The teams tied at 10 after a very spectacular match spiced with a series of questionable referee decisions. The Hungarian team played very well against the tough Italians. The two teams soon meet for another round in Rome.

Both the Hungarian and Italian coaches and players were satisfied at the end of the match, respectively. Both coaches said that the teams had not prepared for the match especially; in fact the teams had gone through serious physical trainings in the past two weeks.

The majority of the Hungarian players said that they are on the right track leading to the 2014 WPEC. Hungarian captian Márton Szívós said that however though winning is better than playing a draw, he was happy with the overall image of the game.

Hungarian coach Tibor Benedek emphasized the weaknesses of the Hungarian defence. “Our defence was slow and our zones were easy to shoot through, unfortunately” the coach said. “The only serious problem is our blocking and area defence” he added.

The team is facing a difficult week. After the easy training of the Monday of Pentecost the trainings will get immense. The team is flying to Rome in Thursday to train with the Italian team before their rematch on Friday evening. Following, the team flies to Dubai for the World League.

Words by Christian Keszthelyi for XpatLoop.com