Greece and United States of America wrapped up their round matches with victories in day-three action. Greece finished second in Group A with a 14-9 victory over Kazakhstan, blasting in eight extra-man goals. USA downed host Georgia 13-9 in Group B after leading 8-3 at halftime and closed in second place with Georgia third.
Greece secured what would be second place in the group with an expected 14-9 Group A victory over Kazakhstan.
It was a match riddled with major fouls and Greece made the most of its extra-man chances with eight conversions, but could only convert two from four attempts at the penalty stripe. Kazakhstan had far fewer chances, scoring two from five, but maximising its penalty shots with two.
“It was not easy to play at 3 in the afternoon under this sun. Our mind was on tomorrow’s quarterfinal. We controlled all the game and the score.”
Kazakhstan may have opened the scoring with a tip-bounce shot on a short drive by Murat Shakenov, but it was Greece who nailed the next three — all on extra-man attack. The match started slowly with each team feeling out the other and the opening goal did not come until 4:33. Stylianos Argyropoulos took it to 3-1 in the last minute when his shot from deep right hit the right upright and then spun off goalkeeper Madikhan Makhmetov, just making it across the line.
It was an enlightening second quarter where both teams were out to enjoy the occasion. Greece was clearly on the winning path, using the full bench, and Kazakhstan was allowing itself some freedom on attack. With eight goals in the period, it seemed like an open match, but from the 12 goals in the half, only three were on action, with two from the penalty line and the rest on extra-man attack. Greece was unlucky not to receive a penalty when 6-2 ahead as in the following attack, Kazakhstan was awarded one for something very similar. Argyropoulos netted his second — on counter — and Konstantinos Gkiouvetsis scored from either side of the pool on extra. Shakenov gained his second from the penalty line a minute after Srdjan Vuksanovich converted a penalty.
“We knew that we were better. We made some mistakes. At the end, we took the game.”
Greece pushed it out to 10-4 early in the third quarter, Konstantinos Genidounias shooting into an empty goal after goalkeeper Makhmetov was ejected. From 10-4, Greece looked bound for glory, except Vuksanovich was unleashed and he drilled three unanswered goals. Georgios Dervisis watched his penalty attempt hit the wood and Rustam Ukumanov turned brilliantly at centre forward to reduce the deficit to 10-8. Dervisis made sure of an extra-man shot at 0:27 and Greece went into the final period with a three-goal advantage.
Greece took absolute control of the final period, lifting the score to 14-8 and even having the luxury of a penalty attempt saved by Makhmetov. He made two penalty saves in his tally of 11 — a spectacular effort. The final goal came from Ruday in a centre-forward melee five seconds from time.
With three losses, Kazakhstan finishes fourth in the group.
Full match statistics — http://results.microplustiming.com/TBILISI2021/index_web.php
United States of America made sure of second place in Group B with a solid 13-9 win over host nation Georgia. Both teams entered the match with a win apiece and Georgia will fill third spot.
It was a sublime effort by the North Americans, built on an 8-3 first half, superior shooting and seemingly with more room to manoeuvre. Georgia struggled to stem the tide in the sweltering 38C heat as USA went from 3-1 at the first break to the five-goal advantage at the changeover.
Georgia opened the scoring and two Max Irving goals, the first on counter and the second on extra-man attack, took USA to the lead, which Hannes Daube enhanced from the top left.
Boris Vapenski converted extra to give Georgia joy early in the second. Irving grabbed a third and Dylan Woodhead made it 5-2. Marko Jelaca scored off the near post on extra, with an exact replica of his opening goal, backhanding the ball into the net. The achievement was short-lived as USA fired in three more, including Alex Obert’s neat drift to accept a pass at two metres. At 8-3, victory looked inevitable.
That is until Georgia decided to redress the imbalance, winning the third quarter 3-2 for 10-6 at the last break. Two early Georgian goals on extra, lifted the team, but Daube’s missile from the top at 4:58 and Obert’s second goal with a snap-in backhand off a rebound, moved it back to five goals. Georgia’s masked man, Giorgi Magrakvelidze converted extra with his typical low, sweeping shot. He wears a facial mask, making his look the most ominous man in the pool.
The biggest crowd of the week was roaring Georgia on and when it went to a timeout, expectations were high. The crowd was not disappointed when Revaz Imnaishvili converted an extra-man chance. Goals were traded until 13-9 at 2:42 and from there, the scoring dried up. Jelaca netted Georgia’s final goal, his third for the match. Irving’s three early goals earned him player-of-the-match status.
Full match statistics — http://results.microplustiming.com/TBILISI2021/index_web.php