2016 champion Croatia and United States of America won their respective semifinals and will play for the gold medal on Saturday. Both defeated touted champions with USA ousting Montenegro 17-13 and Croatia pipping Spain 18-17 in the first penalty shootout of the tournament after the match was locked at 14-14.
Overview
In the Round 1-4 semifinals, United States of America won the first three periods with Montenegro taking the last 5-4 — too little, too late. And Spain was toppled by Croatia, ending its dream of a first crown. The first two periods were tied and each won a quarter with Spain needing a goal four seconds from full time to secure the shootout. Croatia has the one medal and USA none at this level.
In the Round 5-8 semifinals, Greece defeated outgoing champion Hungary 18-13 and Serbia had the better of Italy 18-15.
In the Round 9-12 semifinals, New Zealand bounced China 13-8 and Turkiye continued its fine run to crunch Canada 19-15 in a match that was close for the first three periods.
In classification matches, South Africa nudged Argentina 11-10 for 17th position and Portugal thrilled the host nation, annihilating Hong Kong 20-9 for 19th.
Day 8 Schedule
Classification 15-16
09:00, Singapore v Colombia
Classification 13-14
10:30, Australia v Brazil
Classification 11-12
12:00, China v Canada
Classification 9-10
13:30, New Zealand v Turkiye
Classification 7-8
15:00, Hungary v Italy
Classification 5-6,
16:30, Greece v Serbia
Classification 3-4,
18:00, Montenegro v Spain
Classification 1-2
19:30, United States of America v Croatia
Match Reports
Match 54. 1-4 Semifinal, SPAIN 17 CROATIA 18 in penalty shootout. FT: 14-14 Pens: 3-4 (4-4, 4-4, 2-3, 4-3)
The statistics show that Croatia should have won, but Spain’s resilience and last-gasp goal forced a penalty shootout. While Croatia was spotless, Spain had two shots saved and fell out of gold-medal contention. There was never anything between these teams with both scoring at ease with spectacular shots. Spain opened all scoring but Croatia scored three for a 3-2 advantage. This was squandered when Pol Suarez and opening scorer Enzo Fernandez replied with identical shots on extra. Nardo Skejic claimed his second goal for 4-4 two minutes from the first break. Fernandez and Nardo Dragas exchanged extra-man goals. Another trade had it at 6-6 with Dragas swapping with Javier Sanchez-Toril for 7-7. Another swap made it 8-8 at halftime.
Oriol Hurtado countered to start the third period with his second goal, then a triple from Croatia had it 11-9 ahead with two coming from penalty. Spain’s Tiago Carrio blasted from the top for 11-10 nearly two minutes from the final break. Carrio converted a penalty foul a minute into the last quarter. Dragas drilled from the top on extra and Fernandez pulled it level with an identical score. A Spanish medical officer was escorted from the pool deck on a red card for over-zealous support, probably. Croatia challenged and gained a penalty throw with Dragas succeeding. Suarez replied from deep left, virtually placing the ball into goal for 13-13 at 2:45. Duje Burazin scored from wide left at 1:10. Spain took a timeout and put seven field players in the pool, went up and at 0:04, Suarez whipped in the ball from bottom right for 14-14. Dragas shot only for it to be saved, sending the match to penalties. Both teams put away their first three shots. Croatia switched in captain-goalkeeper Nikola Batos, who had not taken the water, and he stopped the next two Spanish shots with Burazin netting Croatia’s fourth, meaning it did not need a fifth shot as it was already in the gold-medal final.
Match Heroes
Dragas, Skejic and Erenda scored three each for Croatia and Fernandez netted four and Suarez three for Spain.
Turning Point
Croatia going to 11-9 in the third period and Suarez scoring the equaliser at the death.
Stats Don’t Lie
Croatia netted six from nine on extra and defended eight from 14. Croatia scored all three penalty attempts to one; took the steals 13-9 and shot 32-31.
Match 53. 1-4 Semifinal, MONTENEGRO 13 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 17 (1-2, 4-5, 3-6, 5-4)
United States of America is going where no USA team at this level has gone before. Not only has it bettered its previous best by far by just being in the semifinals, it is about to collect its first medal. USA made a statement with a 5-1 start with that margin holding until the final whistle. USA led 2-0 early and held a 2-1 advantage at quarter time. Captain Kai Kaneko with a penalty and Tristan Tucker with a pair, the first with his left hand dragging down a cross pass and the second from deep left. They were his first goals since scoring a single on day one. Andrej Durutovic, the star of Montenegro, scored two six-metre goals for 5-3. Jett Taylor and Petar Brnovic swapped goals with Luka Todorovic countering for 6-5. Kaneko scored from the penalty line again — his eighth this tournament — and USA went to the long break at 7-5 ahead.
