Champion Spain squeezes Greece out in penalty shootout

It was the all-important third day and end of the group stage with all six groups finding winners.

In Group A, it was Spain emerging the victor with that shootout victory over Greece, taking the penalties 4-2 between the unbeaten teams. Netherlands downed Brazil 21-4 for third spot.

In Group B, Hungary, who lost a penalty shootout to Italy on day one, used that one point to excellent advantage and took down USA 10-8 to sneak home the group winner with seven points to USA’s six. Italy defeated Israel 17-10 for third.

In Group C, New Zealand made sure of a second victory and group supremacy with an 18-8 romp over South Africa, who remains winless with Portugal — on the sidelines today — claiming second spot.

In Group D, Canada gained a second win with a decisive 17-11 margin over second-ranked France. Chile sits third in the group.

In Group E, Croatia made that remarkable turnaround in crushing Japanese hopes 16-9, such a huge improvement on Friday’s effort.

In Group F, Australia thumped India 30-4 to win the group ahead of Kazakhstan.

Match Reports

Group A

SPAIN 11 GREECE 9 in penalty shootout (FT: 7-7. Pens: 4-2).

What a thrilling ending to an engrossing match. World champion Spain held the edge for much of the second half, but it was Greece who took a 3-1 advantage after leading 2-1 at the quarter break. That buffer was snuffed out when Spain’s Maria Palacio snared her second and third goals, followed by two penalty strikes by team-mate Elena Ruiz, giving Spain a 5-3 halftime score.

Greece came back with the first two goals of the third period and Palacio, working her way to the player-of-the-match award, countered for 6-5 — her fourth goal. Evdokia Tsimara drilled from the deep left and it was again a tied match nearly three minutes from the last break. Daniela Moreno fired from the top on extra-man attack for 7-6 in the fourth to have Spain in front again at 4:23. At 3:01, Foteini Tricha scored from the bottom right for 7-7 — a score that held until full time.

Spain won the toss for the shootout and Ruiz nailed the first penalty. The next three shots failed to convert and the next five were successful, giving Spain the 4-2 shootout and the 11-9 victory.

Match Heroes:
Palacio, unsurprisingly, despite have her penalty attempt saved. Four Greeks scored twice, including Tricha and Tsimara.

Turning Point:
Spain shooting to 5-3 from two goals down, then Greece’s recovery to 6-6 and 7-7.  

Stats Don’t Lie:
Greece giving up three penalty fouls, all converted by Spain in the second quarter.

Bottom Line:
Spain is the champion and showed that today. Greece will be out for revenge and wanting to get back on the podium where it has been four times before. It finished just the one point behind Spain.

NETHERLANDS 21 BRAZIL 4

Netherlands made sure of third position in the group with a controlled victory over Brazil. It started slowly at 3-0 by the first break and stretched somewhat in the second for 8-1 by the long break. It was 6-1 in the third period and 7-2 in the fourth. The Dutch had 10 scorers as Brazil struggled against the constant barrage of field goals. What shots did get through the forest of Dutch arms were mainly snapped up by goalkeeper Sane Keijzer, who was named player of the match. Brazil’s final goal came in the last second on penalty.

Match Heroes:
Keijzer for her excellent work in goal and the four players who steered in three goals each — Lois den Ouden, Feline Voordouw, Robin Jutte and Nina van de Geijn. Brazil’s best was Luana Bonetti with two goals.

Turning Point:
The 4-0 opening segment.

Bottom Line:
Netherlands gained its first win, setting itself for the crucial matches to come. Brazil will be hoping for a first win in the lower levels of the competition.

Group B

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 8 HUNGARY 10

This was not the script that USA had prepared before the match. Hungary, so cunning and aggressive when its back is to the wall, came through from third position to clinch the group following what could have been a first-day disaster, losing to Italy on penalties. The only time USA was really in the hunt was at 7-7 early in the fourth quarter.

