Wed 23 May, 2012
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3rd Mediterranean Nations Cup - Final Report  x9
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| Gibraltar |
October 16, 2001 
Tomislav Jamicic
> Page Views 5492
GIBRALTAR 2001
Gold for Italy, silver for amazing Croats, Gibraltar disappointed with bronze.
Results:
Day 4
Cyprus ? Croatia 1:7 (1:4) for Croatia: Kranjcec 3, Jamicic 2, Kadic and Hanzek
Greece ? Morocco 5:1
Day 5
Greece ? Cyprus 5:2
Italy ? Morocco 17:0
Croatia ? Gibraltar 2:2 (1:1) for Croatia: Kranjcec and Ruzic
Day 6
Croatia ? Morocco 21:0 (9:0) for Croatia: Ruzic 7, Kirin 4, Kranjcec 4, Bujan 4, Tomicic and Vucic
Italy ? Gibraltar 4:2
Comment for Croatia: After the defeat against Italy we were back on our feet in the match against Cyprus. We took the lead already in the 2nd minute and since then the only question was how many we can score. 7 was the number, despite several more good opportunities.
The match against Gibraltar was the real test of our value. In front of full stands home team started to make pressure from the very beginning. In the 3rd minute they had a penalty stroke, but it went just wide. The pressure went on and resulted in a 1:0 lead. After that Croatia woke up and levelled the score through our captain Kranjcec. That goal put on feet a rather big group of Croatian supporters in the stands. Those were Croats from the ships in Gibraltar port. It was again turn for the home side to make pressure. But this time Croatian defence was much more organised than in the match against Italy. For a long time we resisted, but our excellent keeper was finally beaten after a second penalty stroke had been awarded for Gibraltar. The last couple of minutes we took the initiative and that paid off. One minute before the end we had a free hit just outside the circle. And our best player Kirin found a tunnel to Ruzic on the second post - a routine push was enough for a great result.
Our goal difference was much behind Gibraltar?s and we needed a miracle on Sunday to get the silver. But this was magic Sunday. After each goal we took the ball and ran back to center line ready to strike again. Lead by Kirin and our fans we smashed Morocco with a record win 21:0!!!! Probably the biggest victory in the world this season. 21 was the exact number we needed to catch Gibraltar in case they lose against Italy. The rest of the job was done by Italian players who didn?t allow a surprise against Gibraltar. At the end we had better goal difference than Gibraltar and finished respectively 2nd, one step better than two years ago in Egypt.
Final standigs:
1. Italy 15 pts
2. Croatia 10
3. Gibraltar 10
4. Greece 6
5. Cyprus 3
6. Morocco 0
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Comments on this article
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Mark Wood
10-25-2001 8:11 am
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3rd Med Cup
I am very surprised to read the article displaying the Croatian team as 'amazing', i played for Gibraltar and scored both goals in the game against Croatia. Let me take this opportunity to explain that in fact the Croatians were very lucky to have scraped the draw against Gibraltar.
The Gibraltar team was completely superior to its rival in all apsects and throughout the whole of the game, as we demonstrated when we played the Italians.
Had it not been for the very good short corner routine of the Italians, the standings could very well have been different.
Not only this but the fact that the Moroccans, already a very defeated side before the start of the game against Croatia, did not have any spirit or 'players' to at least give a fair reflection of their true determination and character on the playing field. Not that they stood any chance but 21 goals for Croatia, please!
Its always disappointing how Gibraltar sides and its international side are always either under-estimated or not given the praise it deserves. Specially considering how few a choice it has on numbers playing the game at the required level to compete against bigger nations.
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Tomislav
10-25-2001 4:56 pm
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I'm very grateful for your comments Mark, explaining the other view. If you don't mind me saying you were one of the best players in the tournament.
However I would like to point out some things. First of all this article was written by a Croatian reporter, who was at the same time a Croatian player therefore the article was written from my perspective. And as it clearly says up there "Comment for Croatia:" which means comment about how we played, again from our perspective. So there was no intention what so ever for under-estimating your team. Also you may have noticed it says that 2:2 against Gibraltar was "a great result" for us.