Two extra-man goals started the third period with Tyler Anderson gaining one off the left-post position. Durutovic and Danilo Roganovic responded. Jett Taylor and an Anderson double had the margin at five. Durutovic and Aiden Shin, on the buzzer, took the score to 13-8 at the last break. In the final period, goals were traded and Shin collected a second before Durutovic spun his sixth bit of magic on extra, stretching on the left post. USA had a penalty attempt blocked and goals were traded until Luka Savic scored from deep for 17-13. Kaneko slotted a centre-forward goal to give him eight field goals and eight penalty goals heading into the gold-medal match.
Match Heroes
Rafael Suarez-Abraham with his 12 goal saves; Anderson, Kaneko and Tucker with three each for USA. Durutovic smashed home six for Montenegro to lift him to 19 for the week.
Turning Point
USA going 5-1 nearly three minutes into the second quarter had a huge say in the victory.
Stats Don’t Lie
USA was perfect on extra-man attack with eight goals while Montenegro shot five from 10. USA managed two from three on penalty; lost the steals six to three but shot at 57 per cent with 30 compared to Montenegro’s 34 shots at 38 per cent.
Match 52. Classification 5-8 Semifinal, SERBIA 18 ITALY 15 (5-3, 6-7, 2-2, 5-3)
Serbia has bounced back from a horror start to the tournament which had three straight losses. This was the second win with a day to go. The redemption came slowly against Italy in a match where the match was tied numerous times and Italy had the lead for a small period in the second quarter. Serbia started with three goals, traded twice and Italy had the last say through Giorgio Marangolo’s second goal on extra at centre forward for 5-3 at the first break. Francesco Corelli opened the second period at two metres and Leonardo Nicolia, who hadn’t scored before this match, netted twice and went on to make an impact, not for all the right reasons. Goals were traded twice before Milan Zelic and Vuk Vasiljevic regained the lead for 9-8 from identical positions at the top. Corelli levelled from deep left and Uros Muncan, who scored two of the first three for Serbia, swapped with Antonio Chianese and Uros Rahpeyma closed the half on extra off the right post at 11-10 to Serbia.
There were two trades in the third quarter with Nicolia gaining his fourth from deep left on extra and Nikola Bistrovic netting his first of the week from the right-post position off a cross pass. Zelic started the fourth from wide left and soon after Nicolia was red-carded for misconduct. Corelli and Bistrovic swapped for 15-13 by 6:08. Angelo Sicali converted a penalty but Drobnjakovic and Neskovic for his third with a six-metre strike, had the match sewn up at 0:23. Dario Polizzi was red-carded; Corelli threw one in on extra from deep right for his fourth and Neskovic shit from eight metres for 18-15 with only as second left on the clock.
Match Heroes
Neskovic scored four, Drobnjakovic and Muncan three each for Serbia. Nicolia and Corelli netted four each for Italy with the goalkeepers grabbing nine saves.
Turning Point
It was really the final quarter after the match was squared eight times.
Stats Don’t Lie
Italy was brilliant on extra-man attack with 10 from 11 and blocked eight of Serbia’s 17 chances. The penalty goals were one each; Serbia won the steals eight to five and shot 39 times (46 per cent) to 26 (58 per cent).
Match 51. Classification 5-8 Semifinal, GREECE 18 HUNGARY 13 (4-2, 4-5, 6-4, 4-2)
Greece did what it should have done against Montenegro the day before and played solidly, to its abilities and took out the victory. There were plenty of fouls and Greece gave Hungary many chances, which it failed to capitalise on. Midway through the second quarter, Greece held a four-goal advantage only to let that slip and allow Hungary to knock on the door three times before pulling away to win the match comfortably. A pair of Kosmas Patsilinakos goals started the proceedings with captain Dimitrios Chatzis chiming in from the top left for 3-0. Hungary replied twice and Konstantinos Bitsakos scored from deep right on extra for 4-2. The match went to the quarter-time break and about a minute later a review was made for a penalty and it was awarded, bringing the players back into the pool for Dejan Divjak to have a penalty shot. He hit the crossbar, sadly.
