Classification 13-14 — Szeged
GERMANY 16 KAZAKHSTAN 7

It was the final trial of strength for the teams, fighting for 13th place. Kazakhstan spent the whole tournament in Szeged, chasing its first win, while Germany came here two days ago and earned its first victory against Brazil to get to the classification match. The Kazakhs took the lead twice in the first quarter, but missed some shots and let in two unanswered goals. With that two-goal advantage, Germany calmed down and started to play its game and increase the lead quarter by quarter.

Match heroes
Murat Shakenov finished the tournament with the most goals from his team, scoring three in this match. Lukas Kuppers scored four goals and became a back-to-back MVP.

Turning point
Kazakhstan had a good start, but Germany built momentum and won all the quarters with at least two goals difference.

Stats don’t lie
Kazakhstan missed the only penalty shot and only scored three from nine extra-player opportunities. Germany was 57 per cent accurate from all the actions, scored three penalty goals from four and was 66 per cent from extra plays. Moritz Schenkel (GER) had a 67 per cent saving efficiency.

Bottom line
The Kazakhs have a young and new team and they would earn a lot from this experience and be back stronger next time. Germany finished with two wins and takes home 13th place.

What they said
Petar Porobic (GER) — Head Coach
“It is very easy to notice that when they play with goal difference they play better. It is very important for us that we won this game; it gave us a lot of confidence. The organisation was very good; thank you Hungary!”
Lukas Kuppers (GER) — Player of the Match
“I’m really happy about this game. The 13th place is a good result for a young team like us. At the beginning we were a little bit nervous, but at the end it came out well. We analysed our mistakes and went step by step to fix them.”
Alexey Shmider (KAZ) — Centre Back
“Whole tournament was amazing, as always and it showed that we were not ready now. We have many young players, inexperienced at international level. It is what it is; we should keep going and be better. It was an amazing event; the first time in their life (youngsters) and they have to be motivated.”