Day 3 saw the conclusion of the group rounds and there were a few surprises. In the women´s groups the match results all went according to ranking, but in the men´s group Switzerland upset Finland, Portugal got their first ever victory and Spain bravely secured a quarterfinal spot.
The biggest surprise of the day was Switzerland men´s demolition of Finland. The final score was only 6-3, but Switzerland dominated the game from start to finish. They set up their win with a clinical 4-0 first period. It seemed that the Swiss coaching team had found a clear way to break the Finnish defence and the Finns were unable to stop their attacks. After the first period, the game tightened up but to see Switzerland leading 5-0 was unexpected. The Finns didn´t get on the scoreboard until right near the end of the second period and they closed the gap a little in the final period, but by then the Swiss could play a much more conservative, safe game, defending against the increased Finnish attack. The win gave Switzerland a spot in the semi-finals while Finland play a quarterfinal against Spain first thing in the morning.
Sweden men secured their direct place in the semi-finals after a convincing win over Czech Republic with 5-2. Sweden took the lead early in the game and never let go of it. Sweden continued to play a really tight and structured defence in front of their own goal, denying any good chances for the Czechs, who even if they controlled the ball, were not able to get the quality shots on goals. Sweden strength was in theri fast transitions and ability to score goals on fast counter attacks. Czech Republic will play Slovakia in the morning quarter final.
Portugal continued their positive development and performed really well in their game against Korea. The hard forechecking Portuguese forced the Koreans to lose balls and Portugal was able to use their opportunities better than the Koreans. Portugal gained a 4-1 lead, but Korea came back late in the second period, scoring first shorthanded and then to 4-3 after a really nice passing combination. Korea continued their strong play and took a 4-5 lead in the beginning of the 3rd, but Portugal was able to push hard and got rewarded when they equalised, and then with less than one minute to go Nuno Paiva, came from behind the net to squeeze the ball past the Korean keeper to give Portugal their first ever victory on the international Floorball scene with 6-5.
The Spanish men had lost their only goalie due to a shoulder injury, so they placed the defender Ignacio Javier Fernandez Luengo in goal and the whole team defence supported their “new goalie” very well. Spain played tactically very cleverly and was able to keep control of the ball and deny the Japanese the chance to build their own game. As the game proceeded Spain created more and more chances, which also paid off in a number of scored goals. Japan didn’t apply any forechecking pressure at any stage, so Spain was allowed to decide the pace of the game. Japan scored a powerplay goal in the last period, but that didn’t change the whole match picture. Spain secured the victory with 5-2 and a place in the quarterfinal against Finland.
There were only three games in the women´s tournament on Day 3 and all went according to expectations. The Spanish women tried their best to prevent the Czechs from scoring, but despite over 70 saves by the Spanish goalie Maria Barcelo Moreno, Czech Republic took the victory with 21-0. Denisa Ratajova (3+4) & Adela Bocanova (3+5) combined for 6 of the 8 goals in the first period. Poland defeated Japan 5-1, while Finland won 6-4 against Switzerland, a game that will be ´replayed´ when they meet in the semifinal. In the other semi, Sweden will play Czech Republic.
