President’s Cup: Argentina beat Serbia and claim 17th place

20 Jan. 2019

President’s Cup: Argentina beat Serbia and claim 17th place

Serbia - Argentina 28:30 (15:13)



The final game of the tournament in Copenhagen was a match between Serbia and Argentina.
Both nations were striving for the 17th spot in the championship.

The teams had a nervous start to the game, which meant that the score was still 0:1 after 6 minutes of play. Ilic and Kukic scored the first two goals for Serbia and Fernandez and Crivelli did the same for Argentina. The most prominent players during the first ten minutes were the goalkeepers who kept the score low at 2:3.

After this the game picked up a bit of pace and Serbia got a two-goal lead towards the 15-minute mark of the half. In the same minute Argentina missed a penalty and the Serbia team were quick to punish the mistake: 6:3. At the score 7:3 Argentina called a time-out. After the time-out, the teams became more even, and the Serbian lead was cut down to only one goal.

In minute 20, Argentina was awarded a penalty which they used to even out the score, 8:8. With seven minutes remaining of the half, Marsenic from Serbia had been presented with a yellow card while Moscariello and Fischer from Argentina also both had one.

Towards the end of the first 30 minutes, the goals came at a faster pace and Serbia were able to take a three-goal lead with only 3 minutes left to play. A save from Schulz and a goal from Crivelli cut the Serbian lead down to only one goal, but a late goal from Radivojevic meant that the score was 15:13 as the first half ended.

Not much changed during the first minutes of the second half, as Serbia and Argentina scored an equal amount of goals. Serbia kept a two-goal lead well into the half, but the South Americans kept a hold of their opponents by not giving up.

Halfway through the second half Argentina finally managed to equalise with a penalty scored by number 2, Fernandez. In minute 16, the referees called for the video proof to decide whether Martinez from Argentina should be penalised with a two-minute suspension. Martinez received a suspension and the match went on.

Towards the 20-minute mark of the second half, Serbia had yet again a two-goal lead. This lead was eliminated by Juan Fernandez when he scored his third goal of the game. With eight minutes left to play Argentina took the lead for the first time by converting a penalty to a goal. 24:25. Serbia was ruthless and within 1 minute they both equalised and took the lead.

With four minutes remaining of both the game and the World Cup in Copenhagen Serbia were ahead by two goals 28:26. Frederick Fernandez scored his ninth goal of the game bringing him to a total of 33 goals in the tournament and the Serbian lead down to only one goal.

In the 27th minute, Crivelli from Argentina levelled the score and 30 seconds later, Baronetto put Argentina in front: 29:28. This made Serbia call for a time-out but with little effect as Argentina could enhance the lead with one more goal.

The game ended with an Argentinian 30:28 win. The South Americans therefore take rank number 17 and Serbia finish 18th.

 

­­hummel Player of the Match: Manuel Crivelli (ARG)

 

Statements after the match

Manolo Cadenas, Argentian Coach: Most teams are really tired by now, but both teams played really well tonight. Serbia dominated the game except the last part, where we took control. Congratulation to Nenad he brought many young players to the tournament, well done.

Nenad Perunicic, Serbian coach: The injury in the first half influenced the entire match. We missed him throughout the match. We had a good defence and our goal keeper had some god saves but still our immatureness and nerves contributed to us not going into the next round. The Argentinian team used this against us and played safer than us during the last part of the game. They deserved the win.

Manuel Crivelli, Argentina: It was a really tough match as both teams were very tired. It was a goal by goal match and I am happy that we took the win.

Vladimir Cupara, Serbia: First of all, a congratulations to Argentina. We are a young team with a great future ahead of us.