Handball Grudge Match Grips Serbia's Capital

January 27, 2012 from Al Jazeera English

Thousands of Serbian police have been deployed to provide security when the country's handball team takes on Croatia for a place in the European Championship final. The measures follows recent attacks on Croatian fans. Croatia's foreign ministry has officially complained to Serbia over this week's violence, and several tourist agencies canceled trips to Belgrade for Friday's match. Al Jazeera's Nadim Baba reports.

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Belgrade

Belgrade (Serbian: Београд, Beograd ( listen (help·info)) is the capital and largest city of Serbia. The city lies at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. With a population of 1,630,000 (official estimate 2007), Belgrade is... Explore this topic

Croatia

Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic at the crossroads of Central Europe, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia ... Explore this topic

Serbia

Serbia, officially the Republic of Serbia, is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Pannonian Plain and the central Balkans. The country is landlocked and borders Hungary to the north; Romania and Bulgaria to the... Explore this topic

Handball

Handball is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each pass a ball to throw it into the goal of the other team. A standard match consists of two periods of 30 minutes, and the team which scores the most goals wins. Modern handball is usually played indoors, but outd... Explore this topic

Serbia national handball team

The Serbia national handball team represents Serbia in international handball competitions. It has won two bronze medals at the World Men's Handball Championship, in 1999 and 2001, one bronze medal at the European Men's Handball Championship in 1996 and silver medal in 2012. F... Explore this topic

Croatia national handball team

The Croatian national handball team is a handball team that represents Croatia in the international matches and has been playing since the country's independence in the early 1990s. The team is controlled by the Croatian Handball Federation. Explore this topic

2012 European Men's Handball Championship

The 2012 EHF European Men's Handball Championship was the tenth edition of the men's continental handball tournament, which was held in Serbia between 15–29 January 2012. Sixteen teams qualified for the event, including host nation Serbia, defending champion France and fourtee... Explore this topic

European Handball Championship

The European men's handball championship is the official competition for senior men's national handball teams of Europe, and takes place every two years. In addition to crowning the European champions, the tournament also serves as a qualifying tournament for the World Champio... Explore this topic

Croatian War of Independence

The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between Croat forces loyal to the government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia —and the Serb-controlled Yugoslav People's Army and local Serb forces, with t... Explore this topic

Al Jazeera English

Al Jazeera English is an international 24-hour English-language news and current affairs TV channel headquartered in Doha, Qatar. It is the sister channel of the Arabic-language Al Jazeera. The station broadcasts news features and analysis, documentaries, live debates, current... Explore this topic

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