Greece and Hungary will battle out the men’s water polo gold-medal match on Saturday after contrasting victories on Thursday. Greece made the gold-medal final for the first time and secured one of two Paris 2024 Olympic Games qualification berths in defeating Serbia 13-7 in the first semifinal. In the second, Hungary required a buzzer-beating goal from Krisztian Manhercz to deny Spain its golden quest and qualify for Paris. In the classification 5-8 semifinals, Italy sent off Montenegro 10-6 and France came from four down to level at the death and go to a penalty shootout to win 18-16 over United States of America. In the classification matches, European champion Croatia repulsed Australia 17-10 for ninth place and Japan finished 11th after swimming over Canada 23-11.
Match Reports
Classification 1-4 Semifinals
GREECE 13 SERBIA 7
Greece made a mockery of Serbia’s reputation and rode a tidal wave of goals into the gold-medal final and in the process, gained one of two Paris 2024 Olympic qualification tickets. For a world championships semifinal, it was an amazing display by the Greeks, who will play for the gold for the first time in history after three bronze medals. One wonders when was the last time a team won by six goals in a semifinal?
Greece started in a tight tussle for the first period and then went on a wild ride like a runaway horse, keeping Serbia scoreless in the second quarter while sending in three and going to 7-2 in the third before Serbia came out of hibernation, a long hiatus lasting more than 13 minutes. Serbia trimmed the lead to four by the final break, but three goals lifting Greece to 12-5 had the match firmly in its grasp. Serbia scored two of the last three to maintain some relevance.
The nature of the match was immense. Greece just seemed to own the pool. What it sent to the Serbian goalkeepers normally whistled past. They only made five saves between them while at the other end, Emmanouil Zerdevis pulled in 12, some from point blank. Serbia was frustrated by the Greek defence, taking many shots that looked like certainties, but failing to punch through the defences.
Greece created some history for its nation and deserves a national holiday, especially if it can surmount the top of the dais on Saturday. It has one spot and a definite medal and that airline ticket to Paris.
Match Heroes:
Konstantinos Kakaris was awesome with two goals in the first quarter and a third from centre forward at 11-5. Stylianos Argyropoulos came to the party with the last goal in the first half and then two important strikes early in the fourth. Then there was Zerdevis, worth his weight in gold, something he might have before the week’s end. Strahinja Rasovic and Nikola Jaksic scored twice for Serbia with the former lifting his Fukuoka tally to 22.
Turning Point:
The shut-out second quarter that catapulted Greece to 7-2.
Stats Don’t Lie:
Greece converted six from seven on extra-man attack and defended an amazing eight from 11. Serbia scored the only penalty goal.
Bottom Line:
Greece was awesome. Fantastic. Brilliant. Decisive. Serbia now has to regroup for the clash with France for fifth. Beware, France is on a mission.
VLACHOS Theodoros GRE Head Coach
“First of all, we were ready for a tough game because Serbia played excellent against Italy and I was expecting a very tough game, but in the water our players defended and also in attack we had many solutions.
“We didn’t give Serbia a chance to close the difference during the game. Everybody believes that this was an easy game, but there is no such a thing as an easy game in the semifinals of World Aquatics Championships. I think we tried a lot and I hope we can do it for one more game.
“Defence is our weapon. When we have success against a great opponent or in a tournament, that comes from great defence. To play defence you need to help one another and have a passion to play great defence. Defence in important games can often decide the result.
“Our strategy was to get the ball to our centres. We have two very good centres, and this is the game we are really trying to play with them. And if there is another option, or if we are facing a zone, we also have really good players on the outside that are very good shooters.
“Today was the perfect game for us. I hope we have one more like it, but every game is different and the final is all that remains.”
KAKARIS Konstantinos GRE Three Goals
“I’m happy that I helped my team. It’s what I want, and I’m happy that we won.”
On qualifying for the Olympics:
“It’s amazing. But this is not the first goal of the tournament. Our first goal is to take the gold medal. This is great that we qualified for the Olympics. But we have one more game, and we go for the gold medal.
