USA earns men's quarterfinal clash with Hungary

Match Reports:

Classification 1-12 Crossovers

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 13 CANADA 10

USA started strongly with Alex Bowen snapping in a centre-forward goal and on the next attack, Hannes Daube mirrored the feat. Daube claimed a second goal from very deep left. Canada improved its defence and eventually scored through Gaelen Patterson on the right.

Canada drew level in the second quarter after Luca Cupido took USA ahead with a throw into an empty goal. Nicolas Constantin-Bicari fired in a penalty goal and one off extra-man attack. Daube converted a penalty for his third and two Canadian goals brought the Maple Leafs level on five. Daube spoiled the party with another penalty conversion for 6-5 heading into the halftime break.

Canada was making it hard for USA to penetrate and when shots were taken they tended to crease the crossbar. The same could be said of Canada’s shooting. USA regained its two-goal advantage with Daube on a fifth goal; Constantin-Bicari with his second penalty goal and youngster Ryder Dodd scoring an identical shot to Daube’s by lobbing Canadian goalkeeper Brody McKnight from wide left.

The final quarter heated up with USA going four up with Daube converting a third penalty goal; Constantin-Bicari with a twirl followed by a backhand in front of goal; and Jeremie Cote scoring from the top for 10-8. Johnny Hooper, who scored the first goal of the period, added another on extra-man attack, followed by Aleksa Gardijan with his second. Sadly for Canada, Daube netted his seventh with a fourth penalty goal at 1:52. Both teams took a timeout.

Nikos Gerakoudis sent in a Canadian penalty shot at 0:47 and Tommy Gruwell cemented the victory with three seconds left on the clock.

Match Heroes:
Daube (above) with seven goals from eight attempts. Not bad. Constantin-Bicari’s four aided Canada’s hopes. Goalkeeper Brody McKnight made eight valuable saves.

Turning Points:
The 3-0 start and the four consecutive goals over the halfway mark.

Stats Don’t Lie:
USA staved off seven extra-man chances for Canada from nine while converting two from three. It took 35 shots to 26 and scored all four penalty chances to Canada’s three.

Bottom Line:
USA is keen to show Hungary in the quarterfinals that the World Cup bronze medal was no fluke. Canada can be proud and should put up another excellent showing in the classification round 9-12.

What They Said:

UDOVICIC Dejan  USA  Head Coach

“It was a competitive game. Now we are looking forward to playing the quarterfinal against Hungary.”

DAUBE Hannes  USA  Player Of The Match

On scoring four penalty goals in his seven-goal haul:
“My team put their trust in me. We have been playing together for many years.”

On gaining those penalty fouls:
“We have the best centre forward in the world. We wanted to spread the zone, not be so static.”

OATEN Pat  CAN  Head Coach

“Really proud of my guys. They didn’t leave anything in the water. We stuck to the game plan 95 per cent of the time. The way things are going with this programme bodes well for the future. We need these types of tight games; valuable experience. I can’t say enough about my players.”

GARDIJAN Aleksa CAN  Goal Scorer

“We never really subbed,” alluding to how tired he looked. “We just made a few mental mistakes. We gave up two goals off centre (at the start), which you can’t do. Then there were two counter-attacks… We definitely played well and stuck to our game plan. We had man-up opportunities, good blocks. It was a decent game.”

AUSTRALIA 8 FRANCE 11

France made its intentions clear from the get-go with four unanswered goals in the first quarter. Thomas Vernoux, relatively quiet this tournament, was sublime at centre forward with a pair and continued to put his stamp on the match. The Aussie Sharks prowled in the second quarter with Charlie Negus and Matthew Byrnes converting extra-man plays. Negus drilled from the top and the match was at 4-3. Goals were traded to halftime with Luke Pavillard grabbing a pair for Australia to narrow the deficit to one at 6-5. Vernoux gained his third from the position he controls so well.

Timothy Putt brought the Sharks level on extra off a cross pass to the near post, but France took a throat-hold on the match, winning the quarter 4-2, heading into the last with a commendable 10-7 margin. Vernoux had a fourth with a super taunt of Aussie goalkeeper Nick Porter and French captain Ugo Crousillat gained the big margin off extra-man attack.

Australia lacked urgency in the final period and France made sure of protecting its rear and the handsome three-goal lead. It was not until just inside the last two minutes that Australia scored across the front line through Nathan Power, giving slim hopes of a shootout. That blew out of the water in the next attack when Enzo Kharz smashed in what was the 11-8 winner at 1:32, his second of the match. There were more chances for both teams, but, in essence, France had the victory it deserved.

Match Heroes:
Vernoux’s (pictured) four goals close in and his taunting of the goalkeeper showed his incredible legwork, strength and personal venom. Negus and Pavillard took two each for Australia.

