Russia v Italy
Russia (10) v Italy (6)
The reigning champion of the homeless World Cup, Russia, went head to head with Italy in this match for the 5th and 6th place in the Copenhagen Trophy. Overall they are competing for rankings 13 and 14, and both squads did a good effort to take the best rank.Within the first 2 minutes, the Russians showed great skills. They netted three times and defended their own end very tightly. Their defense kept doing a very good job in the first half, led by the Russian number 7, who has showed great intelligent defense throughout the tournament. The score was 5-0 before the Italians found a gap in the Russian wall of defending. By the end of first half, the Russians had a comfortable lead with the score 6-2.
In the second half the Russian defense could not find quite the same level as in the first half. The Italian number 4 had a steady right leg, and his powerful shots were very precise and kissed the post on it's way in. The goals gave the Italians some momentum, but they were never closer than two goals behind the rest of the game. Great effort by both teams and an entertaining second half with waves of attacks on both ends. Russia kept their lead and won by 10-6.
By Mads Trolle Munksgaard