Group D — Szeged

THAILAND 2 SPAIN 30

The young and inexperienced Thai women showed good character in the first two matches and faced their biggest test in the last round of the group stage. Spain had to give everything to beat Greece’s score, because it would have been one of the scenarios where this game's final score mattered for the final ranking. Spain gave no chance to Thailand, scoring 12 unanswered goals in the first half. We have seen the most goals in the third quarter with Thailand finally on the table scoring two, while Spain scored 11, almost as many as in the first half. After four quarters, Spain finished with one goal better in defence, than Greece had against Thailand.

Match heroes
Kritsana Puangtong was the best again, scoring two beautiful goals from outside, and on the other side, Judith Forca scored more goals individually than Thailand — seven from nine attempts.

Turning point
From the first minute, Spain totally controlled the match and chased a better result than Greece's against Thailand.

Stats don’t lie
Elena Ruiz scored five from five, Laura Ester kept a clean sheet in goal — five from five. Spain had 75 per cent from extra-man-advantage situations.

Bottom line
Thailand played its first international matches and learnt a lot from those and now can prepare for slightly easier games against almost-same-level teams.

What they said
Miguel Oca (ESP) — Head Coach
“Today was difficult; we should score as many as we can, because of the former results. Thailand is a really young team in this competition, but they were playing really organised. I hope they grow for the next championship.”
Judith Forca (ESP) — Player of the Match and Seven Goals
“We did the job we had to do to (try and) get first place in the group. We had to score as many goals as we could. It was me today who had the most, but it could be anyone else. We have to continue and keep winning to get the gold medal.”
Natalya Rustamova (THA) — Head Coach
“Of course, we had very good experience playing against great teams. We could improve our tactics, technique and swimming skills. Today was the last chance for the younger players to be in the pool, because the coming games will be more serious for us, that’s why I gave more minutes for them today. Probably we will play against Brazil, South Africa and Colombia and my dream is to win our first game.”
Kritsana Puangtong (THA) —Two Goals
“We had a good game and had a lot of experiences from the previous two, too. We improved a lot from the first till the last match. I’m really proud that I could score seven goals in the group stage and it always helps my team-mates to be better. We will prepare for the crossover and try to win.”

 

FRANCE 4 GREECE 15

All the Greek women had just one goal before the last game — beating France by at least 11 goals, no matter how. The French side knew it needed a miracle to be in second place in the group. Greece started with rock-solid defence and attack, winning the first two quarters 4-1. France started really awful in attack, scoring just two from 13. In the third quarter, Greece missed its first extra situation and only scored three goals while letting in one, so the difference was just eight before the last quarter. Time was running by but, as in Hollywood movies, miracles can come at the last minute and Greece finally scored the decisive goal and won the group.

Match heroes
Vasiliki Plevritou was the main sharpshooter for Greece three goals from nine shots. Elena Xenaki also scored three from five attempts, were enough for her to win player of the match.

Turning point
Greece’s hard and effective defence was the key in the first half to outscore France by six goals and took an early lead and also the extremely low shooting efficiency from the French women.

Stats don’t lie
France scored in all four quarters, but could only convert two from 10 on extra and action goals were hard to come by with just four from 29 shots. Greece mostly leaned on extra-man attack (8/10). All three Plevritou sisters scored multiple goals. Ioanna Stamatapoulou finished with 69 per cent saving efficiency.

Bottom line
France needs to be so much better in attack and improve in shooting efficiency, and must now prepare for the crossovers. Greece has more days off and is heading to Budapest and they are in the best eight teams in the world.

What they said
Alexia Anna Kammenou (GRE) — Head Coach
“Our plan was exactly that. We wanted to be very strong in defence. We knew that could be a really stressful game, because we were trying to beat Spain in goal difference. Thankfully we stayed focused in defence and the goals were coming slowly. The path is very hard now, we should forget the group stage, even this game and prepare for the coming games. Before the last goal I told them to stay relaxed, where to pass. They had to be calm. I said that because I had to hear it also. Maybe I was stressed, but I always believe in my players, so I was sure to make it.”
Erini Ninou (GRE) — Winning Goal
“First of all, we should play a good game, not only in offence, but really good in defence to be the first in our group. We should have stayed calm, not gone crazy and scored goals. The last goal came in the last minute and we achieved what we wanted. Our coach gave some directions before the last goals, but it wasn’t specific, we always do the same. I was really relieved, because I didn’t touch the ball perfectly and just threw it and when I saw it, it was amazing.”
Emilien Bugeaud (FRA) — Head Coach
“Mentality was really good in this game; both teams played their maximums, so congratulations for both of them. It was a good water polo game where both tried to achieve top places, so I’m happy after all. I have to admit that Greece was better today, especially in shooting efficiency. Both defences worked well, the rhythm was good. You always expect more, but when you see your players give the maximum, you can’t be unhappy.”
Camelia Bouloukbachi (FRA) — Athlete
“I’m not happy with the result. We weren’t on our level; we didn’t show what we were capable of. We prepared and trained so much, so I’m not happy. At least we were good in defence; we tried to stay focused and keep Greece far away from our goal. We do a lot of video analysing to prepare for the coming stage and no teams would surprise us, hopefully. We have never been in Szeged before. We loved the pool, the food. Thanks for the organisation and for all the volunteers.”

Final Points and Ranking: Greece 5, Spain 5, France 2, Thailand 0.