The 2013 IBSA Goalball European Championships Men C continued yesterday with more spectacular and nail biting matches.
 
Day two saw many high scoring matches and very tight score lines but the most notable of these was the 13-12 win of Azerbaijan over Bulgaria. Azerbaijan was in the lead for most of this match but Bulgaria was hot on their heels and never giving up. However, when the game clock hit 0 seconds remaining, it was Azerbaijan who was still in front. This was a historical win for Azerbaijan as they have now recorded their first ever official win. Azerbaijan attended the 2009 and 2011 IBSA Goalball European Championships Men C but left winless on both occasions. It is a developing Goalball nation and we can be sure that they will continue to improve. This team includes one star that made 10 of their 13 goals against Bulgaria.
 
This wasn’t the only tight match though. The day was full of them as well as come from behind wins.
 
The match between Greece and Croatia ended in a draw 5-5. This was a match where either team could have walked away with the three points. In the end perhaps splitting the points was a fair result. Two other tight matches worth mentioning are the 4-3 win of Russia over Portugal and The Netherlands defeating Greece 7-6.
 
If one was to look at the other results of The Netherlands they would think they were comprehensively defeated and that they were but the score line doesn’t always tell the full story. They were very competitive during the first half of both their matches between Italy and Great Britain. Against Great Britain it was 2-2 at the break and against Italy they were leading for most of the first half.
 
This just shows that anything can happen over the course of a match and even more so over the full course of a tournament. This makes us very keen to see what is going to transpire over the next two days.
 
Day 2 results
Greece 5 – Croatia 5
The Netherlands 5 – Italy 11
Azerbaijan 13 – Bulgaria 12
Great Britain 8 – Russia 3
Portugal 5 – Croatia 1
Greece 6 – Netherlands 7
Italy 9 – Azerbaijan 5
Great Britain 5 – Bulgaria 2
Russia 4 – Portugal 3
Croatia 2 – Italy 12
Great Britain 10 – The Netherlands 2
Bulgaria 7 – Greece 5
 
Day 3 schedule (all times in local time)
 
09:00 Russia v Croatia
10:00 Portugal v Netherlands
11:00 Greece v Italy
12:00 Croatia v Great Britain
13:00 Portugal v Azerbaijan
14:00 Bulgaria v Netherlands
15:00 Italy v Russia
16:00 Azerbaijan v Greece
17:00 Great Britain v Portugal
18:00 Bulgaria v Italy
19:00 Azerbaijan v Croatia
20:00 Russia v Netherlands