As we prepared to walk in, we saw a huge line outside. Worried that this would delay our entry, we were told that the line was for people who hoped to fill empty seats. That’s one way to solve the ticket problem, I guess.
Inside, the Copper Box was rocking. Nearly all of the arena’s 7,000 seats were filled and most of them with people boisterously cheering on Hungary to beat Croatia. I had no idea that these Games would attract so many Hungarian fans. I had actually expected more Croatian fans because that nation has a terrific handball history, but there wasn’t a large contingent.
The Hungarian fans were talking all kinds of trash (mostly in Hungarian) at the Croatian players. The only smack talk I could make out was from a group Hungarians by me who chanted “Pedro!” every time a mustached Croatian player touched the ball, because he looked vaguely Mexican. A British woman sitting near me wondered if they were racist.
I entered the arena rooting for Hungary, but I walked out completely enamored with the play of Croatia. Clearly the superior team, Croatia displayed the kind of perimeter ball movement that would make Dean Smith envious. On defense, the Croatians did a masterful job of collapsing in on the Hungarian players, forcing them to take bad shots. The Hungarian fans near me complained that their goalie was terrible, but in reality, he just faced too many good shot attempts. Croatia won convincingly 26-19.
