Two brilliant goals from Konstantinos Genidounias in the dying minutes were the difference in Greece defeating France 10-8 in their Group A battle. And in the second match, Italy was made to work hard by Kazakhstan before winning 17-11. The thrust behind Kazakhstan's momentum was Srdjan Vuksanovich with four goals — three in the final quarter.
GREECE - FRANCE
Greece needed a 3-1 last six minutes to capture victory over France 10-8 in the opening Group A clash.
The last time these two met was at the Olympic Games Qualification Tournament in Rotterdam earlier this year when Greece needed a 4-1 penalty-shootout effort in the quarterfinals to win 17-14 after the match was tied at 13-13. France’s progression is probably where it wishes to be just three years out from hosting the Olympic Games in Paris as it has such a young team on the rise. However, it will be bitter about this defeat considering its extra-man attack was far superior — 7/11 compared to Greece’s 4/9. It was the experience of the Greeks that pulled them through in what was a tight encounter.
“I didn’t know before the game what to expect. We are preparing for the Olympic Games and always with France it is tight. I believe we controlled the game and had more quality.”
Greece led twice in the first quarter and if a Thomas Vernoux backhand goal had been allowed not long before the buzzer, France could have been in front.
As it was, Alexandre Bouet gave France the boost on extra several minutes into the second quarter only for three Greek incursions to lift the halftime margin to 5-3.
In a bright period for the French, the match was levelled with just over a minute to go before Greek skipper Ioannis Fountoulis converted extra.
“We are not very happy with our performance. We know we are a better team and France is very young. We came here to compete and win.”
Charles Cannone, twice a winner of the swim-up, brought France level for the fourth time on extra a minute into the fourth quarter. Greece went to a timeout and Dimitrios Skoumpakis was quick off the mark on the extra-man play to spear the ball in from the right-hand-catch position. France scored an even better goal for another leveller when Remi Saudadier tipped in the ball off the near-post pass on extra at 5:05. There was still plenty of action left. The balance spilled Greece’s way when player-of-the-match Konstantinos Genidounias rifled in consecutive action goals from top left for 10-8 at 2:56. It was a position that Greece was unwilling to relinquish and France’s second timeout ploy failed and Greece’s timeout at 0:15 was all about protecting the ball.
“First I must congratulate the team of Greece. I can only say they are more experienced. We were more nervous, but we are trying every day to improve. It’s a good opportunity for us to get six games of this level. It’s very important for my players in the future.”
Instrumental to the victory were the three goals of Stylianos Argyropoulos in the first 20 minutes of play.
Full match statistics — http://results.microplustiming.com/TBILISI2021/index_web.php
KAZAKHSTAN - ITALY
Italy knew it had to work tirelessly for the victory before overcoming Kazakhstan 17-11 in the second Group A match.
It’s true that Italy had control of the match, although the scoring sheet shows that Kazakhstan wanted to stay in the picture for as long as possible, especially well into the third period and then again late in the fourth.
Italy came out firing with the first three goals — two from Luca Damonte from the right side of the pool. By quarter time it was 5-1 with just the lone Srdjan Vuksanovich goal at 3-1 for Kazakhstan.
“Kazakhstan played very nice game with intensity and tried to make many combinations on attack. It was a good game to watch. It was our first official match for many, many months. There were a lot of mistakes and we will have to analyse them.”
The Asian team had the match at 6-3 and by halftime at 8-4. That fourth goal was a true six-metre shot off the foul, screaming in from well outside the yellow marker. Italy was by now on the move as its players settled into the match.
Kazakhstan tried valiantly to cling on to Italy early in the third period with Miras Aubikirov and the 35-year-old Rustam Ukumanov, both scoring on extra-man attack. It was 9-6 in Italy’s favour and head coach Sando Campagna must have told his team to lift the tempo as it started raining goals. Vincenzo Dolce, Stefano Luongo and the effervescent centre forward Matteo Aicardi — now the captain — from on high at the left post pushed Italy’s lead to 12-6. Mikhail Ruday arrested the surge only for Andrea Fondelli and Luongo to close the third period at 14-7.
The final stanza was a solid affair with Italy struggling to break Kazakhstan’s heart. Vuksanovich netted three times for four goals and Damonte, who much earlier assisted Nicholas Presciutti with a snappy cross pass, drilled his third for 17-9 at 2:09. Vuksanovich, who shows no fear and is a most valuable asset to his team, scored his last goal at 0:38 with Murat Shakenov closing the scoring at 0:03 on counter for 17-11.
Full match statistics — http://results.microplustiming.com/TBILISI2021/index_web.php