For Canada’s part, Nicolas
Constantin-Bicari was in fine form, converting a penalty at 8-4 and
scoring a off an engineered drive. He then was fronted at centre forward
but he reached under his defender, popped the ball over his head and
earned a penalty shot, which, sadly, captain Kevin Graham could not
convert.

That penalty save was by one of the world’s best
goalkeepers, Josip Pavic, who was enjoying a relatively quiet day thanks
to his defence. He only had to make four saves while Robin Randall at
the other end stopped nine.

Croatia started well but then let Canada
into the match with a 3-3 second quarter. Canada hung on relentlessly,
losing the other two quarters by a single goal.

A referee mistake in
the second quarter sent Paulo Obradovic from the water when a penalty
was called. Obradovic thought he had been sent from the match as the
referee gesticulated suspension with substitution. The scoreboard had
“OUT” against his name. This was subsequently changed to “2” and he
could return but Tucak elected to keep him on the bench for the rest of
the bench, even though he had scored two goals.

Eight goals against
the Olympic champion is no mean feat and Canada will not be worried by
match-losing statistic. This tournament has a long way to go yet.

Match 10: 10:50, Group B, CROATIA 13 CANADA 8
Quarters: 3-0, 3-3, 4-3, 3-2
Referees: Mark Koganov (GER), Masoud Rezvani (IRI).
Extra Man: CRO: 1/2. CAN: 2/2
Pens: CRO: 1/1. CAN: 2/2.

Teams:
CROATIA: Josip Pavic, Luke Loncar, Ivan Milakovic, Fran Paskuvalin (1), Maro Jokovic (2), Luka Bukic, Petar Muslim (3), Andro Butuje, Sandro Sukno (3), Niksa Dobud (1), Andelo Setka (1), Paul Obradovic (2), Marko Bijac. Head Coach: Ivica Tucak.
CANADA: Robin Randall, Constantine Kudaba, Oliver Vikalo (1), Nicolas Constantin-Bicari (2), Justin Boyd, (1) Scott Robinson (1), Alec Taschereau, Kevin Graham (1), Devon Diggle (1), John Conway (1), Luka Gasic, Jared McElroy, Ivan Marcisin. Head Coach: Alex Beslin.
 
FLASH QUOTES:

Petar Muslim (CRO):
“This was a very good game. We opened it well, but it is impossible to keep up that rhythm for the entire game, so the third quarter saw some mistakes, but overall I am very happy we how it went.”
Sandro Sukno (CRO):
“We had the upper hand for most of the game. We showed our team´s quality and we will be even better in the next game.”
Ivica Tucak (Head Coach)
“We played well and controlled the game, except some small mistakes in defence we did a good job.”
Paulo Obradovic (CRO):
“We played well, the most important thing is that we are the first in our group so this makes our path to the semifinals much easier.”
Alel Tascherreau (CAN):
“It’s a pity we didn’t start well in the first quarter because otherwise we could have gotten a better result. The next game against USA will be tough for us. It’s my first international competition and we still have a young team, so we need more time.”
Kevin Graham (CAN):
“It was a very important game, Croatia is a strong team and we are a young team so we are still developing. It was an OK game, we have to become more stable in defence so we can play better. The performance was disappointing, but not the result — we missed a lot of chances.”