Slovenia remained unbeaten after four rounds in the Men's Goalball tournament after defeating Spain 11-9 at the Beijing Institute of Technology Gymnasium on Wednesday.
The teams shuffled their starting line-ups from the third round, with Jesus Nazaret Santana and Vicente Galiana in for Spain and Matej Ledinek and Gorazd Dolanc starting for Slovenia.
The first two throws earned each team one point. Then Slovenia raced to a 4-1 lead and looked set for a big win.
However, a string of penalties by Slovenia allowed Spain to tie the score 5-5. Santana had a chance to help his team take the lead, but his penalty shot resulted in a penalty to Slovenia, who took the lead 6-5 and went on to win 11-9.
Three goals to Matej Lwdinek, four to Ivan Vinkler and four goals off the bench to Dejan Pirc were good signs for Slovenia.
Scoring on the Spanish side was shared across Jose Perez and Vicente Galiana, with three points apiece, and Santana.
The defeat ousted Spain from quarterfinal contention. Two losses and a draw before this game, including a 10-0 crash from Slovenia, had already left Spain a live-or-leave choice.
"We had to end beyond the quarterfinals, though we don't want that. Anyway, we'll strive as hard as we can tomorrow," said Santana.
(BOCOG September 10, 2008)