Csaba Jambor, who scored Hungary’s second goal on extra, fired in a powerful centre-forward goal to start the second quarter. Goals were traded and then Greece rifled in three straight with strong centre forward Ilias Angelopoulos, Chatzis and Patsilinakos both on extra for 8-4. Hungary nearly nullified that differential with three goals, including Milan Moldisz’s very deep left-hand-catch shot — no angle at all. Noah Pinter, who scored the 5-4 goal needing VAR to determine if his seven-metre lob shot crossed the line, converted extra as did Divjak for 8-7 down at the long break.
The trades went to 11-9, Angelopoulos scoring twice from his favoured two-metre position with the second providing four baulks before nearly tearing the netting to shreds. Theodosios Motsias and Chatzis took the margin to three again. Jambor and Patsilinakos swapped and Spyridon Deligiannis received a cross pass to score on extra. Pinter converted extra at 0:03 for 14-11 at the last break. Evangelos Lampatos scored his second and third goals either side of a Hungarian pair and it was 16-13 at 5:52. Only two more goals came and they went to Greece via Angelopoulos from an air ball at centre and Bitsakos from the top at 1:40. It finished 18-13 in Greece’s favour.
Match Heroes
Angelopoulos and Patsilinakos scored four each and Lampatos and Chatzis on three each for Greece. Dimitrios Berdes made 10 saves in goal. For Hungary, Jambor and Pinter nailed four each.
Turning Point
Greece moving from 5-4 to 8-4 started to get separation although Hungary came back to one three times.
Stats Don’t Lie
Greece converted a superb eight from 11 and blocked 10 of 19 on extra. Greece gained a penalty goal and Hungary missed its one chance. Greece took the steals at six-four and the shots at 32-31.
Match 50. Classification 9-12 Semifinal, CANADA 15 TURKIYE 19 (5-5, 5-5, 2-5, 3-4)
This was a cat-and-mouse encounter with first Turkiye being the cat and Canada taking over that role briefly in the second quarter before Turkiye became the major predator. Turkiye scored the first two with Ivan Khramtsov starting an exchange period that lasted until the final quarter. Goals were traded until 4-2 and Darion Wang scored on extra and penalty to level Turkiye for the first of seven locked scores. Batur Yildiz gained his second and Khramtsov responded for 5-5 at the quarter break. Khramtsov and Aymen Altay, Turkiye’s opening scorer, took it to six apiece and Joshua Coxford gave Canada its second lead on extra. Turkiye whipped in two and Canada had to come back three times for 10-10 at the long break.
Yagiz Balkanli started the second half and Demir Gulsoy netted his third in seven minutes and his second penalty conversion. It was the second time Turkiye had a two-goal advantage after the 2-0. Elliot Griffioen, who scored the 9-9 goal, re-entered the picture, scoring twice for 13-12 down with Yildez and Altay increasing the bad news for Canada at 15-12 by the last break. Griffioen straddled Gulsoy’s penalty goal with a brace but two Turkish assaults had the margin at four by 3:49. Noah Loo scored at 1:44 and Sarp Ozkan put the seal on the match on extra at 1:24 for 19-15 and the match was virtually over.
Match Heroes
Altay with five goals; Gulsoy snared four and Yildiz three but the real star was goalkeeper Deniz Kaleagasi with 13 saves. For Canada, Griffioen topped with five and Khramtsov made four with the goalkeepers contributing nine saves.
Turning Point
The three-goal gaps that started opening up in the fourth quarter.
Stats Don’t Lie
Turkiye converted six from nine on extra and Canada four from seven. Turkiye scored three penalty goals to one, lost the steals eight to seven and shot the most at 41-36.
Match 49. Classification 9-12 Semifinal, NEW ZEALAND 13 CHINA 8 (3-3, 3-1, 5-2, 2-2)
New Zealand has never been better than 10th and that was back in the inaugural event in 2012. Now it has a chance to finish ninth after a solid victory over China. The Kiwis now have three victories and wish to finish with a fourth. China was 17th two years ago and its best was 16th in 2016. Being placed in the top eight here has helped the team but now has to settle for 11th at best, which would be it highest ranking. New Zealand opened but China took a 2-1 lead. The Kiwis flipped the lead with a pair of goals and China levelled before the first break. Captain Liu Yaozhong, who scored the second goal on extra, started the second quarter on counter for 4-3. Three Kiwi goals took the sting out of China’s tail, turning at 6-4.
