The 2015 Rink Hockey Nations Cup in Montreux, Switzerland

Every two years, the Nations Cup gathers the greatest international teams of rink hockey in Montreux, Switzerland. The 2015 edition had a very special taste in the light of the upcoming World Championship of rink hockey in France...

Par alfathor
Publié le 8 avril 2015 - Mis à jour le 3 novembre 2020 - 3677 Lectures - 0 commentaire(s)

The competition

From April 1st to 5th, 2015, the Swiss city of Montreux hosted the 66th edition of the Nations Cup, the ultimate occasion for the teams to gauge one another before the Worlds at the Vendespace.

France faces Angola for the opening

Let’s note that the French and the Angolans will meet again in the same group at the Worlds. The French struggled with the opposing defense for 25 min before the young red, white and blue guard opened the score with Carlo Di Benedetto on a direct foul shot. Each time a team scored, the other fought back, but Johe Viera the player of the game, sealed the issue a few minutes before the final whistle blow. Final score: 4 – 3 for Angola.

The French will have to level up their game to hope for a good ranking at the Worlds. The task won’t be easy with Spain as the favorite of their group. Let’ also mention that Team Angola is partly made of former U20 Portuguese players and of a player who has already done the Worlds with Argentina. The Angolan troops have a formidable potential…

Top-3

The evolution of Portugal, the winner of the competition

Portugal made short work of Switzerland during the 3rd game, imposing themselves with the irrevocable score of 8 to 0. Germany showed more resistance, but yielded 5 to 1. The Spanish were the first real opponents of the Lusitanians. The two teams took leave of each other with the smallest score of 1 to 0. The enemy brothers showed their hands for what is yet to come at the Worlds and both confirmed their aiming at the Top-3. Portugal imposed themselves again on the ultimate game (3 to 2). Only Argentina seems to be able to spread confusion between the two giants. There’s no doubt that rink hockey remains a Latin sport!

Spain as the close second

The Spanish beat Germany 4 to 2 for their first game, then Switzerland 7 to 2. After their loss against Portugal, the Spanish had a hard time making the difference against the pugnacious Italian team (2 to 1). In their last game, Spain met Portugal again and yielded, again, 3 to 2. The Spanish seem to be on the good way to achieving a podium position at the 2015 World Championships of Rink Hockey.

Italy in the Top-3

Italy managed a good Nations Cup performance. They won their first game with much effort against Montreux (4 to 3) but got more room to breathe against France (6-2). Yet the Squadra Azzurra gave in after a clear loss of 5 to 1 against Angola. Let’s note that, nothing being at stake for the game, the Italian coach did a lot of player rotations.
The Italians played Angola again for their last game. They won 3 to 2 and reached the 3rd place of the Nations Cup.

Results of the groups

Group A

Rank	Team	Played	Win	Tie	Loss	Goals (scored : conceded)	Difference	Points
1	Spain	3	3	0	0	12 : 4	8	9
2	Portugal	3	2	0	1	13 : 2	11	6
3	Germany	3	1	0	2	4 : 9	-5	3
4	Switzerland	3	0	0	3	2 : 16	-14	0

Group B

Rank	Team	Played	Win	Tie	Loss	Goals (scored : conceded)	Difference	Points
1	Angola	3	3	0	0	11 : 5	6	9
2	Italie	3	2	0	1	11 : 10	1	6
3	France	3	1	0	2	8 : 12	-4	3
4	Montreux HC	3	0	0	3	6 : 9	-3	0

Results of the games

Match 01	France	3	Angola	4
Match 02	Italy	4	MHC	3
Match 03	Portugal	8	Switerland	0
Match 04	Spain	4	Germany	2
Match 05	Angola	2	MHC	1
Match 06	Spain	7	Switzerland	2
Match 07	France	2	Italy	6
Match 08	Portugal	5	Germany	1
Match 09	Germany	1	Switzerland	0
Match 10	France	3	MHC	2
Match 11	Spain	1	Portugal	0
Match 12	Italy	1	Angola	5
Match 13	France	5	Switzerland	1
Match 14	Germany	4	MHC	3
Match 15	Portugal	3	Angola	2
Match 16	Spain	2	Italie	1
Match 17	Switzerland	3	MHC	2
Match 18	Germany	1	France	0
Match 19	Angola	2	Italy	3
Match 20	Portugal	3	Spain	2