Water Polo, prelims, Day 1 - Hungary and Serbia produce thrilling tie

A thrilling match ending in a tie kicked off the men’s water polo tournament in Rio: 2013 world champion Hungary and 2015 winner Serbia drew 13-13 in a spectacular contest. Italy staged a brilliant finish scoring the last three goals to overcome Spain while Greece needed a minor miracle to avoid an embarrassing loss to Japan. Brazil took a huge step towards the quarters by beating Australia, Croatia downed the US in the second half while Montenegro did a clean job against France.

Game 1, 9.00 – Men, Group A: Serbia v Hungary 13-13 (3-5, 3-4, 3-2, 4-2)

Referees: Radoslaw Koryzna (POL), Adrian Alexandrescu (ROU)

SERBIA: Branislav Mitrovic, Dusan Mandic 1, Zivko Gocic, Sava Randelovic 1, Milos Cuk 2, Dusko Pijetlovic 2, Slobodan Nikic 2, Milan Aleksic, Nikola Jaksic 1, Filip Filipovic 3, Andrija Prlainovic, Stefan Mitrovic 1, Gojko Pijetlovic (GK). Head coach: Dejan Savic

HUNGARY: Viktor Nagy, Gergo Zalanki 1, Krisztian Manhercz 1, Balazs Erdelyi 1, Marton Vamos 2, Norbert Hosnyanszky 3, Adam Decker, Marton Szivos 1, Daniel Varga 1, Denes Varga 2, Gabor Kis 1, Balazs Harai, Attila Decker (GK). Head coach: Tibor Benedek

Extramen
Serbia: 6 on 16
Hungary: 4 on 13

Penalties:
Serbia: none
Hungary: 1 on 1

Quite a game to start a water polo tournament with the 2013 (HUN) and the 2015 (SRB) World Champion sides clashed in the opening game this morning, Day 1 of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. They began it in style, the action-packed first period saw eight goals, it was a pretty entertaining eight minutes with a couple of spectacular goals. The Magyars went ahead early, courtesy of Marton Szivos’s nice touch from close-range, the first goal of the tourney, and maintained their lead throughout the first period.

In the second, the Hungarians, after killing a Serbian 6 on 4, managed to widen the gap to three at 4-7, and later, with a brilliant 7m shot, Olympic rookie Krisztian Manhercz put them 5-8 ahead. And even the Serbs tried to stay close with some fine extra-man plays, a last-grasp goal from the centre by Gabor Kis set back the 3-goal margin (6-9).

When the Hungarians went 6-10 up with Norbert Hosnyanszky’s blast early in the third, the Magyars looked to sit comfortable in the driving seat. However, substituting the goalie in the middle break – Branislav Mitrovic, though playing in Hungary in the club season and knowing the opponents, didn’t give the usual backing for its team – began to work for the Serbs. Gojko Pijetlovic had some really fine catches while his mates tightened up in defence and ruined a series of Hungarian 6 on 5s. In front, they netted three in a row and had a possession to equalise but couldn’t make it and Hosnyanszky scored his third for a 9-11 lead with 10 seconds left from this period.

Slobodan Nikic’s goal introduced the last quarter, again, netting from the 2m line, something worked really well for them in the 6 on 5. Denes Varga put away a 6 on 4 for 9-11 with 5:55 remaining. Again, Nikic finished a man-up from close and this time Pijetlovic came up with a crucial save in another 6 on 4 and that was crucial as Filip Filipovic didn’t make any mistake in the next extra and with 3 minutes to go he levelled the score at 12-12. Hungary hit back through Marton Vamos’s fine left-handed shot from a man-up with 2:06 remaining on the clock and 22 second were left when the Serbs began their last possession while Hungary’s starting goalie had to sit out with a cramping leg and the his reserve, Attila Decker could just touch but not save Filipovic’s shot which earned a point for the Serbs 4 seconds from time.

Dejan Savic, head coach, Serbia:

“It was a great game, the Hungarians did a great job, especially in the first half. We got more aggressive in defence for the second half, so we got only 4 goals after conceding nine in the first half. Still, I would say the Hungarians might have deserved this win a bit more as they managed to build a 4-goal lead.”

Tibor Benedek, head coach, Hungary

“I’m absolutely satisfied with my team, we produced great efforts in this match, mentally we controlled most of the game. Losing a point in the last seconds is something which doesn’t make you happy, still, playing such a great game against the Serbs who have been together for eight years is a pretty great feat. For a while it was water polo from the space age, and it was good to see that, though sometimes was hard to follow."

