In a great performance, an unforgettable match, Olympic champion Serbia defeated world and European champion Spain 12:11 (3:3,3:2, 3:3, 3:4). A match to remember, full of drama, reminiscent of those great “Days of Serbia in Paris”. This victory is more than just a victory, everything is now in Serbian hands. Our national team is the first to advance to the second round. Phenomenal performance by Glušac, Strahinja Rašović, Martinović, but everyone deserves congratulations for their tremendous fighting spirit. Granados and Sanauža were goalless, the defense was impeccable. Martinović and Rašović took advantage of Mandić’s coverage, and Glušac. He will be talked about.
Nemanja Vico wanted to play even and whatever happens, Milan Glušac asked for the Spanish series to be interrupted. Everything was fulfilled in an unforgettable way. Defense, defense and defense….
The tight start of Serbia was taken advantage of by the Spaniards, or rather Munariz. He scored the first two goals and seemed to be an alarm for the Serbian players. They stepped up their attack, turning the score around in 100 seconds. First Ćuk, then Strahinja Rašović from the penalty spot and then Martinović with an extra player. In defense, all attention was on Granados, who was left with one unsuccessful attempt. But Munariz took advantage of the free space to score the third goal, bringing the match back to a scoreless start.
Serbia took matters into their own hands with excellent defense. The Spaniards were lost in searching for a solution to the game without the stuck Granados. Martinović brought the advantage, and Taulj equalized with a nice move. After a successful five-pointer by Ćuk, Milan Glušac lit up the Arena stands with three great defenses. His game was rewarded with a wonderful goal by Strahinja Rašović for 6:4. In the very end, Larumbe reduced the score.
Nothing changed in the game, Serbia was wondering about everything in the third eight minutes. The defense was great. Spain had six players more, once and twice, but the ball found its way into Milan Glušac’s net twice. On the other side, Nikola Jakšić, like in Paris against the Greeks, hit the net from a long distance, and after a goal by Cabanas Strahinja, Rašović and Dedović with a player more increased the lead to 9:6. Bustos took advantage of the second player more and with 9:7 Serbia entered the decisive extra time.
At the beginning of the last part, the well-guarded Mandić committed a brutality. In a turn, he elbowed an opposing player. The Spaniards received a five-pointer and four minutes more players. In the first attack with a player less, Jakšić won a five-pointer for Martinović’s goal (10:8). But the Spaniards are great players, literally when Ćuk entered the game, so that the teams were complete, they managed to equalize. Then they took the lead 11:10 and it seemed that defeat was there.
But Serbia was rewarded for its energy, for its approach, for its fighting spirit from the first to the last second. Strahinja Rašović equalized 58 seconds before the end, the Spanish attack ended in a goalless draw, and Strahinja’s own brother Viktor scored the goal of his career six seconds before the end, a goal that brought Serbia back to life. Now the first goal, a place in the semifinals, is much more certain.
Nothing has been done yet, but Serbian players have once again shown that they cannot be written off.
Nikola Jakšić said:
– Congratulations to Spain on a great fight. All the best to my friends. It would have been easier if Manda had not received what I consider to be unfair brutality. We haven’t done anything yet. We’re moving on. We now have an easier match against Israel. We believed, always with 15 of us, that we could. It was the same in Paris. We’ll hold on until the end of the tournament. Thank you to the audience and I believe there will be more and more of them.
Uroš Stevanović stated without emotion:
– There was a good reaction, a different approach, a different energy from the first match. The last training session was finally right, the first in the preparations. I would like to thank the audience who were the wind at our backs. I expect them in large numbers. We still have no right to make mistakes. We will see how far we can go. After Mandić was sent off, it was very difficult. They managed to equalize in the last second with our player less. They also managed to take the lead, but we had the strength to come back. The young players got a chance, this is a great experience for them. Nothing is done, the real matches are yet to come.
Sava Randjelovic added:
– A big win but we believed in it. We know it wasn’t as good as it should have been against the Netherlands but tonight it was much, much better. We’re already forgetting about Spain.
Spain – Serbia 11:12 (3:3, 2:3, 2:3 4:3)
Bazen Arena. Attendance 7,500. Referees: Margeta (Slovenia), Stavridis (Greece). Player more: Spain 15 (6), Serbia 11 (7). Peterci Serbia 3 (3), Spain 1 (1)
Spain: Unai Augiere, Munariz 4, Granados, Sanauja, De Toro, Larumbe 1, Daura Gomez, Cabanas 1, Taul 1, Valera, Biel Lara 2, Bustos 1, Lorio, Gomila 1.
Serbia: Filipović, Mandić, S.Rašović 4, Randđelović, Ćuk 2, Lazić, N.Jakšić 1, Vico, Dedović 1, P.Jakšić, V. Rašović 1, Glušac, Martinović 3, Lukić.
