Hungary upsets Italy and climbs atop Group B; Montenegro helps Spain

The last day of the competition in Division 1 of the 36th Men’s European Championships was packed with a lot of excitement.

Hungary caused the first surprise in the tournament. The young team of the country of the world champions convincingly defeated Italy 10:5 and qualified directly for the quarterfinals.

Moreover, Hungary climbed atop the table of Group B in Zagreb. Three teams won six points each in this group – Italy, Greece and Hungary. Therefore, the encounters between these three teams determined the standings.

The Hungarians needed exactly a 5-goal victory over Italy to finish atop. They secured the desired margin with a last-gasp goal three seconds before the end. This result pushed Italy to 2nd and Greece to 3rd place.

Spain finished atop Group A in Dubrovnik. The Spaniards beat France 9:6 in the first match of the third round in the “Gruz pool” and qualified for the quarterfinals. Croatia faced off Montenegro in the last game and needed two points to keep 1st place. An exciting encounter between the Croats and the Montenegrins ended in a draw – 11:11, so a penalty shootout decided a winner. The Montenegrins won two points (15:13), but the penalty shootout win didn’t help them move from 3rd place. However, it helped Spain, which finished atop the group, while Croatia will go to the quarterfinals from the 2nd place.

2024 European Men’s Championships (January 4 – 16), Day 5

Group A (Dubrovnik)

Montenegro – Croatia 15:13 (2:4, 3:1, 3:4, 3:2, PSO 4:2)

Montenegro: Dj.Radovic 3, Vujovic 1, Perkovic 1, Mrsic 1, Popadic 1, Vidovic 1, Spaic 1, Matkovic 1.
Croatia: Zuvela 3, Marinic Kragic 3, Kharkov 2, Fatovic 1,Bukic 1, Vukicevic 1.

Penalty shootout – Croatia: Marinic Kragic, Buric (Tesanovic saved a shot from Kharkov in round 2 and Fatovic in round 4) ; Montenegro: Dj.Radovic, Ukropina, Perkovic

The duel between the neighbors produced a lot of twists and turns. Both teams had chances to secure a win in the regular time.

Croatia started better and earned a 2-goal lead in the first quarter (2:0, 3:1, 4:2). Montenegro scored three goals in a row in the second period and went ahead for the first time (5:4), but Zuvela leveled at 5:5 before the end of the first half. The Croats retook control in the third period and rebuilt a two-goal lead (9:7). Montenegro was able to make a new comeback. Twelve seconds before the end of the quarter, Djuro Radovic converted a penalty for 8:9. The same player prolonged the series with two goals by the middle of the fourth quarter and put Montenegro in front again – 10:9. Vukcevic leveled at 10:10.

Two minutes and 13 seconds before the final buzzer, Montenegro’s Vlado Popadic was excluded for a brutality. After a VAR review, the referees decided that he made a violent foul while swimming. Montenegro played with a man fewer until the end, and Croatia had a chance to took a lead from a penalty shot. But, Loren Fatovic missed a penalty. Still, two minutes after, Bukic scored for 11:10.

Still, Montenegro didn’t surrender and playing with a man fewer leveled at 11:11 in the 31st minute. Everything was open. If Montenegro had won 3 points, it would have finished in 2nd and Croatia in 3rd place. Djuro Radovic found the net for the fourth time with 19 seconds left, but the goal was disallowed because Radovic was in the 6-meter zone (it was a direct shot after a foul).

The match prolonged into a shootout. Montenegro celebrated the win thanks to saves by Petar Tesanovic, but the real winners are the Spaniards, who will have an easier task in the quarterfinals than Croatia.

Spain – France 9:6 (1:1, 3:2, 3:1, 2:2)

Spain: Granados 3, Perrone 3, Tahull 2, Munarriz 1.

France: Crousillat 2, Bouet 1, Khasz 1, Bodegas 1, Vanpeperstraete 1.

Spain’s head coach David Martin surprised the rival with the roster as Bernat Sanahuja was on the stands, while Eduardo Lorrio was a starting goalkeeper instead of Unai Aguirre.

But, Lorrio proved his quality and met expectations already in the first minute, when he saved a penalty shot from Alexandre Bouet. Both goalkeepers, Lorrio and France’s Fontani, did a good job, so the score after the first eight minutes was 1:1.

The French took a 2:1 and 3:2 lead in the second quarter. Granados leveled on both occasions, and Munarriz gave Spain a 4:3 advantage  late into the first half. In the next 16 minutes, France didn’t catch up with Spain, but the game was very interesting until the end, even though three goals separated the rivals after the final buzzer. The Spaniards entered the final period leading 7:4. France cut the deficit to one with a goal from Ugo Crousillat in the middle of the final period (6:7) and his team was back into the game.