Hungary was 2-0 up and 2-1 at the quarter, moving to 6-3 at halftime and 7-3 early in the third after a three-goal spurt. USA controlled the second half of the third, lifting the score to 7-6 behind. It was senior international Emily Ausmus who levelled on extra-man attack from the deep left on the first USA attack. However, three Hungarian goals, including two penalty strikes from Panni Szegedi — her third and fourth penalty goals — closed the possibility of USA coming back at 1:35. Ellen Woodhead — who competed in Fukuoka alongside her two brothers Chase and Dylan — did convert an extra-man play in the dying seconds for the two-goal loss.

Match Heroes:
Szegedi, whose six goals included two on counter, was clearly the player of the match. For USA, Ausmus and fellow senior star Jenna Flynn scored three apiece with Flynn’s goals lifting her tally to 14 from three matches.

Turning Points:
USA’s four unanswered goals for 7-7 and then Hungary’s fourth-quarter three goals for the three-goal lead.

Stats Don’t Lie:
USA giving up four penalty fouls was all the difference in this match.

Bottom Line:
Hungary’s elevation from third to first earns direct entry to the quarterfinals while USA will work its way through the next round.

ITALY 17 ISRAEL 10

Italy gained a second win to secure third position and no amount of goals was going to make any difference to the ranking with Hungary upsetting USA. Italy went 3-0 ahead and finished at 4-2 by the first buzzer. This became 8-4 at halftime and 12-6 at the final break. The final quarter was long with nine goals coming — 5-4 to Italy. Israel was in with a chance at 9-6 late in the third period until three Italian goals in 60 seconds had the match firmly in Italy’s grasp for the final break. Israel came back to 13-8, 15-9 and 17-10 with the last goal.

Match Heroes:
Dafne Bettini grabbed six field goals for Italy with three from long range. Fellow senior international Sofia Giustini netted five, with two from the penalty line. Israel’s Alma Yaacobi netted four with two penalty goals, doubling her tally for the week.

Turning Point:
Italy turning 3-0 into 7-3 that created air between the teams.

Stats Don’t Lie:
Italy converted two penalties to one.

Bottom Line:
Italy should be in the quarterfinals and Israel still has a lot to do after three losses.

Group C

SOUTH AFRICA 8 NEW ZEALAND 18

 

New Zealand collected its second straight win and took out the group while South Africa is yet to taste victory after two matches. The Kiwis took nearly three minutes to score their first goal and had 3-1 on the scoreboard at quarter time. South Africa pulled it back to 4-2 before opening the doors for New Zealand to ram in seven unanswered goals, moving to 9-2 at the long break and 11-2 before Derryn Wedderburn scored twice astride a Darcy Spark centre-forward goal.

Match Heroes:
Gabrielle Doyle was best in pool with four goals, including a beautiful lob. Aggie Weston also scored four and Spark three, the same number as South Africa’s Wedderburn and Madison Haworth.

Turning Point:
New Zealand moving from 1-1 to 4-1 and then to 11-2.

Stats Don’t Lie:
Allowing New Zealand five counter-attack goals proved fatal, with four of them coming in the second-quarter onslaught.

Bottom Line:
The Kiwis have the team to progress further in the competition, but will be tested against Canada on Monday. South Africa faces France — another tough customer.

Group D

FRANCE 11 CANADA 17

 

With senior international newcomer Serena Browne (above) on fire, Canada was always going to win. Browne made a huge impression at the Fukuoka World Championships for one so young and scored just two goals on Saturday against Chile. However, today she took control and fired in shots that were tough, but still inviting.

France made the early running at 3-1 and 6-3 before going to the first break at 6-4. The imposing Browne had the first three goals for Canada while Camelia Bouloukbachi and Ema Vernoux had a pair each for France. Vernoux gained her third at the top of the third quarter for an excellent three-goal margin. However, the by-now inspirational Browne scored twice more as Canada closed the gap at 7-7. Emma Lawson, who scored six goals against Chile, and two Alia Burlock goals, had the match in upheaval at 10-7 for Canada.

