21 years later, Spain is the “Queen” of the World Championship! The long-awaited and totally deserved Gold medal at the 19th WC of Budapest was given to David’s Martin team and the redemption era has finally come. On Sunday – the 3rd of July, we witnessed some fantastic games for the finals… Greece dominated both against on 2012 Olympian – Croatia and against all odds. “Settebello” and “the Rojas” compited literally like lions for the 1st place and Spain managed to conquer the top of the world after penalties (9-9 n.d. – 15-14)!
Although, the Spanish seemed to control the attacks of Sandro’s former World Champions, there was a moment that overturned the advantage of the Rojas… Let’s dive into that moment.
4th Quarter, 06:03 on the clock and Italians have the ball in their hands, casually attacking (even). Seconds later, while Sandro’s players are still passing, someone from the spanish bench accidentally presses the time-out button…(!) Boris Marghetta – who refereed the match together with Giorgos Stavridis, pauses the game in order to consult the VAR, while Sandro Campagna is claiming that he didn’t call a time-out. Turns out that one of the Spanish players touched the button and the Italians have a won a penalty – according to the regulations. A very nodal and dangerous moment for David’s team…
Di Fulvio did not missed his penalty – execution and scored for the 9-7. That was definately the point when “Settebelo” switched her game and mind and came back from a 9-5 disadvantage to the final 9-9 of the normal duration! What a game… Of course, the powerful presence of Nicosia in the goalpost, was one of the most crucial factors that pushed the Italians to this “turnover” – Spanish managed to score only one goal to Gianmarco Nicosia (he took De Lungo’s place on half-time with the score being then at 8-4)!
Our true thoughts while debating what we saw on Sunday evening: “To be in complete control of a final… to be literally a “breath away” from the Gold medal and all your emotions and composure suddenly change by something so unpredictable. We would never want to be in their shoes – to be honest -, but the Spanish won at the end and everyone of us confessed that they trully deserve it, after all these years. David Martin’s heart only knows what happened in those seconds”…
