Match Day 2 saw a mixture of upstart successes and European resurgence. Here’s a quick Summary:
[b]Group A: [/b] Croatia and France easily took care of Argentina and Kazakhstan, and are through to the Main Round. Their head to head match tomorrow will count as their first Main Round game tomorrow. Argentina and Kazakhstan will battle for 3rd with the winner playing for 13th place and the loser playing for 19th in the President’s Cup.
[b]Group B: [/b]Macedonia turned off the Samba music in St Brieuc by storming back from a 1 goal halftime deficit to beat Brazil 26-22. Brazil now will have to beat Russia tomorrow by 4 goals in order to advance to the Main Round. Current Head to Head Goal Differential (Russia (+5), Macedonia (-1), Brazil (-4). Winless Australia is destined to be playing for 19th place in the President’s Cup
[b]Group C: [/b]Angola’s 33-22 blowout of Austria is clearly the upstart sensation so far of the tournament. Many were expecting to see Angola to challenge Austria, but few would have predicted an 11 goal margin of victory. Austria is now destined for the President’s cup, unless they can pull off a highly unlikely 9 goal victory against Norway. Angola should have no problem beating the winless Dominican Republic. Current Head to Head Goal Differential (Norway (+6), Angola (+5), Austria (-11).
[b]Group D: [/b]On the first day of competition China challenged Group favorite Romania, but on day 2 Poland ended their hopes of advancing to the main round by easily defeating them 27-20. Poland and Romania are through to the Main Round and their match tomorrow will count in the standings. China will battle Tunisia for 3rd place.
[b]Group E: [/b] At halftime it looked like Japan might send Spain home early as they lead 17-15. But Spain dominated the second half and went on to win 36-29. Spain and Hungary are through to the Main Round and their match tomorrow will count in the standings. Japan will battle the Congo for 3rd place.
[b]Group F: [/b]South Korea held off Ukraine 26-25 to punch a ticket for the Main Round. South Korea and Germany are through to the Main Round and their match tomorrow will count in the standings. Ukraine should have no problem with Paraguay tomorrow to secure 3rd place.
[b]Likely Main Round Groups: [/b]
Group I: Croatia, France, Russia, Macedonia, Norway, Angola
Group II: Romania, Poland, Hungary, Spain, South Korea, Germany