Despite 4 goals: Italy is clearly defeated by Germany

The Azzurri, who were badly hit due to the many Corona failures, lost to the DEB team 4:9. The team of replacement head coach Giorgio De Bettin was committed, but could not make up for a clear difference in quality. After the starting third there was nothing to indicate such a clear failure.

Germany was already the better team in the first 20 minutes of the game, but Italy kept the scoreline for a long time and finally went into the break with a 2-2 score. The two Italian assistant captains Alex Petan and Luca Frigo unexpectedly converted the opening goal of the 2018 Olympic silver medalists by Nico Kammer into a 2-1. Moritz Müller was able to equalize before the first siren.

Luca Frigo gave Italy a 2-1 lead. © A. Ringuette/HHOF-IIHF Images

After the restart it was all over for the Azzurri. NHL professional Tobias Rieder, Frederik Tiffels, double goal scorer Marcel Noebels and Lukas Reichel shot a clear 7-2 lead for Team Germany. You could feel sorry for Italy's goalie Justin Fazio at times because the Azzurri barely got a leg on the ice in this phase of the game. Symbolic of the now clearly distributed balance of power was Germany's goal to make it 8-2 at the beginning of the final third, when four DEB cracks happily combined through five Azzurri and Plachta finally scored into the top corner after a cross pass. Italy collapses in the middle third Despite these successive blows to the neck, Italy did not admit defeat without honor. After conceding the eighth goal, the cracks in white and blue rose again and hit the mark twice within a minute and a half. First Anthony Bardaro scored, then his Bolzano teammate and Italy captain Daniel Frank scored. A successful comeback was out of the question in the remaining final quarter of an hour - also because Leo Pföderl made it 49:9 in the 4th minute. This was also the end of an opening game that was only open until the first third break.

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Despite the bitter defeat, there are also positive things to report in the ranks of the self-sacrificing Azzurri. For example, 17-year-old Thomas Galimberti from IHL club Eppan celebrated his World Cup debut. The four goals should also be good for morale. For comparison: At the 2019 World Cup, Italy had no success in the first four games and conceded a whopping 38 goals at the same time.

The compact performance in the starting third and the morale towards the end of the game also give some hope for the next monster tasks at this World Cup. It continues on Sunday against Norway (from 11.15 a.m SportNews -Ticker). Then Enrico Miglioranzi, who has recovered from his corona infection and has already traveled to Riga, will also take part. Italy – Germany 4:9 Italy: Fazio (Fadani); Casetti-Hochkofler, Glira-Spornberger, Marchetti-Pietroniro, Gios-Sopracreppa; Frank-Petan-Miceli, Giliati-Rosa-Deluca, Frigo-Bardaro-Magnabosco, Pitschieler-Andergassen-Galimberti Coach: De Bettin

Germany: Bruckmann (Niederberger); Moritz Müller-Seider, Brandt-Holzer, Wagner-Nowak, Jonas Müller-Gawanke; Kühnhackl-Krammer-Rieder, Reichel-Noebels-Pföderl, Plachta-Loibl-Eisenschmid, Bergmann-Kastner-Tiffels Coach: Soderholm

Gates: 0:1 Tom Kühnhackl (15.56), 1:1 Alex Petan (17.42), 2:1 Luca Frigo (18.07), 2:2 Moritz Müller (18.44), 2:3 Tobias Rieder (24.23), 2:4 Frederik Tiffels (27.47), 2:5 Marcel Noebels (35.13), 2:6 Lukas Reichel (37.52), 2:7 Marcel Noebels (38.35), 2:8 Matthias Plachta (42.52), 3:8 Anthony Bardaro (43.22), 4 :8 Daniel Frank (44.06), 4:9 Leonhard Pföderl (48.41)

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Despite 4 goals: Italy is clearly defeated by Germany

It was the expected tough start to the Ice Hockey World Cup: Italy's decimated national team was clearly shown their limits by Germany at their first appearance in Riga. Nevertheless: It wasn't all bad at the start of the World Cup.

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