2015 Worlds of Roller Hockey: France regains its ranking
Team France qualified for the semi-finals of the Worlds after a great victory over Italy. They are back in the Top-4 they had left in 2010, joining Latvia, the Czech Republic and the USA in semi-finals...
Par alfathor
Make Way for the World Cup
For the teams remaining in the low seed, as well as for Switzerland and Colombia, the competition goes on with the World Cup, rewarding the 9th team. It’s a way for the lower teams to go and get a medal too. With only 15 teams in the running this year, the Swiss are exempt and directly go through to the next round.
The other quarter finals opposed Colombia to Macau and Brazil to India. While the first comfortably won against Macau 14-0, the Brazilians completely crushed India 32 to 0, far from the usual fair-play attitude of most teams who’d rather pass the puck than standing out in the statistics chart.
Last but not least, in the last quarter finals, Chile came close to qualifying after a great game against Venezuela. The latter won 4-3 and knew how to hold on in the last minutes, even outnumbered.
A French Revenge
In the race to the world title, the French had a revenge to take. 9th last year because of a loss against Italy in a group game, France intended to expunge the affront and re-enter the Top-4, that they had left in 2010, the year of Geoffroy Tijou’s retirement. Back as a coach this year, the symbolism is strong and shows the importance of this man’s leadership, even if many other factors are also to be taken into consideration.
In the end, France’s victory over Italy was easy. France could count on its whole roster to go and get the victory, especially at the beginning of the game with the goals by Ostre and Couraud.
The other games
The Czech Republic surely goes on its way, with an easy win over Mexico 10-1.
They will meet Latvia again (after their group game), winner against a deceiving Team Spain 7-3.
Stunning Argentina
The USA-Argentina game was long-awaited. Supported by their over-excited audience for the 40 minutes of their crazy game, the South Americans believed in their dream until the very end of the game, driving the almost-lethargic Americans into a corner.
The victory finally goes to the USA (3-2) but was far from being obvious, and the post-game comments of the players are crystal clear: they had a narrow escape and count on playing differently tomorrow night, against France, who is announced as the favorite.
Results
June 19th, 2015
- Brazil 32 / 0 India
- Venezuela 4 / 3 Chile
- Colombia 14 / 0 Macau
- Spain 3 / 7 Latvia
- France 4 / 1 Italy
- Czech Republic 10 / 1 Mexico
- USA 2 / 1 Argentina
Useful links
Our page on the 2015 Worlds of Roller Hockey
Translation: Chloe Seyres
Photos : Eddy Wegrzyn
