Classification 13-15 Semifinal

BRAZIL 9 GERMANY 10 

Both teams came to Szeged with no wins at the world championship and knowing that Canada withdrew from the competition the loser won't have any chance to put the “W” next to its name. The players were restless from the beginning and couldn't score in the first half of the first quarter. Roberto Freitas broke the silence, but Lukas Kuppers answered fast. In the second half, Brazil scored two after each other and took the lead. In the third quarter, both teams scored three, but in the end Germany changed gear and outscored Brazil 3-1 and survived the last-minute attempt and won the match.

Match heroes
Gustavo Coutinho scored three from seven occasions and almost helped his side to at least a draw. Lukas Kuppers also scored 3 from 7 and brought home the MVP award.

Turning point
In the last quarter, Brazil couldn’t keep up with Germany and just three minutes before the end they took the lead for the first time in the match, which was enough until the end.

Stats don’t lie
Both teams were perfect from the penalty spot. Germany was far better than Brazil in extra-man situations, scoring five from seven. Moritz Schenkel had a 50 per cent save efficiency for Germany.

Bottom line
It was a really close match and just one goal separated them. Germany will try to win its second in the competition and Brazil can now discover the beautiful city of Szeged.

What they said
Peter Porobic (GER) — Head Coach
“I’m happy for the win today and I hope my players can be more confident. This victory will help us to start to believe in ourself. We were stressful till this day, and maybe the guys will play easier next time. I don’t understand why, but this is the first international tournament for most of the players, or they don’t play too much in their clubs. We made bad decisions during the game, but right now I don’t need to talk about it because a win is a win.”
Lukas Kuppers (GER) — Three Goals
“We had a really tough game. We started like the last game, not so intensively, with a lot of shots. At the end we were better and could come back, that was the most important. We are really a team, growing up step by step, game by game. We will analyse Kazakhstan and how to make our next step and try our best and hopefully win there.”
Diaz Barbaro (BRA) — Head Coach
“Today was a great opportunity for our team to get some international experience; tournaments on this level makes our team work better. We have many new players who still haven’t played on an international level, with seven-eight players debuting in the team. That’s why I feel like we didn’t lose this game at the end, but due to smaller mistakes throughout the match. The fact that Canada can no longer participate in the World Championship is quite sad as we have already won against them three months ago in Peru in the Intercontinental Cup. However, at least we have three more days in Szeged, which seems like a beautiful city, so we'll make sure to visit some places during our stay.”
Gustavo Coutinho (BRA) — Three Goals
“It was the best game for us in the championship. The group stage was hard against Hungary, Montenegro and Georgia, but we could grow and have a really good game this time. You have to build a team together for the final stages, mentally prepared to win. It’s a beginning for a very young team, so we can grow our team to the Pan-American Games for next year.”