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Poland cruise to crucial win against Brazil

19 Jan. 2021

Poland cruise to crucial win against Brazil

An 8:3 run to start the second half against Brazil was enough for Poland to secure their second win at Egypt 2021 (33:23).

Both teams will join Spain in Group I of the main round, set to be played in the New Capital Hall, with the Spanish side starting with three points, followed by Poland, with two points, and Brazil with only one point.

GROUP B
Brazil vs Poland 23:33 (11:13)

With both teams through to the main round after Spain’s win against Tunisia, it was not a matter of pride, but of practicality and everything about their future at the World Championship.

As Brazil were already taking one point in the next phase of the competition, Poland needed to win to improve their chances in the main round.

And winning they did, after a hard-fought, nerve-wrecking game against a spirited South American side that seemed to be impossible to shrug.

Poland enjoyed a lively start, as the Brazilian defence had little answer for towering line player Maciej Gebala, who scored four goals and forced two penalties, which were converted by right wing Arkadiusz Moryto.

It was Moryto himself who created the first gap in a previously deadlocked game, scoring all of Poland’s goals in an unanswered 3:0 run that lifted the European side to an 8:5 lead.

However, Brazil bounced back with their own 4:0 run, spurred by fellow right wing Fabio Chiuffa to take back the lead (9:8).

Eventually, it was still Poland who finished the half on a high to boast a 13:11 lead at the break, after converting 62 per cent of their shots.

If Brazil wanted to take some points out of the game, though, they should have avoided a total collapse in the first minutes of the second half.

Poland jumped to an 8:3 run that opened a six-goal gap (21:14) with backs Szymon Sicko and Maciej Majdzinski scoring twice each in that time.

Having already mustered a six-goal comeback against Spain in the first match, Brazil tried to repeat such a comeback, but there was little that they could do, especially as Poland punished their aggressive tactics, with coach Alvaro Herdeiro substituting the goalkeeper for an outfield player in attack.

Poland scored a plethora of empty-goal shots to take a 10-goal advantage (25:15) that proved unbeatable.

With Sicko and Majdzinski virtually unstoppable, with a combined tally of 10 goals in the second half, Poland cruised to a crucial 33:23 win, as they will start the main round on two points, one more than Brazil.

Placing second in the group, Poland will face Uruguay on Thursday, in their first game in the main round, while Brazil play against Group A winners, Hungary.

hummel Player of the Match: Adam Morawski, Poland