Hungary took the winning trophy at the “Four Nations Cup”, that was finished in Cuneo (Italy) today.
In the last match, Hungary and Italy shared the points – 14:14. Both teams won 7 points each at the three-day competition, but Hungary finished atop of the table because it has a better goal difference than the hosts.
The team of the United States of America took the 3rd place, as it edged out Greece 14:13 today.
The tournament in Cuneo was the last rehearsal for the three European teams before the start of the European Championships in Budapest.
The male tournament in Budapest will be opened on January 14th. Hungary will play in Group C, with Spain, Turkey and Malta. Italy and Greece were drawn in the same group – D. Their rivals will be Georgia and France.
Four Nations Cup, Cuneo
Day 3
Italy – Hungary 14:14 (1:3, 5:2, 4:4, 4:5)
Italy: Aicardi 4, Di Fulvio 3, Figlioli 3, Luongo 2, Figari 2.
Hungary: Zalnaki 3, Varga 3, Vamos 3, Erdelyi 2, Pohl 2, Sedlmayer 1.
Italy and Hungary shared the points after a lot of twists and turns.
Hungary had a better start and gained a 3:1 lead already in the fourth minute. But, Italy dominated the second quarter. The hosts scored four goals in a row and earned a 5:3 advantage two and a half minutes before the end of the first half. At halftime, the Italians, world champions, had a minimal 6:5 advantage.
After the middle break, Hungary went ahead again. The hosts of the upcoming European Championships had a 1-goal lead three times (7:6, 8:7, 9:8), but Italy equalized on each occasion, so the opponents entered tied (9:9) the final eight minutes.
Italy retook control in the fourth period and built a 13:11 lead three minutes and 38 seconds before the final buzzer. But Hungary responded with three goals in a row. Denes Varga, the winner of the Total Player Award 2019, put the Hungarians in front – 14:13, by converting a penalty shot 20 seconds from the end. After this goal, Hungary secured 1st place, as there was no time for a new turn. Figlioli netted an equalizer 18 seconds later.
Greece – USA 13:14 (2:4, 2:3, 4:5, 5:2)
Greece: Vlachopoulos 3, Papanastasiou 2, Argyropoulos 2, Gounas 2, Kakaris 1, Kapotsis 1, Fountoulis 1, Mourikis 1.
USA: Cupido 3, Hallock 2, Daube 2, Abramson 2, Irving 2, Stevenson 1, Bowen 1, Williams 1.
The Americans earned a solid 12:8 lead before the last period, and managed to keep the win, despite Greece was the better team in the last eight minutes.
1 Hungary 3 – 7 (+10)
2 Italy 3 – 7 (+5)
3 USA 3 – 3
4 Greece 3 – 0
All results – Day 1: USA – Hungary 10:15, Italy – Greece 11:8, Day 2: Hungary – Greece 10:5, USA – Italy 8:10, Day 3: Greece – USA 13:14, Italy – Hungary 14:14.
