Two penalty thrillers in Dubrovnik: Croatia beats Spain; two points for Montenegro

The first day of the 36th European Men’s Championship in Croatia was filled with excitement, as both matches in Group A in Dubrovnik ended in penalty shootouts.

In the highly anticipated big match of the day match, Croatia emerged victorious over Spain –  14:12 (9:9 in regular time), putting the hosts one step closer to the top spot in Group A. A few hours earlier, Montenegro and France faced in the “Gruz Pool”. SInce there was no winner in regular time (10:10). Montenegro  won two points after 20 shots in the penalty shootout – 20:19.

There were no surprises in Group B in Zagreb. Greece beat a rejuvenated team of Hungary 10:8, while Italy ran over  Georgia (22:5)

The Division 2 competition is set to begin tomorrow.

2024 European Men’s Championships (January 4 – 16), Day 1

Group A (Dubrovnik)

Spain – Croatia 12:14 (1:2, 5:2, 2:2, 1:3, PSO 3:5)

Spain: Granados 2, Sanahuja 2, Larumbe 2, Perrone 2, Munarriz 1.
Croatia: Fatovic 2, Bukic 2, Buric 1, Biljaka 1, Zuvela 1, Marinic Kragic 1, Kharkov 1.

Penalty shootout – Croatia: Marinic Kragic, Kharkov, Buric, Fatovic, Zuvela; Spain: Perrone, Munarriz, Larumbe (Bijac saved a shot from Bijac in the 2nd round)

Both teams were focused on defense in the opening minutes. The first goal came only in the 5th minute when Loren Fatovic converted a man-up. Jerko Marinic Kragic doubled the hosts’ advantage shortly after, but Croatia lost Zvonimir Butic in the 8th minute. He was red-carded (an exclusion with substitution). Still, Croatia kept the lead until the 13th minute. Sanahuja leveled at 3:3. Kharkov replied, but then Spain started dominating. Granados made it 4:4. That was followed by two goals from counterattacks (Munarriz and Larumbe) and Spain went to 6:4.

Midway through the third period, Spain led 7:5 and had a chance to widen the gap to three, but Croatia’s goalkeeper Marko Bijac stole the ball from Granados in a counterattack. Spain entered the fourth quarter leading 8:6. The Croats forced two exclusions in the dying seconds of the third quarter and won the swim-off at the beginning of the fourth, so it had a 6 on 4 in its first possession in the final quarter. The home team wasted this double man-up, but in the continuation of the attack (after a save by Unai Aguirre, who was outstanding today), Bukic scored for 7:8. Biljaka made it 8:8 (27th minute).

In the next possession, Larumbe gave Spain a 9:8 advantage,but Spain wasn’t in front for long. Loren Fatovic leveled at 9:9 in the following attack. It happened 04:28 minutes before the end. Both teams had nice chances to score a winner. There were a lot of blocks and saves at both ends of the pool. Croatia had a man-up in the last nine seconds, but there were no goals and the match entered the shootout.

Croatia’s goalkeeper Marko Bijac emerged as a winner in a shootout. He blocked a shot from Granados in the 2nd round. It turned out that it was the only missed penalty, which decided the winner.

Montenegro – France 20:19 (2:4, 2:1, 3:2, 3:3, PSO 10:9)

Montenegro: Matkovic 3, Perkovic 2, Macic 1, Spaic 1, Ukropina 1, Averka 1, Popadic 1.
France: Vernoux 4, Crousillat 3, Marzouki 2,Bjorch 1.

Penalty shootout – France: Vernoux 2, Zivkovic 2, Marzouki 2, Marion-Vernoux 2, Crousillat (Tesanovic saved a shot from Crousillat in the 10th round) ; Montenegro: Vidovic 2, Perkovic 2, Popadic 2, Brguljan 2, Ukropina 2.

In a closely contested match, France held the lead for the most part but managed to win only one point and will probably finish at the bottom of the table if it doesn’t surprise Croatia or (and) Spain.

Montenegro’s win will probably help it avoid a potential clash with Serbia in the crossover round, provided there are no surprises in the following matches.

The French had a 2-goal advantage at the first break and in the middle of the second quarter (5:3). The Montenegrins produced a 3:0 run. They halved the difference by the middle break and opened the third quarter with two quick goals. Matkovic leveled at 5:5. Macic put Montenegro in front from a counter-attack. But, immediately after, Crousillat punished the confusion in defense of Montenegro to make it 6:6. Perkovic replied with a backhander. After four goals in the first 01:18 minutes of the third quarter, only one was scored before the last break . Vernoux leveled at 7:7.

France started well in the final quarter, taking an 8:7 and 9:8 lead. In the 28th minute, the French regained a 2-goal advantage. Montenegro’s goalkeeper Tesanovic saved a shot from Vampeperstraete, but Vernoux scored from a rebound – 10:8. Montenegro managed to catch up with the rival. Ukropina equalized at 10:10 with 01:49 minutes left on the clock. Nobody found the net in the remaining time and the drama continued with a penalty shootout.

There were no misses in the first nine rounds of shots. In the 10th round, Petar Tesanovic saved a shot from France’s most experienced player, Ugo Crousillat. At the other end of the pool, Ukropina made no mistake and secured two points for Montenegro.

Group B (Zagreb)

Hungary – Greece 8:10 (1:2, 2:3, 3:2, 2:3)

Hungary: Fekete 3, Tatrai 2, Burian 2, Nagy 1.
Greece: Fountoulis 2, Argyropoulos 2, Kakaris 2, Vlachopoulos 2, Nikolaidis 1, Skoumpakis 1.

Greece beat Hungary in the rematch of the 2023 World Championships final, but Hungary’s head coach, Zsolt Varga, shouldn’t be unsatisfied with his team’s performance. Hungary arrived without nine world champions to Croatia. Young players have an opportunity to prove their potential. Based on what was seen today, Hungary has a nice future. The Hungarians played a good game, they were highly motivated and showed a fighting spirit. Still, Greece’s quality and experience prevailed.

Hungary’s David Tatrai scored the first goal in the match, from a counterattack, in the third minute. Greece responded with three, and from then on, it was always ahead. However, it wasn’t an easy win. After Kakaris netted for 3:1, the teams exchanged goals until the middle of the final quarter. Hungary chased the Greeks, which didn’t let them equalize. However, the Greek team made too many mistakes in the attack and couldn’t build a big lead. The Greeks had a poor percentage of extra player shots (2/10), which was their main problem today. Still, they controlled the result, but the game was open. Hungary’s last hope was a goal from leftie Gergely Burian for 7:8 in the 28th minute. Still, Greece regained a 2-goal lead in the next possession – Skoumpakis scored from a 6 on 5 to make it 9:7. In the 31st minute, Argytopoulos converted a penalty shot – 10:7 and silenced the large group of Hungarian fans in the stands.

Georgia – Italy 5:22 (0:5, 2:6, 0:6, 3:5)

Georgia: Pjesivac 2, Akhvlediani 1, Vasic 1, Bitadze 1.
Italy: Di Fulvio 5, Fondelli 5, Condemi 4, Cannella 2, Renzuto Iodice 2, Marziali 1, Bruni 1, Di Somma 1, Dolce 1.

Italy demonstrated its power in the opening match of the tournament in Zagreb. The “Settebello” netted five unanswered goals in the first quarter. The Georgians got on the scoreboard in the 10th minute. Shortly after, they added one more goal (2:6), but Italy held them goalless in the following 19 minutes, scoring 14 goals for a huge 20:2 advantage. Georgia scored three consolation goals in the last 03:19 minutes.

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