Sometime it had to come out expensive. and she did in an agonizing way, in the penalty shootout after everything got complicated when the game was dominated. And not only in the penalty shootout, in the sudden death penalty shootout (15-14). Spain hung the gold medal in the World Cup finally against the coconut. Italy had won the three finals it had played against Spain so far, two in World Cups and the Barcelona Olympics after three extensions (8-9). Neither the statistics of the coach, David Martín, were flattering. In his sixth major championship since taking charge in 2016, he had five semi-finals and four finals, losing the previous three.
Spain was behind the transalpines in all numbers except one: in goal, where Unai Aguirre arrived with 62% of saves. Martín’s men started very seriously, going ahead (0-2) with a goal against Granados and another that Alberto Munarriz’s VAR had to validate, who also scored the third. Italy survived by capitalizing on superiorities, as they scored in three of the four they enjoyed, to leave the score 3-3 at the end of the first quarter. Spain needed to improve the adjustments in defense, with three stops by Unai, and fine-tune its effectiveness in attack (43%).
Unai closed
in the second room the two stars of the selection appeared: in attack Alvaro Granados and in defense Unai Aguirre. The slugger scored two goals and the goal sealed the goal with five stops. All this allowed Martín’s men to take advantage again (5-3). Italy bordered on the illegal in defense, which the referees punished with six expulsions. Roger Tahull nailed a delicious pass from the baseline of Felipe Perrone to place the (6-3) with which the rest was reached. Spain left Italy to zero in the second quarter, confirming that their defensive power was the best way to reach the title.
The third quarter started with a goal from Perrone that Marziali answered, in superiority like the previous three, to break Spain’s streak of four goals in a row. Granados made a profit Italian double expulsion to place the (8-4) with which they doubled the world champion, who was not able to decipher the Spanish defense. Cannela scored the fifth Azzurri goal, also in superiority. The entry into play of goalkeeper Nicosia allowed Italy to balance the balance in the fourth with his saves. Italy lived on superiority, scoring their six goals on the nine occasions they had an extra man in the pool. The transalpines tightened taking the quarter two to three to leave the score 8-6 with only one quarter to go.
Martín asked his boys for head and defense for the final assault, after which the long-awaited gold medal awaited them. But the team needed to recover a goal up front, with Granados and Munarriz well covered by the Italian defensive network. However, the final quarter started with an assist from Larumbe that was tapped on goal by Martin Famera from the buoy position. Spain opened a gap and took a lot of pressure off themselves with that goal. Also back he continued to defend well with a very serious Aguirre. Italy got closer again with a controversial penalty signaled by the referee for touching the post requesting time-out without having possession. Italian goal that was put to two.
It was not the best game in attack, where up to five superiorities were wasted. But the defensive commitment of the Spaniards was decisive in a very tough duel physically. Italy tried to provoke Spain to throw it off center. But Martín’s men worked impeccably in defense. A goal from Dolce with 2:56 remaining was the first equal for the Italians, which placed them just one goal away (9-8). Each ball was worth its weight in gold. Presciutii set the tie, after a 3-1 run for the Italians, with two minutes to play. Unai put out his hand to give us one more life. The last ball was Spanish. In superiority, after expelling Larumbe the rival buoy, and with 35 seconds. For the twelfth superiority, David Martín was preparing a move on the board with Blai. But the ball was lost and the game went to penalties (9-9). Spain had left two income goals in the last quarter. All with Unai Aguirre.
The young Spanish goalkeeper, the youngest in the World Cup as he will be 20 on the 12th, had all the pressure on him. Felipe Perrone put Spain ahead. Da Monte tied. Álvaro Granados scored and Unai saved the second. Munarriz ran into the woodwork and Echenique tied the shootout at two. Marc Larumbe nailed his whiplash in the fourth and tied Di Pulbo. The definitive one was launched by Sergi Cabanas, scoring the goal. Everything was in Unai’s hands. But Presciutti scored. Sudden death with the same pitchers and the same protagonists. But the two changed goalkeeper. Perrone scored again, but Lorrio could not stop the Italian attempt. Granados scored his and now Edu Lorrio did stop Canela from shooting him. World champions!
