The first match in group A was played today at the European Universities Games Zagreb-Rijeka 2016.
GROUP A
The match between the team from the University of Zagreb and the German team from the University in Bochum, played at Sesvete Stadium, ended in a 3:3 draw. Both teams showed their quality and skill at the beginning of the match, so it wasn’t a surprise to see so many goals.
“I think it was a very good match. This was my team’s first match at this tournament and I am sure we still haven’t shown all we have. Both teams had a lot of ups and downs. It was a good match with a lot of scored goals. My team played as we had agreed, but of course there is still room for improvement because I know they can do better,” said Zagreb’s coach, Tomislav Gričar.
The captain of Zagreb’s team, Filip Bojić, spoke highly of his teammates, but also of players from Bochum who won the European Championship last year.
“I want to congratulate my team players on a good game at the very start of the Games. We made a comeback in the game two times, so a draw is the fairest result in the end. The Bochum team is very good and organised. We did a couple of good trainings and prepared the best that we could. We are taking baby steps, from one match to another, and hopefully we’ll pass into the next round.”
Captain of the German team, Christian Mengert, praised the home team from the University of Zagreb and emphasized their quality.
“We played well. The home team from Zagreb is very talented and it was hard to win that one point. They showed that they know how to play football and were very motivated. If we want to win the tournament, we have to win against every team, and that is our goal.”
The team from the University of Zagreb plays the next match against the University of Jyvӓskylӓu from Finland and the Bochum teams waits the Erasmus University Rotterdam.
The other match in the group A was also packed with goals. The Finnish team from the University of Jyvӓskylӓ won against Erasmus University Rotterdam with the final score 4:0. The Finns showed high quality and they deserved to win.
Captain of the Finnish team, Ville Oksanen, is pleased with his team.
“My team was great on the field, and the final score reflects that. It was easier to win than expected. I hope we will have good matches in the rest of the tournament, and that we will end with good results,” said Oksanen.
GROUP B
On the second day of the European Universities Games Zagreb-Rijeka 2016, the matches of the first round of the football tournament for men were completed in Group B.
The first match was held at FC HASK Stadium between the University of Almeríae and the Josip Juraj Strossmaye University from Osijek. The match ended in the favour of Osijek with the result 1:0.
The football they played in the first half-time was messy and both teams barely had real shots at scoring in the first 40 minutes. The University of Osijek took the lead in the 40th minute with Ivor Podunavac scoring the goal. In the second half-time, the players from Osijek pulled back and played defence, while the Spanish team took more initiative. The match was very rough and, as the result of that, the referee gave five yellow cards.
After the match, Osijek’s coach, Petar Kerže, said that he was satisfied with his team, “We were better than the Spanish team just a bit and that allowed us to score a goal”. He expects they will pass into the next round.
The University of Montpellier and the University of Klagenfurt split the points in the second match of the day.
There were several serious opportunities for Klagenfurt in the first half-time, and they took the lead in the 25th minute with Thomas Ograding scoring the goal. The French had more desire to score in the second half-time and they succeeded after the goalie from Klagenfurt made a mistake and Aldel Hakim Ajjaji took the shot.
Josip Juraj Strossmayer University from Osijek will play against the University of Klagenfurt in the second round of matches in group B, while the team from the University of Almeríae will play against the University of Montpellier.
GROUP C
There was no shortage of fair play and competitive spirit at Rudeš where the matches of the first round of the football tournament for men were held for group C.
In the first match, the football players from the University of Wurzburg played against the Camilo Jose Cela University from Spain. Germans took the lead in the 23rd minute. They managed to stay in the lead despite the fast break attacks from the Spaniards, and the match ended with the result 1:0. By winning, the German team got their first points in the competition which they celebrated after the final whistle.
In the second match in the group C, the teams from Anadolu University from Turkey and the University Babes Bolyao from Romania ended with a draw. The Romanian players took the lead in the 7th minute of the match, but the Turkish players evened the score in the second half-time to 1:1. Both teams had a lot of opportunities to score afterwards, but they failed to score any more goals and the match ended without a winner.
GROUP D
The men’s team from the Kuban State University and the University of Minho won their first points in their group, while the players from Sogn og Fjordane University from Norway and the University of Lausanne were left empty handed after the first round.
In the first game, the Russians had more opportunities from the beginning, they were more aggressive, but they had not scored until the 1st minute of second half-time when their captain, Amal Vardaniia scored a goal for 1:0. Other than the missed opportunity by Vincent Kortebein, the team from the North was powerless against the Russians.
The team from Kuban, the current European vice-champions and 2014 European champions, were pleased by their game, as did the Russians, who also won the championship in Rotterdam in 2014. The Norwegians weren’t discouraged by this defeat because they, in their own words, “came here to have a good time”.
Results
