Spain will play host Croatia and world champion Hungary will clash with United States of America in Friday’s medal semifinals following the quarterfinals on Thursday where Hungary beat Italy 13-10, Spain downed Montenegro 23-9; Croatia sent off Greece 14-11 after coming back from 7-3 down and USA upset Serbia 19-18.
Overview
The quarterfinal winners — Spain, Croatia, Hungary and USA — race through to the medal semifinals while the losers move into the 5-8 semifinals.
In Groups G and H, where teams will battle out the final rankings 13-20, Brazil and Canada went through undefeated in the round-robin series, winning through to the major play-off for 13-14.
The semifinalists for classifications 9-12 — Iran, Australia, China and Germany — had a day off today.
Match Reports
Round 1-8 Quarterfinals
Match 43, HUNGARY 13 ITALY 10 (4-3, 2-2, 5-3, 2-2)
Unbeaten Hungary moved one step closer to retaining its crown with a clinical victory over Italy. The Italians have just the one win over Australia under their belts but they are close with the leading nations and today was no different. Hungary imposed its strengths in the opening two goals and resisted a 3-3 situation when Alessandro Gullotta converted a penalty foul late in the first period. Botond Balogh regained the lead with two minutes to spare and Hungary never relinquished that lead again. Captain Oliver Leinweber blasted an eight-metre shot and converted a penalty in the quarter. It was a sedate second period with two goals apiece. Martin Toth muscled in a centre-forward goal to start the proceedings for Hungary and Giorgio Giacomone finished the scoring with an extra-man goal off the left-post position with a near pass.
Mor Benedek scored an almost impossible goal from an acute angle from very deep left, needing the ball to bounce in off the goalkeeper’s body for 7-5 to start the third period. Italy responded but Hungary scored a triple in two and a half minutes with Leinweber in the mix. Gullotta brought it back to three in arrears on extra and an Italian timeout led to a Tommaso Cora goal on extra for 10-8. Balogh, for the third time, scored Hungary’s last goal of the period for 11-8. Leinweber pushed it out to a four-goal differential with Giacomone firing in a power leftie’s shot on extra. Benedek came to the attention of the referees when he appeared to slap the face of a defender behind him and was subsequently red-carded with a misconduct foul. Italy plotted another goal during a timeout with Andrea Nuzzo finishing for 12-10 at 1:17. Leinweber put paid to any Italian hopes with a second penalty strike at 1:02 for what was the 13-10 winning margin.
Match Heroes
Leinweber stood up with five goals — the second time with that number this tournament — and now has 13 from four matches. Balogh bristled with three and goalkeeper David Szitas was exceptional with 15 saves, soaking up a lot of Italian aggression. For Italy, Gullotta and Giacomone were restricted to two goals each.
Turning Point
Italy overturned Hungary’s 2-0 advantage to make it 3-2 in its favour but Hungary regained the lead by quarter’s end and never let Italy close.
Stats Don’t Lie
Two quality teams produced quality extra-man stats at five from 11 for Hungary and seven from 11 for Italy. Hungary went in both penalty attempts as Italy scored its one chance. On steals, Hungary dominated at 15-11 but the interesting stat is the shots taken — Italy’s 39 to 25. This showed how the Hungarian defence worked well.
Bottom Line
Hungary is the world champion, despite most of those players not in the team this year. However, Hungary has the capacity to retain its title as shown by its control over Italy.
Match 44, SPAIN 23 MONTENEGRO 9 (5-2, 8-4, 4-0, 6-3)
Spain gives the impression it wants to get this tournament over and done with and take the gold medal home to show its fans. After three tight matches and a two days off, Spain clobbered Montenegro and now awaits Croatia in the semifinals. Nine players made the scoresheet as Spain had to wrest the lead off Montenegro twice in the opening three minutes and from there set sail to 5-2 at the quarter break and 6-2 soon after the restart. Six different players had scored while Montenegro Srdan Janovic, had his opening penalty shot blocked before scoring the two go-ahead goals. It was Danilo Stupar who pulled back two goals from the same position with the first a brilliant lob. This made it 8-4. Spain went on the attack with a hat-trick of goals, Oier Aguirre netting his second and Tomas Perrone his third for 11-4. Montenegro called a timeout only to lose the ball and Spain score. A pair of Montenegrin goals — to Drasko Samardzic on extra and Milan Nikaljevic from the top — brought it to 12-6. Perrone blasted from the top on extra for 13-6, 10 seconds from the halftime.