Turning Point:
Those first four goals defined the match and helped send France to the quarterfinals.

Stats Don’t Lie:
France converted six from seven on extra-man attack to Australia’s three from eight. Australia converted the only penalty foul and the Aussie Sharks even had more shots at 30-25, but that means France was more deadly.

Bottom Line:
France was hungrier, for sure and had the tools to dismantle Australia's attack. The reward is a clash with world champion Spain while Australia will have to make amends in the classificxation round 9-12.

What They Said:

VERNOUX Thomas  FRA  Player Of The Match/Four Goals

“We started well with our four goals. We have planned for thai all summer to go to the quarterfinals through the eighth finals. We played a good game here, a very good game.” 

On looking like France really wanted the win:
“Everyone here is like family and we have been together for a long time. We stay focused and everyone played well.”

HAMILL Tim  AUS  Head Coach

“Unfortunately, we did not get out of the blocks early enough. We were too slow and then four goals behind. It was too much to rein back. We have struggled with France previously. The next 12 months is important as we build for Paris (Olympic Games). I’m proud of the playing group and can’t fault that. Skills let us down.”

EDWARDS Blake  AUS  Captain

“We had our opportunities and in the second quarter broke back. We had our moments, rushed opportunities, creating attacks for France, who capitalised on then. Our team is relatively new and not had crossover games before. It gives us the opportunity to build for Paris.”

CROATIA 12 MONTENEGRO 13

European champion Croatia has fallen at the first major hurdle in Fukuoka and failed to make the quarterfinals, bowing instead to the might of Montenegro. It was tied at every number to 12 except for four and five. Montenegro held it together even when Croatia matched its four-goal surge in the second by doing the same in the third. Montenegro led 6-3 early in the third, so the message had been posted.

Croatia started the scoring through Konstantin Kharkov and finished with him, scoring the first on penalty and the second at 3-2 on extra-man attack. Sandwiched in between were a pair of Montenegrin goals — also on penalty and extra — while Zvonimir Butic levelled at two for Croatia. Croatia struggled in the second quarter as Aleksa Ukropina and Kanstantsin Averka converted the extra opportunities, followed late in the period by another Ukropina shot — a rocket from the left-hand-catch position. This gave Montenegro the box seat at 5-3 by the long break.

It looked even more grim for Croatia as Matkovic converted extra-man for 6-3 on the first third-quarter attack. Croatia was playing the long game and the rewards started coming like a tidal wave with the landscape changed considerably as Jerko Marinic Kragic scored twice and Franko Lazic and Butic catapulted Croatia to 7-6 in a brilliant turnaround. However (with a capital H), Montenegro replied with a pair and Marinic Kragic buried the equaliser. Ukropina had a chance to take Montenegro ahead but for the brilliance of Croatian goalkeeper Marko Bijac, who launched himself forward and covered everything south of his head, including the ball. Matkovic  countered on the next Montenegrin attack to score at 0:49 for 9-8 heading into the final quarter.

This is where excitement went overtime with some splendid tit for tat that had the building crowd (ahead of the Japanese match) on the edge of its seat. Ante Vukicevic and Bukic turned the match in Croatia’s favour while Vladan Spaic and Radovic did the same with Montenegro now 11-10 up. Marinic Kragic scored from the top on extra-man and Radovic replied. Kharkov nailed his third for 12-12 at 2:00 with the match looking like a shootout contender. Then Markovic stepped up to the plate. Croatia hit the goalkeeper and the left wood on the rebound and Petar Tesanovic (Main picture) was caught stranded and had the ball stolen from him and apparently scored. However, in the euphoria and the din, the Montenegrin assistant coach had pressed the timeout button (confirmed by VAR). Montenegro kept the ball for the last two seconds and victory was assured.

Match Heroes:
The goalkeepers have to lay claim to stopping the scores soaring as Marko Bijac desperately tried to keep Croatia in the action with a spectacular 15 saves. Tesanovic carried his team with 13 saves, which will be useful form for the quarterfinals. Radovic and Matkovic scored four each for the victor while Marinic Kragic was best for Croatia with four.

Turning Point:
That 6-3 advantage mid-match, but really, Markovic’s score on extra-man at 1:21 that sealed the match.

Stats Don’t Lie:
Montenegro converted six from 15 on extra-man and defended seven from 10. Montenegro missed one of its four penalty shots and Croatia converted two. Croatia shot 35 to 34.

Bottom Line:
Montenegro earns a quarterfinal shot at group winner Greece and Croatia will face Canada in the classification round 9-12.

What They Said:

GOJKOVIC Vladimir  MNE  Head Coach

“A young team with a lot of good play. Very difficult game. I’m happy (the easy his team played) from the start of the match until the end.”

