Macedonia's depleted team was knocked out of the Handball World Championship by Norway on Saturday evening, after a game that ended 34:24. Coach Lino Cervar and team captain Kiril Lazarov said that injuries to Filip Mirkulovski and Dejan Manaskov were the main reason that Macedonia was not able to put up more of a fight against the Norwegians.
"It would have been different if we had Deki and Zhuti in the team. We resisted well in the first half, we played well, but we also missed a lot of good chances. It is what it is. Norway is a world class team, after all. We were third in a very strong group, we played a very good game against Spain, and then had a difficult match against Norway with only one ady to rest. On top of it all, came the injuries. It is a pity", said Lazarov, who was top scorer of the entire Championship in the group stage.
Coach Cervar added that Norway was a better team.
"We lost our strength in the second half. We can be proud on the players", said Cervar. In other games, France beat Iceland 31:25 and advances to the quarterfinals. Slovenia also goes forward after beating Russia, while Spain had a difficult match against Brazil, and eventually won 28:27.