Spain was too strong in the third period with four consecutive goals. Montenegro had another penalty attempt thwarted leaving Spain 17-6 up at the final break. Joan Villamayor and Stupar traded goals in the first minute of the fourth quarter with another Spanish pair stretching the score to 20-7, thanks to a third goal from Marc Rodriguez. In the last four minutes, Spain held the edge at 3-2 with Flaque grabbing his fourth goal.
Match Heroes
Flaque doubled his Zagreb contribution to eight with his four goals in a standout match. Perrone also landed four goals to lift him to 11. Rodriguez, Aguirre (16) and Carlos Nunez scored three apiece. Didac Garcia made nine saves in goal. For Montenegro, Stupar (10) nailed three and Janovic two
Turning Point
From one and two down, Spain surged out to 6-2 early in the second quarter and built on the total from there.
Stats Don’t Lie
Spain scored a magnificent eight from nine on extra with Montenegro no slouch with four from six. Montenegro missed two penalty attempts from three and Spain gained its one success. On steals, Spain went 14-11 and took 38 shots to 31.
Bottom Line
Unbeaten Spain is here to contest the gold medal, make no mistake. Montenegro now has four losses from five matches with the victory a one-goal win over Germany.
Match 45, CROATIA 14 GREECE 11 (2-5, 1-2, 5-1, 6-3)
Greece blew a 7-3 halftime advantage and 8-3 in the third period to succumb to Croatia in an 11-4 second-half rout. The Croatian renaissance certainly resonated with the host crowd which was quiet in the first half but then rose to the occasion and spurred its heroes home. Croatia levelled by the end of the third period.
Greece had a stranglehold on the match early with three Dimitrios Chatzis goals in the first four minutes. He inspired his team to 5-2 at the quarter with Semir Spachits scoring one of his trademark centre-forward efforts. It was quieter in the second quarter as Apostolos Georgaras screamed home a missile from the top. Viktor Toncinic scored off the right-post position on extra for 6-3 before Spyridon Lykoudis silenced the crowd on extra for 7-3 at 5:19. No further scoring came as both teams used superb defence.
Ioannis Tottis broke the drought nearly a minute into the second half when he zoomed in an outside shot for an incredible five-goal margin. Ante Jerkovic scored a six-metre-foul shot to breathe air into Croatia’s lungs. Karlo Dragosevic caught a spearing pass to the left post to score several minutes later and there was change within the building. Luka Penava drilled from four metres and Croatia was sniffing something special. Vlaho Pavlic suffered at the hands of Greek goalkeeper Lazaros Vekris from the penalty line. Then two counter-attack goals mesmerised the crowd with Pavlic nailing the second for an incredible 8-8 — five goals in just over five minutes. Jerkovic had his penalty also saved by Vekris. Where was Greece? It was shooting wide and high and then blocking and finally goal-stopping stymied the attempts.
The final quarter, thus, would be a blinder with fans tripping over themselves to urge on their players. Maro Susic thundered in his second goal from the top on extra and a minute later did it from deep right for an unimaginable 10-8 lead. Chatzis converted a penalty with Pavlic replying twice with rockets on extra from the top zone. Incredibly, it was now 12-9 in Croatia’s favour. Goals were traded twice until Pavlic sent in a shot from downtown into an empty Greek goal for the 14-11 winner on full time.
Match Heroes
Pavlic fired in four goals, Susic three and Jerkovic two for Croatia while Jakov Cosic claimed 11 saves in goal. Pavlic becomes the first player to 20 goals and from just four matches and was the undisputed star in the pool. Greece’s Chatzis gained another four-goal haul for 14 in all while Tottis grabbed a pair. Spachits’ lone goal took him to 14, as well. Goalkeeper Vekris pulled in nine saves, but more importantly, stopped two penalty attempts in the third quarter.
Turning Point
The halftime break where Croatia was told some home truths and responded brilliantly in the second half.
Stats Don’t Lie
Greece put in some solid statistics with three from four on penalty to Croatia’s none from two; 10 steals to five; 41 shots to 32; but slipped on extra-man attack where Croatia converted six from 11 and Greece just three from 10.
Bottom Line
Croatia had the home crowd urging it on, especially when well behind at the long break.
