians will take place on Saturday in Kriens in the Pilatus Arena in front of a sell-out crowd. The two international matches are the highlight of this week’s training camp in Stans, which marks the start of preparations for the European Championships in Denmark, Norway and Sweden in January.