GROUP A
On the second day of the men’s football tournament at the European Universities Games, the current European university champions, the University of Bochum, clashed against Erasmus University Rotterdam, notching a convincing 4:0 win.
Debowick and Bengsch put their names on the score sheet, while Marz scored twice. He said:
‘We knew that the Dutch play great defense and that we must give our best in the offense’
The German attack intensified only in the second half: ‘When we scored, things started going our way. Their defense collapsed at the end of the match,’ said Marz.
Bart Sinnige, aka the Guy with the Glasses, as he is dubbed in Rotterdam, said his team had to fight numerous injuries, with several players missing from the squad. They sustained three injuries in the last 24 hours alone. He commented on their opponents:
‘I didn’t know they were last year’s champions, but it’s obvious they’re well synchronized.’ He said that having fun was the most important thing, and that’s what his team would try to do against the University of Zagreb tomorrow. The reigning champions from Bochum will play the University of Jyväskylä from Finland.
The University of Zagreb team managed to get their first win – after playing a draw in the first round – against the University of Jyväskylä. They scored first of the three goals in the best time possible – during the first half stoppage time. Matej Ivković was the scorer, and he expressed his satisfaction with the win: ‘This win opens our way to the knockout phase of the tournament, which is our goal. The Jyväskylä team is very good and they caused as a lot of trouble in the first minutes of the game, but we managed to score three goals.
The Croatian attack grew even stronger in the second half and Filip Perić and Marko Rada scored as well. Radanović was assisted by his old friend Perić, scoring in the 56th minute after a minor incident.
The goalkeeper of the University of Jyväskylä explains:
“I caught a long-distance ball and one of their players bumped into me with his foot, these things happen in football. I may have reacted a little too rough at that moment, but I have no quarrel with anyone. They are a great team and I enjoyed playing against them’
GROUP B
The match between Osijek and Klagenfurt at Sesvete ended in a 1:1 draw. Klagenfurt slammed the first goal just before the end of the first half; Jakob Orgonyi scored. However, luck turned its back on them in the 65th when Osijek was given a penalty kick. Matej Ljubas was precise from the spot and brought the equalizing goal.
‘We had a good day. The players were a bit tired from yesterday’s match. The result is good for both teams. We have to win tomorrow. Both Osijek and Klagenfurt can qualify to the second round. It’s possible we’ll meet in the final,’ said one of the Klagenfurt players, Mateo Grubor.
Unlike him, the coach of Osijek was not satisfied with the result nor his team’s performance. “Unlike yesterday, our approach was relatively poor and everything went on their side when they scored. We managed to come back into the game and score for 1:1. We had to fresh players which helped us turn the game around.
In the second game at Sesvete stadium the Spaniards and the French fought in what was a very tense match, which ended 2-0 to the Montpellier side. In the first half neither team managed to score. The opening goal was scored from a penalty kick, given to the University of Montpellier; Adel Hakim Ajjaji was the scorer. The University of Almeria managed to equalize three minutes later with a goal by Francisco Jesus Leon Gomez. However, their hopes were soon dashed as Ajjajj scored his second goal in the 59th minute. The Spaniards managed to score one more in the match’s final minutes, but the goal was disallowed due to offside.
„It was a very tough game. Both teams were good, but both play very different kinds of football. We’re happy for the win and think we can be successful at the tournament,’ said the assistant coach of the Montpellier team after the game.
‘The game was very even. We have to stay proud even though we lost. Too bad, but we have to look ahead,’ said the Almerie assistant coach.
GROUP C
In Group C, the second round of the competition started off with a match between Camilo Jose Cela University from Spain and University Babes Bolyai from Romania.
The aggressive start of the Romanians didn’t distract the Spanish who were already in the lead by the 6th minute, thanks to Alberto Alburquerque Reus’ goal. The University Babes Bolyai team learned their lesson and sought to prevent all other Spanish players who tried to approach their goal and used headers to move all potentially dangerous balls off the pitch. This awakening of the Romanians resulted in a goal from Viorel Constantin Ionascu in the 20th minute. Despite good communication between the players from Camilo Jose Cela University and their goalkeeper, they failed to score again, and the first half ended 1: 1.
In the second half, many balls went flying towards the goalposts of both teams. The teams didn’t underestimate each other and this led to a tense game. Due to fouls committed against the Spanish team Romanian players Darius Alexandru Popa, Bogdan Nicolae Cristeai and Paul Lucian Halas received the yellow card, also the Spanish captain Kevin Sanchez Pardo was excluded from the game. As the game became calmer, the Spanish took the opportunity and scored for 2:1; the scorer of the winning goal was Juan Manuel Fernandez Sanchez in the 70th minute.
‘Yesterday we watched the match between Romania and Turkey in order to anticipate their moves today, but they changed tactics and didn’t play as we expected, which surprised the whole team. Our goal was to lure them into a trap, but we failed. Nevertheless, we won and I am satisfied with our game,’ said Reus, the Spanish player who scored the first goal.
Both teams have shown a remarkable form as seen in rapid passes and equal possession of the ball. The match caught the interest of the local audience and they cheered for the Spanish team.
The Turkish Anadolu University and the German University of Würzburg played a goalless match in Group C. Even with this draw, the German team holds the first place in the group with 4 points. In the next round, they will play against the Romanian University Babes Bolyai, who are currently fourth in Group C. The Turkish team will play against the Spanish Camilo Jose Cela University and the winner will qualify to the next round.
GROUP D
In the second round of Group D, footballers of the University of Lusanne beat the Norwegian team from Sogn og Fjordane University College, and the Kuban State University won against the Portuguese University of Minho.
The Swiss team with beat the Norwegians 4:1, who lost the day before in a match against the Russians. Quentin Rushenguziminega scored two goals for the Swiss University, and the other two goals were scored by Bastien Fournier and Atef Ammari. The only scorer for the Norwegian team was Steffen Olsen.
The encounter between students from Russia and Portugal was tense until the very end of the match, in the end the Russian team won by 1: 0. The Dutch referee Marc Henny had to award two penalty kicks, for the University of Minho, in the first half and for the Kuban State University in the second half. The goalkeepers of both teams didn’t let the ball get into their nets. The first and only goal of the match was scored by the Russian player Andrei Zolotov scored the first and the only goal of the match in the 62th minute.
After the second round of Group D, the team from Russia is in first place with 6 points. The tams from Portugal and Switzerland share the second place with 3 points each, while the players from Sogn og Fjordane University College are still without a single point.
RESULTS