Match 46, SERBIA 18 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 19 in penalty shootout. FT: 14-14. Pens: 4-5 (4-4, 2-5, 3-2, 5-3)
USA had two three-goal advantages and many two-goal leads against Serbia. However, Serbia came back many times but from 10-7 down it managed to tie three times and force the penalty shootout. Sadly, one player had his attempt stopped while USA sent in all five for the shootout victory.
The match turned into a Ryder Dodd-fest as he scored seven goals — five from the field and two from the penalty stripe. He was dangerous with ball in hand as you would expect from an Olympic bronze medallist. Dodd made sure USA had the lead at 2-0, 4-2 and 5-4 at the top of the second quarter after Serbia had drawn level just before the first break. Luka Gladovic squared the match and it was Dodd who scored the go-ahead goal. When Vuk Andelic levelled at six, Peter Castillo, Ben Liechty and Max Zelikov stood up for 9-6 at halftime.
Three Serbian goals narrowed it to 10-9 down with Dodd slipping it out to 11-9 before the final break. Uros Admovic scored his first goal at the tournament on extra and it was Dodd who responded from the top on extra for 12-10. Rodoljub Gajic and Miljan Dokanovic levelled by 4:46. Dodd, again, was the thorn in Serbia’s side, arrowing a missile into the top left at 4:29. Jon Carcarey scored an excellent goal after a long cross pass from opening goal-scorer Bode Brinkema to make it 14-12 at 2:05. Relja Dankovic scored from the deep right and Miljan Dokanovic buried his third goal into an empty left side at 0:55. Neither team could conjure a goal despite each taking a timeout, sending the match to the shootout.
Serbia went first and its fourth shooter, Vuk Kojic, had his shot stopped with all others finding their mark, giving USA victory.
Match Heroes
USA’s Dodd with an incredible seven goals to make him the second player to 20 goals in Zagreb. Goalkeeper Charlie Mills pulled in 10 saves and made that critical shootout save. For Serbia, Dokanovic netted three and two each to Gojic and Dankovic. Mihailo Gosic made nine saves in goal.
Turning Point
Whenever Dodd had the ball in hand! The match was tied at four, five, six, 12, 13 and 14. USA held three-goal advantages twice and it was fantastic that Serbia bridged that gap.
Stats Don’t Lie
USA converted only three from eight on extra to Serbia’s three from five. USA scored twice on penalty and Serbia once. USA made eight steals to five and shot 35 times to 33.
Bottom Line
It seemed USA wanted it more and was there two years ago as the bronze medallist with the same coach, Jack Kocur. Perhaps it can go a little higher up the dais this time. It will have to surpass the current world champion, Hungary to make the gold-medal final. For Dodd, Castillo, William Schneider and Liechty it will be a trip down memory lane as they were in this position two years ago and looking for a second medal.
Group G Round 3
Match 39, BRAZIL 18 SINGAPORE 13 (6-3, 3-2, 4-3, 5-5)
Brazil had too much firepower for Singapore, although the Asian team did not think so as it played with plenty of aggression and snap shots. Brazil started the trade of goals to 2-2 before heading out to 6-2 and closing the quarter at 6-3. Artur Diaz scored twice from two metres with the first just beating the buzzer. Brazil held sway in the second quarter as well with the first two goals coming from Lucas Wulfhorst and Cesar da Silva, who scored the opening goal. Wulfhorst had two counter opportunities and was thwarted both times by Singaporean goalkeeper Ivaac Lee (steal and save). On the next attack Wulfhorst took a penalty shot and was turned over for moving forward on the shot. Singapore made its own chances with a tip in off a cross pass at centre to Yong Jun Chow and captain Cayden Loh firing from the deep left for 9-5 less than a minute from halftime.
Singapore kept clinging on to Brazil in the third period. Once Brazil scored the first three goals with another to Zerbielli, Singapore scored three of the next four — Joshua Ong on counter, Justin Saik from eight metres or more and Matthias Goh with a slap down off the left-post position on the cross pass. Both Saik and Goh, who just turned 17 last month, scored their seconds goals. Brazil led 13-8 going into the final period. Goals were swapped to 15-10. Then Diaz struck twice followed by Goh with a pair, the first on penalty and the second with muscling play near the right post. Da Silva scored his fourth as he backhanded at two metres for 18-12.