Jacob Keightley, who scored the fourth goal, started the third period with a penalty strike for 7-5. Qiu Chengyi, China’s best performer here, replied on extra. Lachie Schnauer, who scored in each of the first two periods, claimed his third and penalty expert Riley Swindells converted another for 9-5. Max Norwell and Nikolas Selby made it a six-goal differential with Qiu going on counter for 11-6 a second before the last break. Baz Dunn, who scored the opener from centre forward, went on counter to open the final period. Wang Jinhui and Liu, both on extra, narrowed the score to 12-8 by 4:46. However, there was only one goal to be scored in the second half of the period and that was Keightley on extra for 13-8.
Match Heroes
Schnauer and Keightley with three apiece for the Kiwis. Liu also scored three for China.
Turning Point
The four-goal New Zealand spurt from 3-4 down to 704 ahead straddling halftime.
Stats Don’t Lie
New Zealand only scored one from four on extra but stopped five from nine; scored two penalty goals; won the steals 13-nine and the shots 33-28.
Match 48. Classification 17-18, ARGENTINA 10 SOUTH AFRICA 11 (3-2, 3-3, 1-2, 3-4)
Bruno Massa was the man for Argentina, scoring three goals in the opening quarter as his team held the edge by one over South Africa. He scored the first one on penalty and the third on extra from the top left. Cooper Haworth split his goals, drilling one from the top. Tyler Mwekassa nailed his shot on extra from deep left for his first in the championship. Connor McJannet levelled at the top of the second quarter, gathering the rebound to score from four metres to level at three. Timothy Young put South Africa in front for the first time from the top with a pair of Argentinian replies wresting that lead. David Latilla responded for 5-5 and Facundo Ramb scored from the same cross-pass-to-the-far-post shot to put Argentina 6-5 up at 4:52. It proved to be the last goal of the half.
It was just as exciting in the third period with Felipe Adler giving Argentina a two-goal lead on extra. Then Young struck twice late in the period to level at seven by the buzzer. Haworth and Massa traded goals at the top of the fourth and another swap meet kept the match tight. Massa and Young both scored on extra for 10-10 by 2:12. Argentina called a timeout at 0:43 to no avail with the ball stolen and at 0:20, Young made sure of the penalty strike for what was the winner at 11-10. On the final whistle, pandemonium struck with Massa and Taylor Seiler both sent on red cards and both for violence, meaning their names will be kept in the system for future events.
Match Heroes
Young with five goals for South Africa and Massa with five, also, for Argentina.
Turning Point
South Africa at 4-3, at 9-8 and 11-10. So close.
Stats Don’t Lie
South Africa may not have won the major statistics but won the match. Argentina made seven from 12 on extra and South Africa five from nine. Argentina scored two to one on penalty. South Africa snuck in for the steals at 10 to seven and the shots 30-22.
Match 47. Classification 19-20, HONG KONG 9 PORTUGAL 20 (0-2, 4-4, 5-7, 0-7)
Portugal gained its second win of the week and with it, 19th position in Rio Maior. The first win was on 13-11 against Argentina on day three. Portugal was made to work by Hong Kong after its substantial loss to Australia the day before. Portugal scored twice in the first quarter through Rafael Pereira, the first on extra and the second on penalty. Hong Kong showed a lot of spirit in the second quarter falling 5-2 down and then scoring the last two on extra for 6-4 behind at the halftime buzzer. Tsang Hoi converted a penalty and the last extra.
Portugal rammed home the first four goals of the third period — two each to Jose Jordao and Pereira — three were on penalty and one on counter. Goals were traded then Hong Kong rattled in three goals before Jordao went to the penalty line for Portugal. Goals were swapped again and it was 13-9 at the final break. Portugal rode a tidal wave to the finish post, scoring seven goals straight with Jordao scoring his fifth goal with a lob and Pereira the 16th on penalty and 19th goal on counter for his five. Hong Kong had no answer despite a valiant early showing and leaves Rio Maior without a win but a heap of experience. For both teams it was a new experience and something both can be proud of.
Match Heroes
Jordao and Pereira with five goals each and Duarte Pinto with three. Tsang scored a triple for Hong Kong.
Turning Point
Portugal going from 6-4 to 10-4, which gave the impetus for victory.
Stats Don’t Lie
Portugal netted all four extra-man plays and defended seven of 10. Scoring seven of eight penalty attempts proved critical as well. Hong Kong netted one. Portugal led the steals 11 to seven and the overall shots at 34-26.