On the final:
“I think today we’re relaxed. And for tomorrow, we will have our mind ready to give everything we have, like everything. Because it’s the one game why we came here to take the gold medal. And I think we will do it.”
HUNGARY 12 SPAIN 11
While the first semifinal was a foregone conclusion early on, this semifinal was always in doubt, even though Spain seemed to have the edge more often than not. Krisztian Manhercz turned an exciting evening into a frenzy of delight for Hungary, in particular, as he sent his nation to the final in exceptional circumstances.
Hungary took a timeout with 16 seconds left in the encounter and the ball moved around, finally arriving at Manhercz in the wilderness of the left deep wing. With the seconds ticking to the last, he shot low into the waist of Spanish goalkeeper Unai Aguirre and just when it seemed Spain was through to the final, the ball popped off his right hip and spun back into goal. There was only a few seconds to check VAR to confirm that Hungary and gained yet another shot at the title it has won three times before with 10 visits, the latest 10 years ago in Barcelona.
This was magical, stunning and quite a feat as Spain took the lead several minutes before halftime, and stayed in front for a huge 16 minutes. Two quick Hungarian goals made all the difference. Firstly, it was captain Szilard Jansik who was the recipient of a cross-pass flick from the smothered centre forward. With his back to the goal, he switched the ball from his left hand to his right and backhanded on the angle into goal. Then secondly, Marton Vamos took the foul outside six metres and played the free throw directly into goal for 11-11 at 1:55. It was game on.
Spain went on attack in the final minute and gained two shots on attack with the second looking like the winner, except it was blocked and Hungarian head coach Zsolt Varga lunged for the timeout buzzer. There were 16 seconds and he engineered just how to cause the downfall of Spain.
This was magical stuff. To win a World Championship semifinal on the buzzer and with what could be regarded as a goalkeeper mistake, was the stuff of legends. Was he meant to take the shot? Who knows? But he could be relied upon as he scored the identical shot at 9-8 down. Yes, he probably was the target, but from what an angle!
For the record, the first quarter was 3-3 and Spain had a 6-4 edge at halftime. This was trimmed to 8-7 by the final break thanks to a Toni Nemet centre-forward score. The score tripped out to 9-7, 10-8 and 11-9 in Spain’s favour until the two fast goals and then that final shot that will live forever more in Hungarian folklore.
Match Hero:
Manhercz with his three goals and that last one.
Turning Point:
The last three goals by Hungary inside the final three minutes.
Stats Don’t Lie:
They are similar, both shooting 29 and Hungary converting four from nine on extra-man attack and Spain four from eight. Spain had its one chance blocked — the difference in the match.
Bottom Line:
Hungary has the big-time record at these championships and Spin will be running lost opportunities and the inability to stop the final desperate Hungarian charge.
What They Said:
VARGA Zsolt HUN Head Coach
“First of all, a very big goal on the calculation. Most of the teams: First Spain stepped on my team because I really kept Spain on my mind as one of the best teams that is organised with really high-level plays in defence and everything. We had a really good heart, a really big heart to work hard and a lot on the defence and all we could do effectively at a really high level.
“I think we are on the right way. We just have to go forward. I know I am the coach, all I do is just tell them work, work, work, more and more. This is the way now. We are happy, I think, until 10pm and then we will go to sleep and prepare for the next day.
“Altogether that was first the key when they loved the game. We came back in the game step by step and then we could really just make really good defence and then we just stole the ball and then we could leave the goal and then draw. I somehow felt we won the game. I don’t know why; this was a feeling.
“I think Greece is playing at a really high level. I know them very well. I had two players in my club, the highest levelled players. They are really good players and I know how they are organised and disciplined players. We have to prepare for this, but this is tomorrow. Today we are happy.'
