U20 rink hockey European Championships 2016: Summary of the semifinals

Semifinals and games for places 5 to 8

Germany beat England in the 35th minute with a penalty due to the tenth English foul.

The match between Switzerland and Andorra was so close that it ended with a draw (0-0) and ultimately over time had to be played, which Switzerland could win with a Golden Goal.
Also in the game Italy against France, the victory could only be won by a Golden Goal.
In the match between Spain and Portugal, the Spanish players came closest to the win in the 34th minute, before finally losing the match in the last two minutes.

England – Germany: 2-3 (0-1)

Thomas Kohler scored in the 6th minute for Germany: 0-1. In the 16th minute England had the chance to equalize, however, Robert Allander missed the direct free shot, so the first half ended with a 0-1 win for Germany.
After the half-time break Joshua Dutt scored the second goal for Germany 0-2 (25 ‘). But then Joshua Branchett equalized within two minutes for England 2-2 (30 ‘and 32’). Alexander Mount missed two penalties: he got the first one due to the tenth German foul and the second one due to the blue card of Joshua Dutt. Thomas Kohler, on the other hand, scored the penalty for the Germans in the 35th minute. There was another blue card for Harry Parfitt, but that did not affect the game. This match was mainly dominated by free kicks.

England

Charles Oakes, Thomas Allander (C) – Alexander Mount, Harry Chittenden, Robert Allander, William Rawlinson, Joshua Branchett (30′ and 32′), William Foreman, Marco Giancola, Harry Parfitt
Coach: José Carlos Amaral

Germany

Leon Brandt, Jonas Langenohl, Lucas Seidler, Thomas Kohler (6′ and 30′), Joshua Dutt (25′), Niko Morociv, Maximilian Becker, Aaron Borkei, Sebastian Rath, Daniel Strieder
Coach: Jordi Molet
Referee: Steff Jordi and Johannes Schneider

Andorra – Switzerland: 0-1 Golden Goal Decision (0-0) (0-0)

Andorra against Switzerland was a tough duel from the first to the last minute without a single blue card and a minimum of five Andorran and eight Swiss fouls.
Gian Rettenmund, the most successful Swiss scorer of this European Championship (3 goals), scored the Golden Goal in the third minute of the extension.

Interview with Pedro Antunes

« We had to work hard – many don’t realize this. The performance of the youth is often not valued. There is a lot behind it: the families who drive their children to every training, the logistical effort and everything else. The rewards for all this effort over several years are these moments today and I am very happy for my boys and for the Swiss roller hockey.
In addition, it is very gratifying that we were able to improve compared to last year. Andorra has already played excellent matches against Italy and today we were able to show that we also play at a high level. We have to give ourselves some more time to get more self-confidence. If you believe in yourself, anything is possible!
We have already played against the Germans and we have made a very good game. Unfortunately we lost the game due to bad coaching in the last three minutes. It was not just the fault of the players, but also mine. I did not realize how tired the players were already. The next time we will make it better and we will try to get fifth.

Andorra

Carlos de Sousa, Ivan Odena, Anton Borrell, Marc Rodriguez, Adria Antequera, Marc Pallares, Oriol Antequera, Gérard Miquel Sole (C), Sole Arnau, Arnau Dilmé
Coach: Roger Corral

Switzerland

Marc Böchlinger, Nicola Tommasi, Nino Wyss, Mike Gianella, Cedric Wagner, Lorenzo Rui, Sven Kunz, Gian Rettenmund (43′), Yves Walther, Gregorio Boll
Coach: Pedro Antunes
Referee: Derek Bell and Lars Niestroy

France – Italy: 2-3 Golden Goal Decision (2-1) (2-2)

Roberto Di Benedetto scored already in the 9th minute and then doubled directly to go 2-0 in the 14th minute. Francesco Compagno reduced the Italian deficit to 2-1 in the 18th minute. After half time, the French committed eight fouls, the Italians only two.
In the course of the game, the Italians got a penalty due to a serious foul of the French players. Francesco Compagno was responsible for the shot and succeeded in the 29th minute. At the end of the regular time the score was even (2-2). Francesco Compagno did not hesitate and scored the Golden Goal in just 3 minutes of the extension, which got him a hat trick and his team moved into the final against Portugal.

France

Marwan Boughani, Xavier Menguy – Tom Mfuekani, Bruno Di Benedetto, Remi Herman, Givency Tshilombo, Roberto Di Benedetto (9′ and 14′), Mattis Rault, Nathan Gefflot, Arnaud Cremese
Coach: Stéphane Hérin

Italy

Bruno Sgaria, Mattia Verona (C), Alberto Greco, Nicolas Barbieri, Davide Nadini, Franc Compagno (19′, 35′ and 43′), Davide Gavioli, Andrea Fantozzi, Filippo Zambon, Giacomo Maremmani
Coach: Massimo Mariotti
Referee: Sergi Mayor (Spain) and Miguel Guilherme (Portugal)

Spain – Portugal: 1 – 4 (0-1)

Gonçalo Nunes opened the match with a very fast goal. But then we had to wait until the second half of the match for the second Portuguese goal when Pedro Batista increased to 0-2 in the 22nd minute.
Neither the 10th Spanish foul in the 32nd minute nor the 10th on the Portuguese side in the 34th minute was used by the opposing teams. Nil Roca was not impressed by it and brought the Spanish players back with a nice goal to a score of 1-2.
The last two minutes were hard-fought. It was once again, Gonçalo Nunes, who scored a last-minute goal for Portugal, and Gonçalo Pinto, who turned the free kick into a goal due to the 15th Spanish foul. In the end, Sergi Llorca shortened the distance from 1-4 to 2-4 with the help of a direct free kick.

Spain

Blai Roca, Arnau Prat – Nil Roca (33′), Raul Fernandez, Sergi Llorca, Xavier Serrallonga, Pol Molas, Pablo Najera, Roger Bars, Catala, Arnau Xaus
Coach: Sergi Macia

Portugal

Tiago Rodrigues, Diogo Brandao – Rafael Lourenço, Gonçalo Nunes (3′ and 38′), Antonio Trabulo, Gonçalo Conceição, Tomas Moreira, Gonçalo Pinto (C) (38′), Pedro Batista (22′), Carlos Loureiro
Coach: Luis Duarte
Referee: Xavier Bleuzen (France) and Filippo Fronte (Italy)

The final program this Saturday

• 2:30 pm: England – Andorra
• 4:30 pm: Germany – Switzerland
• 6:30 pm: France – Spain
• 8:30 pm: Italy – Portugal