Game 2, 10:20 – Group B: United States v Croatia 5-7 (2-2, 1-1, 1-2, 1-2)

Referees: Boris Margeta (SLO), Daniel Flahive (USA)

USA: Meryll Moses, Thomas Dunstan, Benjamim Hallock, Alex Obert, Alex Roelse 1, Luca Cupido, Joshua Samuels, Tony Azevedo 2, Alex Bowen 1, Bret Bonanni 1, Jesse Smith, John Mann, McQuin Baron. Head coach: Dejan Udovicic

CROATIA: Josip Pavic, Damir Buric, Antonio Petkovic 1, Luka Loncar, Maro Jokovic 2, Luka Bukic, Marko Macan, Andro Buslje, Sandro Sukno 1, Ivan Krapic, Andelo Setka 2, Javier Garcia, Marko Bijac (GK). Head coach: Ivica Tucak

Extramen
USA: 4 for 11
Croatia: 1 for 6

Penalties:
USA: none
Croatia: 1 for 1

It was a pretty tough and even match for a while, in fact, the Americans took the lead three times in the first half while the title-holder Croats struggled a bit to find their usual rhythm. Still, they held on and after being 4-3 down they began to roll. A lucky rebound helped them to go even once more at 4-4 late in the third but Andelo Setka’s long-range shot put them ahead for the first time in the encounter and they never looked back.

Two more fine action shots did the damage early in the fourth, in the span of 48 seconds Setka and Maro Jokovic scored for 4-7 and that was decisive, the Croatians did their job, especially in the back, letting only 2 goals in the entire second half. The Americans could score mainly from man-ups, their shooting ratio from the 5m perimeter (0 for 12) was at least ineffective, so to say – though another telling stat is Mirko Bijac’s saving percentage: he had 13 stops on 18 shots for 72.2%, a game winning stat from a goalie.

Marko Bijac, goalie, Croatia:

“We expected a tough game and it was especially so at the beginning, but we played a hard defence and that was the key to our success. We had many shots in the first half but their goalkeeper was equal to them. So we had a few problems but we knew if we continued to play like this and be strong to the end, the result would come.”

Alex Roelse, player, USA:

“It's a big game for us, we started off strong on defence, you can see it was a low scoring game. Towards the end I think we may have gotten a little nervous. It's a lot of the guys' first game, so I think that really played a part, and we rushed into our offence, whereas if we stay calm and we stick to our game plan, we can achieve a lot.”

Game 3, 11.40 – Group B: Spain v Italy 8-9 (3-2, 2-1, 1-2, 2-4)

Referees: Vojin Putnikovic (SRB), Georgios Stavridis (GRE)

SPAIN: Dani Lopez, Alberto Munarriz 1, Marc Roca, Ricard Alarcon, Guillermo Molina 4, Marc Minguell, Balazs Sziranyi, Albert Espanol 3, Roger Tahull, Francisco Fernandez, Blai Mallarach, Gonzalo Echenique, Vicente Aguilar (GK). Head coach: Gabriel Hernandez
ITALY: Stefano Tempesti, Francesco di Fulvio 2, Niccolo Gitto, Pietro Figlioli 3, Andrea Fondelli 1, Alessandro Velotto, Alessandro Nora, Valentino Gallo, Christian Presciutti 3, Michael Bodegas, Matteo Aicardi, Nicholas Presciutti, Marco del Luongo (GK). Head coach: Alessandro Campagna

Extramen
Spain: 5 for 10
Italy: 6 for 15

Penalties:
Spain: 2 for 3
Italy: none

The Mediterranean derby brought the usual twists and turns with Italy having the last laugh. It was a sound one, for sure, coming from 6-8 down in the last period. Spain can feel the pain as they missed a penalty in the most crucial moment of the game.

At the beginning the Spaniards managed to get the upper hand while the Italians were trying to find the solution after they lost one of their most important players, Matteo Aicardi in the very first minute as he had to leave the pool with a probably broken nose. Affected by this, they were left behind as Spain went 5-3 up by half-time and was still in the lead (6-4) in the middle of the third.
Two goals from man-ups, one in the third, with 28 seconds left, and the other one at the beginning of the fourth were enough to equalise at 6-6 but Guillermo Molina replied immediately with a fine action goal and with 4:24 to go Spain led by two again (8-6). Andrea Fondelli put away a 6 on 5 for 8-7 and another man-up brought the sides on even again, as Pietro Figlioli scored. Seconds later he committed a penalty foul but Molina’s shot was denied by Marco Del Luongo (that would have been the Spaniard’s 5th goal of the day). Saving a penalty at 8-8 with 2:40 remaining is really turning a point – and it was, indeed. Thirty seconds later Christian Presciutti’s action goal put the Italians ahead for the first time in the match and turned out to be the game winner. Or, to be precise, a winner goal, combined by a winner save.