VOGEL Soma HUN Goalkeeper
“I feel very great. But I think I made some mistakes. Especially from our zone. Like the connection goals, that I should and I need to save in the final to be able to win. And I think I will watch the win and maybe I will watch the video of what was going on. Maybe it’s working.
“Maybe my positioning. So, I’m not 100 per cent satisfied. Of course, I’m satisfied with the win. And today I’m only focusing on winning and celebrating and being happy is the best. “From tomorrow I will be focusing on how to get better in the final.”
MARTIN David ESP Head Coach
“At the moment I cannot believe we lost this game. I thought we would arrive at the penalty stage, but it is really unbelievable. I think that we are much better, but in the second quarter of the game Hungary was firmer with the second centre. We have the threat to defend this. But, of course, I have to say congratulations to Hungary for getting into the finals.
"I think we played very well on offence today. Scoring 11 goals against Hungary is very difficult. We were just one step from getting into the penalties. It is just disappointing that we suffered a big goal at the very last second.
“I don’t know what message I can give the team at the moment. It will be mentally difficult to recover from this loss. But we have to start preparing for the bronze-medal match because it is not easy to win any medal in the world championships. We will recover physically tomorrow and go into the next game.”
PERRONE Felipe ESP Captain
“I think it was an amazing match; we had the game in our hands. This is sport, and it happens. In the quarterfinals the game was almost lost and we won, and today the game was almost won and we lost. After the second half we started to make many mistakes on defence. Our defence is the most important factor. We scored 11 goals which is very good, but giving up 12 goals is too much for us. I think we need to improve our defence both on their centerfields and outside shooters. There were many mistakes that we need to focus on and change for the next game. At this point we just need to forget about this game and think about getting third place. Losing like this is part of the game, and my congratulations to Hungary.”
Classification 5-8 Semifinals
MONTENEGRO 6 ITALY 10
Playing for fifth place between these powerhouses is an interesting concept, much like Croatia playing for ninth classification. The defensive play of both team s was excellent, balls stopping in the forest rather than the lumber mill. Italy, in last year’s final and the Olympics before that, emerged the winner.
There were just six goals in the first half, quite different from most of the matches in Fukuoka. The first quarter goals were both scored in the first two and a half minutes with Kanstantsin Averka opening from the deep left. Luca Damonte repeated the effort from the other side. Miroslav Perkovic scored from centre forward to star the second quarter before Italy turned the tables with three straight thanks to Lorenzo Bruni with a backhanded blast; Alessandro Velotto from the right and Damonte with the best banana-bender of the tournament, spinning the ball in a curved arc from left-hand-catch into the top left.
Giacomo Cannella turned the knife in Italy’s back with a penalty conversion to start the second half. Francesco di Fulvio converted extra-man attack and Italy was four ahead. Duro Radovic broke the nine-minute drought on a double extra. Aleksa Ukropina had a chance on penalty, but blew it. Fourteen seconds later he nabbed the ball and whipped it into goal for 6-4. Edoardo di Somma drove to the left post and the long, angled pass from outside found its mark high above the bar for him to drag down for 7-4, the last goal of the quarter.
Damonte extended the lead to four at the top of the fourth and Perkovic buried a centre-forward goal for 8-5 at 6:54. Luca Marziali turned and scored at two minutes as the buzzer was about to sound on possession. Perkovic struck again from two metres, this time with an Italian wrapped around his neck. Inside the final two minutes, Gonzalo Echenique left-handed a missile from the swimming pool for 10-6, catching many unawares. It proved to be the last goal.
Match Heroes:
Di Fulvio was named best in pool. While Damonte slotted three goals for Italy. Marco del Lungo was the rock on whom Italy built its victory with a massive 15 saves in goal. Perkovic was best with three goals for Montenegro.
Turning Point:
From 2-1 behind to 6-2 up in the third quarter.
Stats Don’t Lie:
Italy scored three from seven and defended six from nine on extra-man attack; converted one penalty to Montenegro’s missed shot and the shooting was fairly even at 26-27.