UKROPINA Aleksa  MNE  Two Goals

“Over the sky and very happy to win. We’ve made the quarterfinals. Few people thought that we would beat Croatia. We gave everything.”

RADOVIC Vasilije  MNE  Athlete

“We had strong games in the group stage. I’m so proud of my team from the first quarter until the last — from the beginning to the end. We are a team of lions.”

JAPAN 10 SERBIA 16 

Olympic champion Serbia made sure that Japan would not go into the quarterfinals, despite a tight first half. The strength of the Serbs came through as they started dominating and scoring almost at will. Japan was still trying until the end, having trouble finding the gaps that were open earlier.

The near-capacity crowd loved this match with its heroes matching it with Serbia, levelling the first quarter 3-3 and slipping slightly in the second 3-2. The second half was all about Serbia.

It was Japan who set the pace with the first two goals — Yusuke Inaba from the top and Taiyo Watanabe on extra-man. Strahinja Rasovic sent in two with the second finding Japanese goalkeeper Katsuyuki Tanamura stranded outside. Goals were traded with Inaba netting his second just before the quarter break. Serbian captain Nikola Jaksic started the goal trade in the second period that ended with Serbia leading 6-5 with Inaba and Rasovic gaining their third goals. 

Inaba opened the third and Marko Radulovic grabbed a pair for a two-goal margin. Japanese captain Toi Suzuki converted a double-extra for 8-7 and then the Japanese dream died as Serbia sent in three before Japan called a timeout to stop the avalanche. Two more went to Europe and the quarter closed at 13-7 to Serbia.

The final quarter was 3-3 and could have been better if Japan would have converted two penalty attempts. That meant three trips to the penalty line yielded not one conversion.

Match Heroes:
Jaksic took out the player-of-the-match award for his leadership and two goals. Yusuke Inaba boosted Japanese pride with four goals to lift his tally to 11, but Rasovic had four before the final quarter, which was his 17th in the tournament. The two penalty stops by Serbian goalkeeper Branislav Mitrovic in the final quarter were significant.

Turning Point:
Dropping Japan at 6-6, winning the third quarter 7-2.

Stats Don’t Lie:
Serbia shot 38 to 37; converted six from 11 on extra-man attack to Japan’s two from eight and scored one penalty with Japan missing all three attempts.

Bottom Line:
Serbia, as Olympic champion, deserves to be in the top eight, but then so did Croatia. Serbia will play Italy and Japan will go to the classification 9-12 play-offs against Australia, a position it often finds itself after having just missed the top eight.

What They Said:

JAKSIC Nikola  SRB  Captain/Player Of The Match

“A difficult tea, Japan, a different style of play. However, we overcame the obstacles and I hope we will use it to our advantage and eliminate mistakes for the most important game, against Italy (quarterfinal). We kept our focus and eliminated their little weapon (counter-attack) and after that the game was ours. Now we will concentrate on Italy.”

SHIOTA Yoshinori  JPN  Head Coach

“We tried to modify our defence and attack, but what hurt us was the third quarter (lost 7-2). We prepared for this match for a year. There are still two more games and many spectators from Japan, so we must not give up.”

ARAKI Kenta JPN Athlete
On being a native of Fukuoka and if family was attending:
“Yes, my grandmother and parents are here cheering for me and have been every match.”

On if Japan had beaten Serbia:
“This could have changed our world.”

Classification 13-16 Semifinals

KAZAKHSTAN 12 CHINA 5

Kazakhstan gained early bragging rights ahead of the Asian Games where these two teams and Japan are frontrunners for the Asian Olympic qualification spot.

The first quarter was dour with only two goals as Kazakhstan fed the ball into the Chinese goalkeeper too many times while China was awkward on shooting, spraying shots. Defence was the key thing for both sides. It was Srdjan Vuksanovich who opened the scoring. Surprisingly, this sometimes mercurial shooter had just the one goal from the previous three matches and for this goal he scored off the six-metre, free-throw situation. Zekai Xie replied on the next attack via extra-man attack.

Kazakhstan opened up in the second quarter and kept China scoreless. It began a remarkable run. Dushan Markovich scored from the left and less than a minute later Vuksanovic had his second, shooting cross cage. Two more came with Murat Shakenov’s effort a rocket from eight metres for 5-1 by halftime.

Markovich and Shakenov scored at the top of the third quarter before China took its second timeout. Chinese head coach Petar Porobic’s chat at least slowed the onslaught with Mikhail Ruday taking Kazkahstan to 8-1 four minutes later. Jihao Peng broke the Chinese scoring drought on counter-attack at 0:53, which was 13 minutes after the first, bringing up 8-2 by the buzzer.