Alessandro Campagna, head coach, Italy:

“I thought we played fantastic in the third and fourth quarters. We played with passion and as a cohesive unit. In the first 20 seconds of the match we lost our best player (Matteo Aicardi). It was a very physical match and we were playing with just one centre for the last two quarters but we still came back to get the win.”

Guillermo Molina, player, Spain

“We must learn to keep playing until the very end. I thought it was a really tough game. The first games of the Olympics are always hard. I thought we played really well but we were up against a very good Italian team. I think Italy played their cards well. They had good movement and pressed hard without the ball. We had a penalty shot and they did a good job of dealing with it. This happens in sport. We know these games are going to be played at a very high level.”

Game 4, 13.00 – Group A: Greece v Japan 8-7 (2-0, 2-3, 0-4, 4-0)

Referees: Sergey Naumov (RUS), Stanko Ivanovski (MNE)

GREECE: Konstantinos Flegkas, Emmanouil Mylonakis 1, Konstantinos Genidounias, Ioannis Fountoulis 1, Kyriakos Pontikeas 1, Christos Afroudakis 1, Evangelos Delakas, Konstantinos Mourikis, Christodoulos Kolomvos 1, Alexandres Gounas, Angelos Vlachopoulos 3, Stefanos Galanopoulos (GK). Head coach: Theodoros Vlachos
JAPAN: Katsuyuki Tanamura, Seiya Adachi, Atsushi Arai 2, Mitsuaki Shiga, Akira Yanase, Atsuto Iida, Yusuke Shimizu, Yuki Kadono, Koji Takei 2, Kenya Yasuda 1, Keigo Okawa 2, Shota Hazui, Tomoyoshi Fukushima (GK). Head coach: Yoji Omoto

Extramen
Greece: 2 for 9
Japan: 2 for 8

Penalties
Greece: none
Japan: 1 for 2

The first big upset was on the horizon as Japan led 4-7 before the last period. The Greeks were struggling, or rather, suffering. They couldn’t find their game, even though they took a 2-0 lead late in the first period (after a missed penalty from Japan), they couldn’t dominate as it was expected. What’s more, the Japanese got some boost as they killed a series of Greek attacks which lacked the usual disciplined plays. In three minutes they netted three connecting goals (2-3), but for a while Angelos Vlachopoulos’s double seemed to put things in order (4-3).

What came next was something phenomenal, perhaps the best single quarter in the recent history of Japanese water polo. The Asians defended pretty well and by reaching the top gear they created fine opportunities and capitalised on them, thrashing the world bronze medallists 0-4 in eight minutes.

The Greeks switched to emergency mood, an early goal from Ioannis Fountoulis gave them hope then they managed to kill a Japanese man-up and soon scored a fine action goal for 6-7. A great block saved them at Koji Takei’s attempt in a 6 on 5 and that proved to be a crucial moment: it could have been 6-8, instead Christodoulos Kolomvos put away a man-up for 7-7, 80 seconds from time. And it was still enough for the Greeks to win the match: Emmanouil Mylonakis finished a counter with 38 seconds to go and their opponent ran out of ideas – in fact, this period went to Greece with 4-0, a fine reply to the 0-4, though a bit rare among in a top men game.

Theodoros Vlachos, head coach, Greece:

“Thank God we won. We played very badly for the first three quarters. We lost many, many easy goals. In the fourth quarter we gave it everything and we were aggressive with our play and with our mind also. We didn't want to start with a bad result and I hope we will have a better face in the next game.”

Yoji Omoto, head coach, Japan:

“Greece is understood to be one of the best teams in the world, in terms of passing and shooting, so therefore we tried to keep them out of a static position to not allow them a good shot. Judging from the score after the third period, this is a game we should have won. But at the same time, we have been able to play and prove we can compete with one of the best teams in the world. They outplayed us at the end.”