Bottom Line:
Italy did not lose a match in regular time, dropping only to Serbia in the quarterfinal shootout. Italy will continue that process in Saturday’s classification match for fifth. This shows how fickle the competition is.
What They Said:
DI FULVIO Francesco ITA Player Of The Match
“We wanted to push every attack and show what happened two days ago (the penalty-shootout loss to Serbia) was a mistake. The road to Paris is long. This kind of match works for us, our game. We had great defence, physical mentality, so very happy with what we did.”
GOJKOVIC Vladimir MNE Head Coach
“We didn’t have any power. Four very hard games for my team and then we have to play the Italian team…”
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 16 FRANCE 18 in penalty shootout (FT: 13-13. Pens: 3-5)
United States of America was playing without its regular captain and key playmaker Ben Hallock as he served a one-match suspension for a violence foul two days ago. The attack was adjusted and Alex Bowen took over the captaincy role.
This was always going to be an intriguing match with both teams coming off once-goal losses in the quarterfinals — USA to Hungary and France to Spain. USA fired in the first two had a reply from French captain Ugo Crousillat and the third goal to USA via youngster Ryder Dodd.
France punched back in the second quarter with goals to Emil Bjorch on extra and Mehdi Marzouki from right-hand catch. Ryder Dodd shot his second, followed by Johnny Hooper the recipient of a pass on counter with an extra-man advantage and then Marko Vavic from the penalty line for 6-3. Pierre-Frederic Vanpeperstraete pulled one back for France.
Things heated up in the third period — won 5-4 by USA — with Bowen scoring twice for USA and Duje Zivkovic netting consecutive goals for France. Bowen started a minor tete a tete with Crousillat, scoring competing penalty goals. They did the same thing at the start of the fourth quarter. In fact, such was the frequency of penalties awarded the third goal of the fourth was Max Irving’s penalty at 5:43. It was the seventh penalty of the match. The eighth came after Thomas Vernoux made the scoresheet and Bjorch finished off the excellent extra-man attack for 13-10. Daube leaned too far forward and sent the ball into the rafters, almost. At 1:05, Vernoux blasted from the top on double extra for 13-12. Marzouki had a decent shot go over the back and mayhem clutched the match when French head coach Florian Bruzzo was red-carded.
There was a double exclusion and USA had the ball with goalkeeper Adrian Weinberg almost mesmerised. Instead of swimming up the pool with 17 seconds and no defenders to worry him, he passed the ball wide right. The USA player was called for pulling past Vernoux and the powerful Frenchman whipped the ball into the empty goal — Weinberg was stranded — at about five metres — with four seconds remaining, USA fired the ball off the restart, only to be taken in by Hugo Fontani, forcing the shootout.
France shot first and all its shooters converted. USA’s Irving had his shot rejected on the second rotation giving France an incredible victory.
Match Heroes:
Bowen with his six goals — five in regular time and one in the shootout —and leading by example. Hooper has scored 14 after three tonight.
Turning Point:
The biggest was France coming back from 10-6, 12-8 and 13-9 and 13-10 to level.
Stats Don’t Lie:
Both teams shot 32 times; France converted four from 10 and USA four from nine on extra-man attack. On penalties, USA converted four from six and France two from two.
Bottom Line:
France is on a roll and about to finish in the top six. USA is disappointed with the final call at the death and will need to recover for the seventh-eighth play-off.
What They Said:
VERNOUX Thomas FRA Equalising Goal-Scorer
On what went through his mind in the last 10 seconds:
“I don’t know, it went so fast. We were losing by one goal. It was the only thing I could do.”
On the possibility of finishing fifth:
“We still have one game to go and we want to finish fifth. We wanted to be a medallist. Everyone thought it was impossible, but we beat China, Canada and Australia. We can do some kind of medal. We will be happy to finish fifth.”
