A breath away from the legendary upset, but Olympiacos lost the European title on penalties

He touched the miracle and the total overthrow against the mighty Valur, yet the Olympic bowed out on penalties, missing out on the EHF European Cup title!

With an ally the “hot” SEF and the almost 7,000 friends of the team by their side, the “red and white” dominated the Icelanders from the very beginning of the match, keeping the differences close for most of the match in 5-6 goals. However, in the regular season finale, a goal by guests at 9”but also the crossbar in his free kick Sabbath in dead time, sent the match in overtime with a score of 31-27as the difference of the first match was equalized (30-26).

There, at soul-crushing penalty shootout, Valour hit all five of her executions, with the Saturday Saturday – who was one of the best along with the goalkeeper Kotanidis for Olympiakos – to send the ball to the same post that he had marked at the end of the match, with the Icelanders winning the title!

The match:

With the “hot” Peace and Friendship Stadium setting the pace early on, the Olympic entered the match with… broken brakes, starting explosively the second final both in defense and attack. With Slivkovic, Montoro, Passia and Savva scoring a goal each, and the defense working the clock with three steals, the “red and whites” took the lead with 4-1 in the first 5.5 minutes. Jonsson temporarily reduced for Valour, with Savva and Papavassilis responding with two quick goals in the surprise for the 6-2 in the 8th minute!

Having taken the momentum early on, the hosts continued to play at a very high tempo, with tthe tough defense to produce results and translate into goals on the other side of the taraflex. And while Jonsson reduced to 6-3, Savvas Savvas with two personal goals increased the difference at +4 and 8-4 at 14′at the time when the goalkeeper of the “red and whites”, Konstantinos Kotanidis, had taken down “rolls” with 6 saves in 9 shots of the Icelanders! Then, Pordarsson and Sliskovic “exchanged” blows (9-5), with Olympiakos taking advantage of Peterson’s 2-minute suspension and with Papavassilis’ goal from one side of the field to the other – since Valour was playing without a – keeper, he sent for first time the difference in a score… title for 10-5 in 19.5′.

A difference that was maintained at these levels until the 22nd minute (12-7), before the Icelanders react and with goals by Oscarsson and Gustafsson they reduce to 12-9. The difficult thing at that point for Olympiakos, however, was the two-minute suspension of Passias for flopping. An interval which, however, passed without blood for the Piraeus, as in this two minutes the goals were 1-1 from the goals of Montoro and Gustafsson (13-10), with Savvas then scoring his 5th goal (14-10) in the match with a terrible move in the 26th minute. Passias and Gustafsson after a “cockfight” were charged with a two-minute suspension, during which Zeljko Babic’s team dominated and with individual scores 2-1, closed the first half in front with +5 for 16-11!

The second half it started with two missed Olympiacos drives and a Valour field goal by Magnuson for 16-12. However, Giulioson’s two-minute suspension then allowed Piraeus to find two quick goals with the right winger, Vidagoing for the first time at +6 and 18-12 at 28′. The Icelanders responded immediately with three collected goals Magnusonwho was the biggest problem at the start of the second half, Valour reduced to 19-15 at 36′.

However, the Piraeus had one more chance to increase the difference again, after the hard foul by Peterson and the two-minute suspension that the referees charged him. A condition that Olympiacos took full advantage of with Vida and Dobri scoring for 21-15, and while in the interval Kotanidis scored Oscarson’s penalty! In the 38th minute, the visitors were charged with another two-minute suspension, which the “red and white” took advantage of again and thanks to the goals of Sliskovic, they increased the difference at +7 (22-15) at 39′putting “fire” in the Faleri stadium!

However, Sliskovic was subsequently charged with a two-minute suspension, which Olympiacos fortunately did not “pay” for, since during this time Valour found just one goal with Oscarson at 41.5′. With the home team’s top scorer, Saturday Saturdaytaking the lead in the second half and scoring two combined goals in the open field, the Piraeus reached +8 (24-16), before Magnuson, Finson and Peterson answered the “caps” for 24-19 at 45′. Despite the mini-series of the Icelanders, Olympiacos did not hesitate, on the contrary, they found the way to the opposing goal with Papavassilis and Dobri for 26-20 in the 47th minute.

Valour, however, continued to find solutions in the attack, having raised its performance, reducing the difference to four goals after an hour (26-22), before Dobris with a boyish goal gave Olympiakos offensive “breath” for +5 ( 27-22) at 50′. Gustafsson and Sliskovic exchanged a goal (28-23) in the next two minutes, with the Icelander then reducing it to 4, making the match a thriller. At that point, however, the leader of the Greek team came forward tonight, Saturdaywho with two terrible goals sent the difference at +6 (30-24) at 56′, reaching 14 personal goals! Playing one of her… last cards, Valour succeeded and in two minutes kept Olympiakos to zero, equalizing the score of the first final for 30-26 in the 59th minute.

With the match having developed into a thriller, o Nikos Passias hit an improbable layup with 49 seconds left to make it 31-26, with Valour answering on her final shot for 31-27, tying the score of the first game. In dead time, Olympiacos won a foul, with Savva Savva taking it, putting the ball over the wall, however, fate and luck did not favor him, with the crossbar denying him the winning buzzer beater!

Somehow, the match went to penalties, where Valur hit all five of her attempts, with Savva Savva to mark the crossbar in the 5th and last execution of Olympiakos, giving the title to Valur.

The five minutes: 3-1, 6-3, 8-4, 10-6, 13-10, 16-11 (day), 18-14, 22-15, 24-18, 27-22, 29-24, 31- 27, 35-32 pen.

See here the statistics of the match.