Game 5, 19.30 – Group B: France v Montenegro 4-7 (0-2, 0-3, 1-0, 3-2)

Referees: Mark Koganov (AZE), Peter Molnar (HUN)

FRANCE: Remi Garsau, Remi Saudadier, Igor Kovacevic, Enzo Khasz 1, Romain Blary, Thibault Simon, Ugo Crousillat 1, Michal Izdinsky, Mehdi Marzouki 1, Mathieu Peisson 1, Petar Tomasevic, Alexandre Camarasa, Jonathan Moriame (GK). Head coach: Florian Bruzzo
MONTENEGRO: Milos Scepanovic, Drasko Brguljan, Vjekoslav Paskovic 1, Antonio Petrovic, Darko Brguljan 2, Aleksandar Radovic 3, Mladan Janovic, Uros Cuckovic, Aleksandar Ivovic, Sasa Misic 1, Filip Klikovac, Predrag Jokic, Zdravko Radic (GK). Head coach: Vladimir Gojkovic

Extramen:
France: 0 for 5
Montenegro: 2 for 11

After the pretty close battles in the opening session, the first game played after sunset lacked the real heat. Montenegro blew the French away by the middle break, taking a 5-0 lead. They were not overwhelming but in defence they were tight and that was enough against the Gauls who perhaps surprised even themselves by catching the top flight at the qualification tourney in April.
The French managed to get on the scoreboard after 21:48 minutes for 1-5 while the Montenegrins opted to slow down and spare energy. This ‘policy’ almost hit back in the fourth when their rivals staged a late surge (4-6) but even if there were 4:30min to play, they couldn’t get closer. Then, with 0:35 on the clock, Darko Brguljan’s fine action goal closed down the encounter.

Game 6, 20.50 – Group A: Brazil v Australia 8-7 (3-2, 2-1, 2-2, 1-2)

Referees: Filippo Gomez (ITA), Xavi Buch (ESP)

BRAZIL: Slobodan Soro, Jonas Crivella, Ruda Franco 1, Ives Alonso, Paulo Slaemi, Bernando Gomes 1, Adrian Baches 3, Felipe da Costa, Bernardo Rocha 1, Felipe Perrone 1, Gustavo Guimaraes 1, Josip Vrlic, Vicinius Antonelli (GK). Head coach: Ratko Rudic
AUSTRALIA: Joel Dennerley, Richie Campbell 2, George Ford, John Cotterill 2, Tyler Martin, Jarod Gilchrist, Aidan Roach, Aaron Younger 1, Joel Swift, Joe Kayes 1, Rhys Howden 1, Mitch Emery, James Stanton-French (GK). Head coach: Elvis Fatovic

Extramen
Brazil: 3 for 8
Australia: 2 for 7

Penalties:
Brazil: none
Australia: 1 for 1

Life can produce strange scenarios: the final day of the water polo tournament saw Ratko Rudic and Elvis Fatovic jumping to the pool for a joyful celebration as Croatia clinched the Olympic title in London. Four years on, the two coaches were on poolside again on Day 1 at the Games, though this time as rivals, leading foreign sides. And it was a crucial match right at the beginning: with Serbia, Hungary and Greece – three of the top four sides from this year’s European Championships – being drawn into this group, this game seemed to be a decisive one for making the quarters.
And the Brazilians clinched it. They jumped to a 2-0 lead and from that point it turned to be a chasing game but the Aussies could not catch them up. The gap was never bigger than two goals but never disappeared. It was 3-2 after the first eight minutes, 5-3 at half-time and the hosts were still 7-5 up before the last period. After 7-6, Australia had two attempts but both were saved by Slobodan Soro, the former world champion from Serbia who were nationalised for Brazil. At the other end a goal from a dying 6 on 5, by Adrian Baches (it was his 3rd in this evening), doubled the home side’s lead once more and the remaining 5:14 minutes saw only a single goal. It came a bit late for the guys from Down Under, with 42 seconds to go, and they couldn’t save the day at the end, a long-range shot was not good enough to beat Soro.

Ratko Rudic, head coach, Brazil:

“I have been coaching many national teams, all over the world, but this is the first time I am coaching the team who organised the Olympic Games. Tonight was very special. The fans gave us incredible support throughout and they were loud and helped us to win. At the end we had success and the victory is the most important thing. I thought we were always in control of the game and we knew what do in each situation. We committed a few mistakes but all together it was a very positive game for us. The team were very disciplined to apply what we planned before the game and to do that is a characteristic of a good team.”

Felipe da Costa, player, Brazil:

“The crowd threw us lots of cuddly toys after the game. It was crazy. There were so many people celebrating and everyone was doing the samba. It was a beautiful feeling and a crazy atmosphere. It was also a really crazy game, as all of us guys are playing in our first Olympic Games with Brazil. Some of us have been waiting years for this moment and right now this is something special. It’s a wonderful feeling to win, but we were confident throughout and we felt as if we were always in control.”