Spain’s captain, Felipe Perrone, took responsibility in the crucial moments. France failed to equalize with a man-up in the 31^st minute. In the next action, Felipe Perrone found the net from a nice lob from seven meters – 8:6 and practically secured a win for Spain. He put an end to the contest with a power-play goal in Spain’s last possession.

Standings: 1. Spain 7, 2. Croatia 6, 3. Montenegro 4, 4. France 1

Group B (Zagreb)

Hungary – Italy 10:5 (0:1, 3:0, 4:3, 3:1)

Hungary: Fekete 3, Vin.Vigvari 2, Nagy 2, Burian 1, Kovacs 1, Harai 1.
Italy: Condemi 1, Marziali 1, Fondelli 1, Velotto 1, Dolce 1.

Italy was without Edoardo Di Somma, who was suspended because of a red card in the match against Greece. Head coach Alessandro Campagna left Francesco Di Fulvio out of the team. However, even without two stars, Italy was the favorite in the game against the young Hungarian team.

But a highly motivated and well-prepared young team with only six players born in the 20th century (headed by an experienced center-forward, Balazs Harai) proved it was able to do feats. Indeed, Italy didn’t play well, it made too many mistakes. It had a terrible percentage of shots, especially in the first half (1/16), but none of these diminish the significance of the Hungarians’ success. Limiting Italy to five goals is an impressive accomplishment in itself for any team.

The first half saw 17 exclusions (Hungary committed 10, and Italy 7 personal fouls) and only three goals.

Italy had two penalty shots in the first half and missed both, while it had six man-up shots, converting only one. Just 01:45 minutes before the first break, Luca Marziali broke the deadlock, giving the “Settebello” a 1:0 lead. The Hungarians started converting their man-up opportunities in the second quarter and went ahead (2:1) in the 12th minute. Four seconds before the end, Adam Nagy fired the ball from eight meters to make it 3:1. It was the first action goal in the match.
Hungary kept the momentum and added two goals after halftime and went to 5:1. Then, Alessandro Campagna called a time-out. After that break, Italy forced a penalty foul. Condemi hit the back of the net and ended his team’s 15-minute goalless phase. Shortly after Dolce added an action goal, it seemed the Italians could return. However, the Hungarians dictated the pace. Hungary led 7:4 before the final period. In the 25th minute, Fondelli made it 5:7. It turned out that it was Italy’s last goal in the game.
Three minutes before the end, Hungary regained a four-goal lead with a goal from Fekete (9:5). It was clear that Italy and Hungary would qualify for the quarterfinals, but the question of 1st place was reopened. In the following minutes, there were a few misses, blocks, and lost balls at both ends of the pool. Hungary’s head coach called a time-out with 36 seconds left on the clock. Fifteen seconds before the end,Nicholas Prescuitti committed a personal foul, and Hungary got a chance to secure a 5-goal win with a man-up. Adam Nagy sent the ball into the net at 0:03 for the great joy of Hungary’s players and fans.
The Hungarians’ rival in the quarterfinals will be France or Serbia, while Italy will meet Montenegro or Germany.

Georgia – Greece 9:18 (2:5, 3:6, 3:3, 1:4)

Georgia: Jelaca 6, Shushiashvili 1, Dzikhtsiarenka 1, Pjesivac 1.

Greece: Genodunoias 3, Argyropoulos 3, Kakaris 3, Kalogeropoulos 2, Fountoulis 2, Skoumpakis 1, Papanastasiou 1, Nikolaidis 1,Dervisis 1, Gkillas 1,

Greece had ups and downs in the game in Georgia, but it controlled everything in the pool and recorded a comfortable win. Two series of goals (4:0 and 5:0) made the difference. Two and a half minutes before the first break, the teams were tied at 2:2. Then, Greece produced a 4:0 run and jumped to 6:2 (9th minute). However, the Georgians didn’t surrender and halved the deficit twice (4:6 and 5:7). Still, their hope didn’t last for long. Greece scored five unanswered goals between  the 13th and 18th minute and earned a comfortable 12:5 lead.

Standings: 1. Hungary 6, 2. Italy 6, 3. Greece 6, 4. Georgia 0.

The mini table of the encounters between the teams with the same number of points: 1. Hungary 3 (+3), 2. Italy 3 (+2), 3. Greece 3 (-5)