Some people are born to be sportsmen. One of them is Croat Ivano Balic, who has had difficulties with stomach since end of November.

His participation in Euro 2008 was in question until the last moment but he played his first match against Poland.

And he was back to his old form the six time MVP at World and European Championships.

"We took the first step. A win against Poland is a great achievement. After so many problems we played some real handball," said Balic after winning and added: "It was not an easy match. We were expecting it to be difficult. But we did it."

The 28 year old "Michael Jordan of handball" was fantastic.

He organised Croatia's attack as if he had never been away and also scored seven times.

"I feel good," said Balic when asked whether he was in pain after the match. Then, with a smile, he said, " I am ok. I will survive."

He was named best player of the match but he gave this title to his teammate Mirko Alilovic.

"We played well in defence against Poland but our goalkeeper was the best," commented Balic.

Croatia was once sitting at the very top of the handball world and has won the Olympic title twice.

Up until now Croatia have not won gold at a European Championships. Was this victory a statement of the Croat's title intentions?

"We moving forward game by game, step by step. We were favourites for many years but now we are not. We will try to do everything to return to the top," said Ivano Balic to ehf-euro.com.

By: Maja Mastnak