“I'm forced to participate in this circus. They threw us on the bus like frostbitten chickens”
Article by Maria Olteanu – Published Friday, January 30, 2026, 12:11 / Updated Friday, January 30, 2026 12:15
Dagur Sigurdsson (52 years old), the Croatian national team coach, he gushed at the press conference beforehand the match with Germany, from the semifinals of the European Men's Handball Championship, which will be played this evening, from 18:45. In the other semi-final, from 21:30, Denmark and Iceland will face each other.
What happened exactly? After qualifying for the semifinals of the European Championship, the national handball team of Croatia set off for Denmark, after playing the main stage of the competition in Sweden, in Malmo. The night before departure, however, she learned that she would not be accommodated in Herning, after the organizers made a change in the last hundred meters and sent the Croatian national team to Silkeborg, 40 minutes away by car from the host city.
This reason outraged the Croatians, especially since the rest of the teams are all staying in Herning, and the selector wanted to boycott the media obligations in protest. He didn't, but he went on a rampage in front of the journalists, giving an extremely harsh speech.
The Croatia coach “caught fire” at the conference
“I have to say, first of all, I haven't had time to analyze the situation, because I just arrived at 2:30 now, and then I had to come here for sure. It's taking us time, because we're not staying here…funny how these things work.
So I had to drive 35 minutes to get here, I have to attend this circus, and then I have to drive another 35 minutes back. It will be 17:00 or 18:00 when I return.
And we didn't have training with the team today, we didn't have a technical meeting… and this is the confirmation that the European Handball Federation doesn't care about the players, it doesn't care about the teams. They are like a fast food company.
They don't care about quality, they just sell. In fact, they are like an event company. Just commission some artists, put on a good show, a nice press conference…never mind that we had a 4 hour bus ride from Malmo this morning. It doesn't matter!
We were in a group in Malmö, we had two days less rest than other teams in this competition to play 7 matches. Anyone who knows anything about sports knows that two extra days of rest in a 12-day period with 7 games makes a huge difference.
And we had to play two games, game number 6 and game number 7, within 22 hours. And the next morning they put us in a bus, like frostbitten chickens, and brought us here. We're not even close to the training room.
Then I have to come to a press conference, get back to the hotel at 18:00, check if the players are healthy, have a meeting, analyze tomorrow's game… and we are in the semi-finals! It is an absolute disgrace. And display this tagline here: Pure Greatness. Serious? Is this pure greatness? It's absolutely shocking.
Thank you very much, I will be very happy when I leave”, Dagur Sigurdsson “thundered and flashed” at the press conference before the game with Germany.
