AFL Europe Championships Finals – Croatia vs Germany
Croatia vs Germany
Croatia have beaten Germany 59-29 to finish 5th in the 2013 AFL Europe Championship. The loss leaves a gallant Germany without a victory for the tournament which saw them suffer a large number of injuries to their team which they were never able to recover from.
It was a successful first tournament for the Croatians who have excited crowds with their power forward combination of Tomislav Cvetko, Ivan Ivos and Josip Josipovic. Ruckman Josip Habljak also had a tremendous tournament, and again today, gave his smaller midfielders first use of the ball. Tomislav Nedic, Josip Kravar and Filip Lenic were strong runners for the Croatians and managed to give distribution to the dominant Croatian forward line.
The German team battled it out to the end and managed to stay in the game for long periods of time. They were well served by full forward and vice captain Matthias Klusemann who made the most of his opportunities to kick 3 goals. Captain Sebastian Esche also gave his all in the back half and was aided by Kevin Hopf and Fabian Cordts.
The Croatian fans will be happy with the end to this tournament which became a highlights reel in the last quarter with booming goals by Cvetko, amazing triple flip celebrations by Nedic and high flying from Josipovic. They will certainly be a team to watch in the next twelve months.
Final Score:
Croatia: 9.5.59
Germany: 4.5.29
Goals:
Croatia: Cvetko 3, Ivos 2, Josipovic 2, Obad, Valecic
Germany: Klusemann 3, Macher
Best Players:
Croatia: Kravar, Cvetko, Josipovic
Germany: Jung, Beyer, Cordts
