Estonia Beats Thailand 11-4 to End Group Stage Unbeaten – 03.12.2018

Thailand tried to upset the favorites by scoring the first goal, but then Estonia turned their goal-scoring machine on and punished the Thai team for playing too offensively. Almost 300 very loud fans at Arena Sparta saw a carefree floorball with lots of chances as well as goals. Estonia won against Australia, Poland and Thailand and finished first in the group C.

People who didn’t consider the match between Estonia and Thailand played at Arena Sparta on Monday too interesting were terribly mistaken. Both teams showed the fans a very pacey game with lots of chances and more importantly – goals. The Thai players went into the lead quite early on, but Estonia managed to turn the score around. The spectators witnessed 8 goals in the 1st period, 6 of them scored by the Europeans. The fans were enjoying the game and created a very nice and warm atmosphere at Podvinný mlýn. With the score being 6-2 after the first 20 minutes, both teams’ fans were expecting to see even more in the next parts of the match.

The goal machine took a little break in the 2nd period as both teams focused more on the defensive aspect, which resulted in fewer chances. The one to score first was Thailand´s defender Pheeraphong Khambunlue who gladdened the large crowd of red and blue fans at Arena Sparta. But the Estonians were quick to react. First it was Rickard Rydell, who scored his third of the night and celebrated a hat-trick. The most beautiful moment of the game came in the 37th minute when Kristo Lehiste netted a backheel goal.

In the 3rd period, the pace of the game slackened. The fans knew who the winner was going to be, so they started cheering on every nice shot or pass. Both teams on the pitch understood that and tried to offer as many goal-scoring chances as possible. In the end, Estonia won 11-4 and remained unbeaten in the group stage of the tournament.