Croatia and Germany met tonight in the 2nd round of the FINA World Championships played in Debrecen on Thursday night.
After drawing against Greece, Croatia was hungry to get their first victory against a weaker national team. Recall, in the first round, Croatia and Greece finished 8:8, while Germany lost to Japan.
After the first round, Japan led the standings with two points, Croatia and Greece had one each, and Germany was without points. Greece and Japan play tonight at 19:30.
A spot in the quarterfinals is won only by the winner of the group, while the second and third-placed teams play in the round of 16.
Match Report
1st quarter
Vrlic scored Croatia’s first goal in the first 20 seconds of the match. Kharkov scored for 2:0 with 6:00 minutes left on the clock. Germany scored for 2:1 with 3:35 to go in the first quarter. Croatia captain Krapic made with 3:1 with 3:06 left and again for 4:1 with 1:15 on the clock. The first quarter ended 4:1 for Croatia.
2nd quarter
Fatovic scored his first goal of the World Champs with 7:00 to go on the clock in the 2nd quarter. It was 5:1 for Croatia. Zuvela scored his first goal of the match for 6:1 and 5:04 left. Fatovic scored for 7:1 with 3:17 left. Kragic scored for 8:1 with 0:58 left until halftime. Germany made it 8:2 with 0:25 left. The second quarter ended 8:2 for Croatia.
3rd quarter
Germany won the sprint to open the 3rd quarter and scored for 8:3 in the first 30 seconds. Bukic scored for 9:3 with 5:56 left. Basic scored for 10:3 with 4:57 to go. Germany made it 10:4 with 4 minutes on the cock. The third quarter ended 10:4 for Croatia.
4th quarter
Croatia won the sprint in the final quarter. Germany scored for 10:5 with 5:55 left in the match and again for 10:6 with 4:02 left. Germany was just 3 goals behind with 3:07 left in the match – 10:7. Basic scored for 11:7 with 2:48 on the clock, but Germany scored again for 11:8 with 2:24 left. Another brilliant strike from Basic gave Croatia some peace in the final two minutes – 12:8. Buric made it 13:8 with just over a minute left. Germany was given a penalty with 0:35 on the clock and scored for 13:9. The match ended 13:9 for Croatia.
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