Browne and Burlock crushed French hearts with the first two goals of the third period, although France shot back with three of the next four goals for 13-10 at the final break. Browne claimed her seventh goal, France responded and then three Canadian scores finalised the match.

Match Heroes:
Browne easily took out the award and Burlock finished with four. Bouloukbachi, Vernoux and Juliette Dhalluin — all members of the French senior team — scored three goals each.

Turning Point:
Canada coming from 6-3 down to an incredible 12-7 ahead.

Bottom Line:
Canada wins the group and faces also unbeaten New Zealand in day-four, top-16 action while France takes on South Africa in Group H for teams outside the top 16.

Group E

JAPAN 9 CROATIA 16

What a one-day break does for a team! Croatia was almost buried by Japan on day one at 16-11 and then both teams had a day to regroup. Croatia had the better, obviously, producing a huge turnaround to beat Japan by a seven-goal margin to ensure top spot in the depleted grouping. Croatia eased into the top 16 and Japan now has to fight for a much lower ranking. What a difference, a day makes.

Croatia delivered with a 5-0 start that became 5-2 at the first break. Japan scored a third at the top of the second quarter, but Croatia went to 8-3 despite having a penalty attempt saved. The margin was 8-4 at halftime and 12-7 at the final break. The final two goals of the period came from Magdalena Butic and she started the fourth with a penalty goal for 13-7. From there Croatia won the final quarter 4-2 as the demoralised Japanese were sent from the pool wondering what went wrong.

Match Heroes:
Croatia’s Ria Glas took home the trophy as best in pool, scoring three of the first four goals and gaining two more by 9-5. Jelena Butic and Magdalena Butic both scored three. Momo Inoue and Maho Kobayashi scored twice each for Japan.

Turning Point:
The 5-0 Croatia start says it all.

Bottom Line:
Croatia made the most of its chances and proved a worthy top-16 adversary. Japan will rue the day and try to finish the tournament with victories.

Group F

AUSTRALIA 30 INDIA 4

 

When Taylah Dawkins went on counter twice in two Aussie attacks, it sent a message to India and the world what it is capable of. Australia went to the first break at 11-0, the highest quarter score of this tournament and probably the highest of any Aqua event this year. This became 18-3 by halftime and 24-3 at the last break. The final period was 6-1 in the Aussies’ favour.

The strength of the Aussies at centre forward spoke volumes for their ability and India’s lack of experience at containing larger players. There were 13 Aussie goals from two metres and Taafili Taoso was the chief destroyer with four of her five goals coming from that position. The fifth was on counter. India was unable to contain a rampant team striving to make the top 16 and beyond.

Match Heroes:
Taoso took out the top award while Nioka Thomas, daughter of Olympian Nathan Thomas, also scored five goals — all from centre forward — and Molly Nasser added four. Safwa Sakeer scored twice for India from the left side of the pool on action.

Turning Point:
The 11-0 opening quarter surely made a statement.

Bottom Line:
Australia had the firepower and India lacked the ability to withstand that onslaught.

Final Points

Group A: Spain 8, Greece 7, Netherlands 3, Brazil 0.
Group B: Hungary 7, United States of America 6, Italy 5, Israel 0.
Group C: New Zealand 6, Portugal 3, South Africa 0.
Group D: Canada 6, France 3, Chile 0.
Group E: Croatia 3, Japan 3.
Group F: Australia 6, Kazakhstan 3, India.

Monday Schedule

Second Round Group G
Match 27, 12:00, 2E Japan v 3F India

Second Round Group H
Match 28, 13:30, 3C South Africa v 2D France

Second Round Group G
Match 26, 15:30, 2C Portugal v 3D Chile

Crossovers
Match 29, 17:00, 1D Canada v 1C New Zealand
Match 30, 18:30, 1E Croatia v 1F Australia