Dennis
Eidner emerged as a star with three goals. He scored on extra-man
attack in the opening quarter, snapped in a shot on rebound in the
second and produced one of the goals of the championship when he
accepted a cross pass from his left at centre forward, took the ball
cleanly above the water, turned his wrist and right-back-handed the ball
into goal for 9-5.
Romania was not finished and Ianc thundered a
shot under the right arm of the goalkeeper; Andrei Busila scored cross
cage at 3:19 and Alexandru Ghiban was free on a short drive, accepted a
pass and scored at 2:33 for 9-8. The game was alive, big time.
Germany
had trouble getting past Romanian goalkeeper Dragos Stoenescu and in
the final stages Romania had three chances to score, losing the ball
twice and Ghiban inexplicably not taking a shot with the final attempt,
attempting to gain a 5m foul, but instead waiting for a defender to
steal the ball, which he did. Any chance of a draw was expunged.
Romanian
head coach Vlad Hagiu appealed for some minutes after the match to the
referee but it was clearly a bad mistake by the player.
It was Germany’s sixth consecutive victory against Romania since losing in the 2006 World League.
Match 20: 13:30, Group D, GERMANY 9 ROMANIA 8
Quarters: 4-3, 3-0, 1-2, 1-3
Referees: Sergy Naumov (RUS), Brian Littlejohn (GBR)
Extra Man: GER: ½. ROU: 0/3.
Pens: GER: 2/2. ROU: 1/1
Teams:
GERMANY: Roger Kong, Erik Bukowski, Erik Miers, Julian Real, Till Rohe, Maurice Juengling, Heiko Nossek (2), Paul Schueler (3), Marko Stamm, Moritz Oeler (1), Andreas Schlotterbeck, Dennis Eidner (3), Moritz Schenkel. Head Coach: Nebojsa Novoselac.
ROMANIA: Dragos Stoenescu, Petru Ianc (2), Tiberiu Negrean, Nicolae Diaconu (2), Daniel Teohari, Andrei Busila (2), Alexandru Matei (1), Mihnea Chioveanu, Dimitri Goanta, Ramiro Georgescu, Alexandru Ghiban (1), Adrei Cretu, Mihai Dragusin. Head Coach: Vlad Hagiu.
FLASH QUOTES:
Moritz Schenkel (GER):
“We expected a game like this because it was the last chance for Romania to finish second or third. Our main difference was the concentration we had at the beginning of the match.”
Andreas Schlotterbeck (GER):
“I’m very disappointed with the way we finished the game, in the last quarter we didn’t do anything. It’s hard for us to play at the same level throughout the four quarters. I’m very proud of our supporters; they give us an enormous strength. We can hear them when we play.”
Nebojsa Novoselac (GER Head Coach):
“Of course, I´m happy we won, but not about the manner we played in the last quarter. We lost too many chances and let them score goals. There is one player in particular that I’m not satisfied with but I will tell him personally. On the other hand, I have to compliment Dennis Eidner who fought and struggled very well. I’m very impressed by our supporters, they were already there during the training camp and will make even more noise during the next game against Australia.”
Alexandru Andrei Ghiban (ROU):
“We did our best, and our game improved in the final minutes. Unfortunately, we finished the fourth quarter one point down so this is not good and we aren´t satisfied because we are now playing against Serbia, which is a very good team and is going to be a very difficult game. We must score more goals and not let the others score those easy goals.”
Petru Ianc (ROU):
“It was a very hard game. We started very badly but after halftime we improved our game but finally we didn´t win the match and the team is unsatisfied.”
Vlad Hagiu (ROU Head Coach):
“We played better from the second period. The goals were perfect. Against Serbia we just have to play as strong as today. Our team is under construction — we are missing a main player, but I am still very proud of my team. We probably will not win against Serbia, but we have come here to take part.”