Spain, the reigning World and European champion, hosted Team USA in its first official match in preparations for the European Championships in Belgrade.
The game took place in Barcelona and was part of The Christmas Cup. Spain achieved a convincing victory, 16:9 (4:1, 4:2, 4:2, 4:4). The Christmas Cup will end with a second matchup between Spain and the USA, which will be played in Terrassa.
Spain dominated from the beginning of the game in Barcelona. The hosts led 4:1 at the first break. Midway through the second quarter, the Spaniards built a 5-goal advantage (6:1) and maintained the difference until halftime (8:3). The European and World champions established an 8-goal lead in the third period (12:4). The Americans reduced the gap to seven before the balanced period, which saw four goals scored at each end of the pool.
Alvaro Granados scored four goals for Spain. Unai Biel, Sergi Cabanas, Bernat Sanahuja, and Francisco Valera added two each. Pol Daura, Marc Larumbe, Roger Tahull, and Marc Valls contributed one goal each to the victory.
Nicolas Saveljic was the only player to score more than one goal for the USA. He found the net four times. Besides him, the Dodd brothers, Ehrhardt, Liechty, and Ohl got on the scoresheet. The Spanish defense, led by Unai Aguirre, successfully shut down Team USA’s captain, Max Irving, while one of the USA’s top scorers, Hannes Daube, was not on the roster for the match in Barcelona.
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