BOWEN Alex USA Captain/Player Of The Match
“The hill’s always a lot higher for us. We played a helluva game and we let it slip away in the last minute. We have to close out games, especially when calls don’t go our way in the last minute. To be a medal winner and a champion team that I know we are, we have to fight through any and all adversity. It’s the second time we have led by four goals and lost (against Hungary on Tuesday). We can fight from behind. We have to win while we’re ahead when everything’s against us.”
Classification 9-10
CROATIA 17 AUSTRALIA 10
Strange watching the European champion of less than a year ago play for ninth at this year’s World Championships. But that was the case with Croatia still lamenting the one-goal loss to Montenegro in the second round, failing to make even the quarterfinals. That behind it, Croatia made a lot of the play with Australia putting up a tremendous fight in the first half, letting the match slip away in the third as Croatia converted a two-goal halftime advantage into a five-goal differential at the final break and on to victory.
Croatia went 1-0 and 3-1 in the opening quarter, allowing Australia to score in the dying seconds for 3-2 at the first break. Chaz Poot scored identical goals either side of the first break to level at three and Tim Putt made it 4-4. Luka Bukic and Zvonimir Butic pushed it out to 6-4 and Andrije Basic and Ante Vukicevic — for his third — had Croatia at 8-5. Luke Pavillard converted extra for 8-6 by halftime.
Basic and Bukic scored go-ahead goals as Marcus Berehulak and Pavillard — his 14th goal — replied. The two-goal margin had been restorde, However, Konstantin Kharkov checked in with two goals with Basic and Vukecevic scoring for 14-8 at the final break.
Poot scored his third on penalty to begin the final quarter, breathing life into the Aussie Sharks’ hopes. Bukic for his fourth and 14 in total and Jerko Marinic Kragic pushed the margin to seven with Aussie skipper Nathan Power converting extra for double figures and 13 in all. Marinic Kragic became Croatia’s top scorer with the final goal from eight metres for 15 goals.
Match Heroes:
Vukicevic, with his five goals followed by Bukic with four goals and goalkeeper Toni Popadic stopped 11 shots. For Australia, Poot netted three.
Turning Point:
The 6-2 third period where Croatia finished with 14-8 after it was 9-7 at one stage.
Stats Don’t Lie:
Australia converted eight from 13 on extra-man attack and defended seven of 12. However, Croatia scored two penalty goals to one and shot 30-28. Croatia had the better of the action goals.
Bottom Line:
Croatia is unaccustomed playing at this level after losing the bronze-medal match last year. Australia was 11th, so moves up one placing.
What They Said:
TUCAK Evica CRO Head Coach
“We must change some things. It’s not good that this team was playing for ninth, just because we lost a match by one goal (Montenegro in the second round). We want to play for medals, not this place. Our place is in the top group, but this is sport. This is life. We will change and be stronger. Olympic Games in Paris is our aim. I hope to be strong in Paris.”
VUKICEVIC Ante CRO Player Of The Match
“We are in this situation because of Montenegro (winning in the second round). We have to put more focus on defence, ahead of attack. Against Montenegro we just needed another goal to draw and possibly win. If we had that (a shootout), our goalkeeper is amazing. We would have had an amazing attitude with more solid games.”
On the opposition:
“Spain and Hungary are a little more better than the next five-six. Those five-six are of the same level. The key to winning is concentration on defence. We have to make defensive stops, then transition, lift the tempo for more security in attack and win the game.”
HAMILL Timothy AUS Head Coach
“We’re playing high-level water polo. The measure of success is always to win. We’re not satisfied with 10th. It shows how far we’ve come in 12 months. There were moments we competed with the best in the world. We need to put together four good quarters back to back and for two weeks. We’re not there yet. We’ll never get beaten because of lack of effort. I’m proud of the playing group.”
POWER Nathan AUS Captain
“It is something to be able to track our progress from the last World Championships through the World League, the World Cup and now. This means we are moving in a positive direction. We were very competitive. We just have to take our opportunities and capitalise on them. These experiences shape us in a positive way. Now we look to Doha and Paris.”