Match Heroes
Player of the match Diaz (14 in Zagreb) and da Silva scored four each for Brazil and Zerbielli three. Goalkeeper Lucas Gomes stopped eight shots. Wulfhorst finished with two for 16 in total. Goh (12 for the week) and Ong (15) were Singapore’s best with four goals each.
Turning Point
Brazil going to 6-2 and then 9-4 gave the breathing space to encourage full teamwork and allow seven players to score.
Stats Don’t Lie
Brazil was not given any extra-man chances while Singapore converted one from four. Brazil scored one and Singapore two on penalty; Singapore made 11-8 on steals and Singapore shot 30-28. Good statistics for Singapore.
Bottom Line
Great effort by Singapore considering 11 of the 15 players are eligible for the 2027 world championships while only one Brazilian is in the mix.
Match 40, ARGENTINA 15 NEW ZEALAND 10 (4-2, 2-1, 6-4, 3-3)
Argentina was the better team on the day and made the most of a violent action by a Kiwi player, going four goals up in the four-minute exclusion time. The South Americans had too many shooting options for the Kiwis to counter. Argentina started with the first two goals followed by a pair from New Zealand’s Gene Baggott scored from the top right and Michael Rodgers converted extra from the top. At 1:07, when Baggott was steaming in for a counter-attack goal, he was intercepted and then appeared to strike the defender, earning a violence foul and four minutes man down for his team. Adriano Mazzoni converted the penalty and Santiago Rivera made the most of the next extra-man chance, albeit through a defender down deep. Argentina had a 4-2 lead at the quarter break. Lazzaro Conti, who scored Argentina’s second goal, netted twice more from the same position on the right, still on extra man. The four-minute exclusion time lapsed and New Zealand found itself seriously compromised and with a mountain to climb. Argentina took a timeout but lost the ball. New Zealand challenged for a penalty and lost as the seconds ticked away with the halftime score favouring Argentina 6-3.
It was an interesting start to the second quarter when Teijeiro was red-carded from the match and his assistant coach, Rogelio Borzone, was also sent after standing and yelling instructions at his team. New Zealand made the most of the situation with captain Cole Phillips shooting from the top on extra. Mazzoni converted a penalty foul for 8-4 and then finished a counter for 9-4. Phillips chipped back with a shot from the top into the bottom left. With Teijeiro gone, Mazzoni had stepped up and scored again at 9-5 on extra. Goals were traded and at 1:57, Bautista Calcagno scored at two metres and Conti drove in to score for 12-6. Isaac Schuler drove into two metres to score when Mazzoni gained his third major foul not long before the final break.
Goals were swapped at the top of the fourth period with Conti and Gonzalo Mecozzi both scoring counter-attacks soon after to lift Argentina to 15-8. Mecossi’s shot needed VAR to confirm as he was smothered by defenders and the goalkeeper and the ball just made it across the line. New Zealand closed the scoring through a fourth Rodgers missile and Bronson Chungson squeezing into the bottom right for 15-10.
Match Heroes
Conti with five goals, which brings his tally to just six. Mazzoni netted four and goalkeeper Martin del Rosso dragged down 11 saves. Rodgers fired home four and 14 in total and Phillips two for the Kiwis, taking him to nine goals.
Turning Point
The violence foul made all the difference to the match and those four goals gave Argentina the impetus for victory.
Stats Don’t Lie
Argentina converted seven from 12 on extra and New Zealand four from eight. Argentina netted two from three of penalties and lost the steals 9-7 and the overall shots 34-26. However, its shooting was more accurate.
Bottom Line
Argentina has shooters all over the pool and excellent goalkeepers. Having Teijeiro out of the pool made no difference to the team dynamic.
Group H Round 3
Match 41, SOUTH AFRICA 10 CANADA 21 (3-4, 1-7, 3-5, 3-5)
Canada proved the better of the Commonwealth countries, turning a one-goal lead at the quarter into a seven-goal margin by halftime. It settled the team into a winning rhythm.
Canada began the scoring with South Africa tasting the lead at 2-1, regaining it at 3-2, missing a penalty attempt and trailing 4-3 at the first break. Seven different scorers made their mark. Ion Diacenco started the second quarter for Canada with first-goal-scorer Breydon Congo scoring a second. Warwick Field made amends for his earlier penalty miss to convert the 6-4 goal from the five-metre line. Three consecutive goals, including two from Giancarlo Marquez, gave the Canadians a 9-4 edge. Congo hit the right post on penalty but Jason Joseph brought up double figures from two metres at 1:11. Bowen Moravek scored his first goal of the week off the right-post position on extra for 11-4 seconds from halftime.
