Croatian U18 coach Nenad Sostaric furious: I have never seen a more complicated and unfair system for 50 years in handball
The Croatian U18 national team coach, one of the most experienced and best experts in the region, Nenad Šoštarić, had something to say about the competition system which, despite two wins and one minimal defeat, took his team to the playoffs from ninth to 16th place at EHF EURO 2024 in Montenegro. Namely, according to the new competition system at the 24-team tournament, which was implemented this summer, the winners of the groups and the two best second-placed teams continue the fight for a place in the semi-finals. All others go to the playoffs from ninth to 16th, that is, from 17th to 24th place:
– The one who worked this kind of competition system, it’s better to shut up somewhere and never see him in handball again. Such a system in which you can be eliminated by one goal already in the first match is rude and stupid to me, and especially the explanation that it is not the result that matters, but the development of the players. Well, wait a minute, we’ve come to the European Championship!? How does the result not matter? Federations, players, and coaches invest years of work to get here. Let’s get that part out of the way, player development? How will you develop if you have created a system where every goal decides? With that, you force the coaches to play with the best constantly and to make a result, because everything can depend on one goal. You don’t let young people develop. A contradiction that has nothing to do with the brain. We have a +13 goal difference, we are not going further, but the Hungarians are going, who have +3 because they are from the lower groups, and we are from the upper ones. Where is the sport, what are we talking about, some normality? I congratulate the boys on the victory over Slovenia, they played with heart, I take my hat off to them. This was the strongest group, and Greece showed that they have quality. And on the other hand, you have groups where the goal difference is scored against the Czech Republic, Ukraine, not to mention the group where Montenegro is. OK, that’s the draw. Please respect the sport. This competition system is disrespectful to the player and the sport, the basic way to develop a player is to allow them the right to make mistakes. No one can convince me that these are the best eight teams. In basketball, the girls are playing in the European Championship, all 16 teams go to the round of 16 after the group stage, everyone has a chance – said the bronze winner with the Croatian women’s national team at the EHF EURO 2020 and added:
– If we had four groups of six each, they would have played the quarterfinals and played the same number of games. It would be 5000% fairer. This bothers me because I have been in the sport for a long time. People who do such things justify their meaning of existence, but the meaning is not them, but these guys, their supportive parents and all of us who are in that story. I have been in handball for almost 50 years, and I have never seen a more complicated and unfair system. It’s pointless to talk about it – concluded Nenad Sostaric.