EDWARDS Lachlan AUS Athlete
“It’s a very young team, but we showed a lot of energy. I eased back into the side (following operations). There was a lot of upside, especially a lot of fight against Japan (won 17-16). Blake (Edwards) —his brother who is carrying a shoulder injury —and I have been sitting out a bit and, unfortunately, we missed out of the top eight. There are a lot of positives, especially as Croatia is the European champion — the best team in the world.”
Classification 11-12
CANADA 11 JAPAN 23
Canada was counter-attacked out of the water as Japan strangled Canada after a slow start and swam away with 11th classification. Canada was made to work for every goal while Japan was looking for a victorious exit for the parochial crowd.
In the first period, Canada started strongly with two goals, from centre forward and on extra-man attack. Canada went 3-1 when Leo Hachem converted extra. Then Japan rattled in five goals with one on counter, one from a penalty and two on extra. The other goal was off a rebound, rifled in by Atsushi Arai.
Jeremie Cote made it 6-4 to start the second quarter as Japan controlled with another two counters, moving to 12-6 at halftime. Canada’s Gaelan Patterson was unhappy with his ejection that he climbed out of the pool behind the goal, went to the team bench and threw a water bottle to the floor, earning a red card. The Canadian frustration was evident by the number of times the defence could not keep up with speedy Japanese, creating so many openings. The one bright spot was Nicolas Constantin-Bicari’s centre-forward goal for Canada at 12-6, 22 seconds from the halftime buzzer.
Yusuke Inaba began the third period with his fourth goal and 16th for the tournament, on extra, with Nikos Gerakoudis responding from deep right. Taiyo Watanabe scored two to lift his tally to four goals and 16 in Fukuoka; Daichi Ogihara gained his third goal and Keigo Okawa scored a triple as Japan blew the score out to 20-8 by the last break.
Canada scored three straight in the fourth with youngest player Hachem gaining his second and David Lapins scoring his first in Fukuoka. At 21-11, Japan scored the last two with Inaba scoring the 22nd goal for his fifth.
Match Heroes:
Inaba, with five goals from six attempts for 17 in Fukuoka, was best in pool with Watanabe sending in four to go to 16 goals. Djerkovic topped Canada’s scoring with three. Constantin-Bicari finished the tournament with 15 goals.
Turning Point:
From 3-1 down to 6-3 ahead at the quarter.
Stats Don’t Lie:
Japan shot 36-25; converted six from 10 and defended two from five. Japan had the better of penalty goals with four while Canada had its one blocked.
Bottom Line:
Japan has the speed and agility. Japan was ninth in Budapest last year and Canada was 16th.
What They Said:
SHIOTA Yoshinori JPN Head Coach
“I think there is a lot of room for improvement. We couldn’t beat Croatia or Hungary. We continue to train to improve. To beat Hungary we need other tactics, not like a zone. We need a new defence because teams are used to it. Japan’s style is unique. We need something different to be able to change some quarters.”
On the tournament:
“It was a great experience to play Croatia, Hungary, Serbia and Australia and to have a one-goal game (with Australia). It’s always good to get these as we lost the Asian Games by one goal.”
OKAWA Keigo JPN Three Goals In Third Quarter
“We first of all wanted to achieve the top eight. Why we could not, I don’t know. We need to see what went well and what needs fixing for the next tournaments and the future.”
On the team leadership, as a former captain:
“Toi Suzuki (23 ) is trying to lead the team very well at camps and tournaments. He is paying a lot of effort. This team is the best.”
On the upcoming Asian Games towards the Olympics:
“We will find, fix and improve our tactics. We will improve so that Japan is more competitive against the top teams.”
OATEN Pat CAN Head Coach
“If the team stuck to the game plan, it’s simple. We dropped the game plan. We all know Japan counters and we didn’t stop it.”
HACHEM Leo CAN Youngest Player (18 This Year)/Two Goals
“It’s never fun playing Japan because they never stop from the first goal until the last. It was a good test. Japan is a good team. We didn’t play our best, but it was a good test for us.”