Canada began the third-quarter scoring when Timothy Young gained his third major foul, allowing Ivan Khramtsov to steer in a sharp pass to the right-post position. Field lobbed for 12-5 and Joseph completed an extra-man play with Field reciprocating soon after for 13-6. A Canadian triple lifted the margin higher and goalkeeper Benjamin Scher (RSA) scored a length-of-the-pool goal. He repeated the dose after the buzzer, but it was disallowed. Goals were swapped at the top of the fourth quarter before Canada rattled in four more with repeat scorers. Mitchel Garreau and Nick Pearce scored the last two goals for South Africa for a more-respectable 10 goals.
Match Heroes
Marquez punched in five goals to lift his tally to 16 while Joseph netted four and Khramtsov and Congo three each for Canada. For South Africa, Garreau and Field nailed three apiece. Both teams used both goalkeepers and each side garnered 13 saves.
Turning Point
The second quarter where Canada extended its lead by six.
Stats Don’t Lie
Canada dominated extra-man plays with eight from 10 and stopping South Africa’s one attempt. South Africa put away two from three on penalties and Canada one from two. Canada made eight steals to four and shot 43 times to 37 — 80 shots!
Bottom Line
Canada has more experience at a higher level with constant competition in the Americas. This showed through.
Match 42, COLOMBIA 13 KAZAKHSTAN 15 (1-3, 3-5, 5-5, 4-2)
Kazakhstan led from start to finish in the battle for second place in the group and earn a higher ranking. With an early lead, it never relinquished the difference and was easily ahead in the final quarter to sustain a late assault by Colombia. Stars Aldiyar Akimbay and Almat Madimar opened the scoring for Kazakhstan and an Akimbay penalty strike a minute from time gave it a 3-1 advantage. Juan Zuluaga, Colombia’s leading player, split two Deniz Dronin goals early in the second quarter with Akimbay bringing up the sixth Kazakhstan goal — his only field goal. Following a Colombian timeout, consecutive goals narrowed the margin to two, However, Dronin and Akimbay on penalty had the halftime score wrapped up at 8-4.
It was much tighter in the third period as Colombia took it to Kazakhstan at every opportunity and scored consecutive goals through Juan Herrera and Zuluaga for 9-6 behind. Goals were traded until the end of the period when Madimar, who scored the 12-8 goal, left the match on three major fouls. Zuluaga narrowed it to three at the top of the fourth with Akimbay putting away a fourth penalty shot. Goals were swapped for 15-11 at 4:16 and Herera scored the final two goals by 2:37. Despite each team taking a timeout, there was no change to the scoresheet.
Match Heroes
Kazakhstan’s Akimbay with five goals to elevate him to 15 for the week. Dronin chipped in with four and Satbergen scored three for nine in total. Akzhan Aday claimed 12 saves in goal. For Colombia, Zuluaga notched four goals (15) and Herrera three.
Turning Point
The 2-0 start meant Kazakhstan could always keep Colombia at arm’s length and was still four ahead going into the final four minutes.
Stats Don’t Lie
Kazakhstan went just one from three on extra and denied Colombia six from eight. Kazakhstan scored all four penalty shots and Colombia two. Colombia was better on steals at 6-4 and overall shots at 40-33.
Bottom Line
Kazakhstan had the energy to hold off a fast-finishing Colombia and relied heavily on its star players to produce, which they did.
Final Points
Group G: Brazil 9, Argentina 6, Singapore 3, New Zealand 0.
Group H: Canada 9, Kazakhstan 6, Colombia 3, South Africa 0.
Day 7 Schedule
Classification 19-20
Match 47. 09:00. New Zealand v South Africa
Classification 17-18
Match 48. 10:30. Singapore v Colombia
Classification 9-12 Semifinals
Match 49. 12:00. Iran v Australia
Match 50. 13:30. China v Germany
Classification 5-8 Semifinals
Match 51. 16:00. Italy v Serbia
Match 52. 17:30. Montenegro v Greece
Classification 1-4 Semifinals
Match 53. 19:00. Spain v Croatia
Match 54. 20:30. Hungary v United States of America