The final quarter was 4-3 in Kazakhstan’s favour, but China freed up with Xie scoring a penalty and an action goal from the left. Markovich scored another two and 16-year-old Yegor Beloussov was given penalty duties for his second goal of the week.

Match Heroes:
Markovich might have unleashed his cannon four times, but goalkeeper Temirlan Balfanbayev made 11 saves. China’s Honghui Wu made 10 saves with three in quick succession in the first quarter which helped restrict the scoring.

Turning Point:
Markovich scoring the 2-1 goal in the second period that started the deluge.

Stats Don’t Lie:
Kazakhstan shot 30 to 25; converted four from seven on extra-man attack and defended four from five. China scored two penalties and Kazakhstan one.

Bottom Line:
Kazakhstan worked hard for the victory and made the most of China’s “off day”, going to the play-off for 13th.

What They Said:

OBRADOVIC Nebjosa  KAZ  Head Coach

“It was an important game — Kazakhstan and China have good relationship. We really expected a tough game. We concentrated on our defence and gave up only five goals. If you do that you normally win. It showed good concentration.”

MARKOVICH Dushan  KAZ  Four Goals

“Our group was very hard (Greece, USA and Australia), so this was the first game with this team we could show our level and how we can play. The game was really important with Asian competitions in the next few months. We hope we can continue to play much better now that the Asian Games (September-October) are near.”

ARGENTINA 15 SOUTH AFRICA 6

Argentina won the battle of the southern continents with a controlled outing with sharper shooting against a South African outfit that lacked some finesse on finishing.

Argentina had the better of the first quarter with three goals while South Africa was thereabouts but not able to get the coordinates right. Tomas Echenique, whose brother Gonzalo Echenique plays for Italy, opened the scoring on extra-man attack with Nahuel Leona and Tomas Galimberti grabbing the next two for 3-0 at quarter time. Nardus Badenhorst on extra-man and Joshua Faber dragged South Africa back into the match, but only briefly as four Argentinians scored with Eduardo Bonomo beating the buzzer with some tricky manoeuvring near the left post and Galimberti catching South Africa unawares with a rifle shot from 10 metres, two seconds from halftime.

Camnasio netted a pair in the third quarter as the match slipped further away from the Africans. The first came from top left and the second from the penalty line for 11-3. Niall Wheeler was the only joy for South Africa, scoring on counter-attack and he had his second fast break stopped by the goalkeeper. South African keeper and captain Lwazi Madi stopped a shot from Guido Martino with his head and the ball rose high, came down into Martino’s hand to be slotted into goal. Madi fired a long pass short, the ball was stolen and thrown upfield to Galimberti to go one on one with Madi for the 12-3 goal, one second from the final break.

South Africa won the last period 3-2 through a penalty, centre-forward goal and Wheeler’s drive. Camnasio’s fourth came at 14-4 and the last off the left-post position to close the scoring.

Match Heroes:
Camnasio received the top award for his four goals. However, spare a thought for goalkeeper Diego Malnero who pulled in 13 balls. Galimberti scored three and for South Africa, Wheeler was happy with his two, on counter-attack and with a drive, both down the right side of the pool.

Turning Point:
Three-nil to start and five straight in the second to third quarters. 

Stats Don’t Lie:
Argentina went 33-28 on shooting; converted four from 10 on extra-man attack and defended a magnificent seven from eight. Argentina netted two penalty goals and South Africa one.

Bottom Line:
Argentina was by far the better team, looking a cohesive tea, serving a shot at 13th place against Kazakhstan. South Africa will be after a first win against China for 15th position.

What They Said:

CAMNASIO Carlos  ARG  Player Of The Match

“That was our best match. We prepared for that moment. We were in a group with Croatia, Japan and Hungary — very difficult and not our level. However, we feel we can match it with Kazakhstan, China and South Africa. Our progression has been good. With our next match our team will be better for today. We are preparing for the Pan Americans in November, where an Olympic qualification is available. 

WHEELER Niall  RSA  Two Goals

“We played an M zone and gained a couple of counters. We worked on blocking on defence. It’s nice to score a couple. Now we play China (for 15th classification). We played them in Berlin in the World Cup qualifiers and lost by six. We had landed the day before and we were two goals ahead, but couldn’t hold on from there. Today we spoke about getting some drives going. When we went a couple down, we couldn’t come back from there.”

Tuesday Schedule

Classification 15-16
Match 31, 09:00, China v South Africa
Classification 13-14
Match 32, 10:30, Kazakhstan v Argentina

Classification 9-12 Semifinals
Match 33, 12:00,
Match 34, 13:30, 

Classification 1-8 Quarterfinals
Match 35, 14:00, Greece
Match 36, 15:30, Italy
Match 37, 18:00, Hungary
Match 38, 19:30, Spain v France