Second point is that from the first day Gibraltarian press was stressing out that gold and silver would be shared among Italy and Gibraltar. And those two nations were the absolute favourites, no doubt about it. Somehow Croatia came in between, after recording the biggest victory in the world this season. Those two things justify the adjective "amazing". Gibraltar also played against that same spiritless Morocco, so you had your chance.
Third thing is that it's your own problem that Gibraltar national team hasn't been given the praise it deserves. For example this report from Med Cup was written by a Croat, why not a Gibraltarian? There are numerous good things about your team, which I'mpositive she/he would express. But surely it's not my job.
Croatia is a very small country as well and if we don't push ourselves, nobody else will. Kind regards
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Mary Michailidis
11-12-2001 2:11 pm
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Thank you for posting the results of this tournament. Is there any information about the women's teams. I am very interested in the Greek teams because I spent this past summer helping them a bit.
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Tomislav
11-20-2001 5:23 pm
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To Mary
Sorry Mary, this was only men's tournament.
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The big Man from Aberdeen
11-26-2001 5:54 pm
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Malakas
Dimitris Malatas Is the Greeks best player he is awsome and plays for Aberdeen Uni . Who by the way challenge Greece to a game this summer when we are on tour
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Tariq mahmood
12-16-2001 9:10 am
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hockey
Gibralter will be one day in world six teams
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Babis
02-21-2002 3:26 am
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General
I was in Gibraltar with the Greek team and I would like to present you my opinion about the teams participated in the Cup.
Italy was by far the best team. Preparing for the European Nations Cup Qualifiers this July, they played the best hockey. Against the Greek team , they had an easy afternoon, testing their tactics.
Croatia presented a good team. However, it seemed that luck was in their side. This sould not be taken as that they were only lucky. They played with passion and strength. They performed really well only against Gibraltar, as they came back twice in the score and they managed to keep down the enthousiasm of the Gibs. Against Greece, Croatia avoided a suprise loss. They underestimated our abilities and the result was to finish the halftime with a 1-1 score. Until that point Greece played really smart and had the chances to score more goals. That didn't happen, mainly due to our luck of experience. An early second goal in the second half was not enough for Croatia who faced real press from the Greek side. Croatia seccured their win 10 min before the end of the match when they scored a third goal.
Gibraltar was looking for the second or first rank in this Cu. However they had to compete with a really good Italy and were unable to beat Croatia. Their game was based in strength, speed and pressure. Having many young players someone would expect them to become a 'threat' for the European top teams.
Cyprus and Marocco presented teams with a high age average.That didn't allow them to challenge the other teams succesfully. Their efforts thought, spoke about their love for hockey.
For Creece, this Cup was historic. The wins against Cyprus (5-2) and Marocco (5-1) were the the first ones ever in its history in official international tournaments. Presenting a young team (21 years av.) Greece played good hockey showing its potential. Here I have to metion that the competition schedule changed the night just before match day 1, where instead of playing against Gibraltar we were put to play against Italy.
The match against Croatia could have been the surprise of the tournament as Croatia won (3-1)due to our luck of experience.
Against Gibraltar (4-0), Greece performed its best game in this tournament. The team presented a mature and strong game and the score could had been smaller if we were more consentrated in two occasions where Gibraltar took advantage of our own mistakes.
The 4th Mediterannean Nationa Cup will be held in Greece in 2003, so you are all invited to enjoy the Greek sun and sea,
and hopefully to see the Greek team getting the gold medal!!
Closing, I want to say hi to Mary Michailidis from the States and to Malaka, friend of Dimitris Matalas.
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Mary Michailidis
05-28-2002 3:03 am
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Hi Babis,
Thank you for your detailed report; I look forward to seeing you and working with you again this summer.
Mary Michailidis
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yen
04-24-2003 5:52 am
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greeks on the way
with cedric on the way , greeks will do well next time
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