
In the big matches on the second day of men’s water polo competition at the Aspire Dome, European champion Spain defeated European silver medallist Croatia 10-6. Serbia dispensed with Montenegro 14-6.
Group Matches Today
In Group A, Australia had the better of South Africa 29-7 and Spain sent off Croatia 10-6.
In Group B, France shook off China 16-9 and Greece made short shrift of Brazil 23-4.
In Group C, United States of America powered past Japan 18-5 and in the evening, Serbia made it two wins with a 14-6 rout of Montenegro.
In Group D, Romania went on the rampage against Kazakhstan, winning 25-3. Hungary upset Italy, winning 15-14 in sudden-death penalty shootout after their match was tied at 9-9 by full time. It was 12-12 after the first rotation.
Match 15. Group A, Spain 10 Croatia 6
Spain came into this match with an easy victory over South Africa. Croatia had a relatively easy win over Australia, so this was a huge step up. European champion champion Spain versus European silver medallist Croatia, who lost its crown last month in Zagreb, Croatia.
That match was 11-10 to Spain and it was only won with a 3-0 final quarter.
Spain had the 2-1 lead in the first quarter, went out to 3-1 and then gave up two goals as Croatia levelled. Spain, however, rammed in the next two and had the halftime break at 5-3.
In Zagreb, Croatia led 7-6.
The huge crowd came to see top-class water polo and was not disappointed. Two brilliant steals by Spanish captain Felipe Perrone came to nought as did some Croatian shots. Spain went to a timeout and it was Alvaro Granados, who scored the third goal, who thread the needle into the top left for 6-3 — a huge difference in the context of the match.
Croatia had many shots denied by either the defence or the wood and Spain lost ball, by self or stolen on chances that should have been converted. Threats were everywhere, but these elite athletes controlled their destinies and at 6-3, Croatia could still come back, as Spain since in Zagreb.
Spain started the scoring in the fourth through Bernat Sanahuja and you would think the match would roll to a slow demise. However, Loren Fatovic stepped up and fired in consecutive goals from the top left and it was 7-5. The second was on extra. At the other end, Albert Munarriz converted extra-man attack and then Granados claimed his third with a counter where he mesmerised the goalkeeper and scored for 9-5, earning a kiss on the head by captain Perrone. But it was still only 4:45. Fatovic made it three straight for him with a cross-cage shot at 3:28. Where was he earlier in the match? He was on fire now. Sanahuja stifled the large Croatian contingent in the bleachers with a deft lob from well outside at 3:01 and 10-6.
Match Heroes
Granados finished with three goals, as did Fatovic for Croatia. Marko Bijac did his best to captain the team from the goal and made 10 stops.
Turning Point
Keeping Croatia scoreless for 13 minutes in the middle of the match, Spain going from 3-3 to 7-3 and swimming away with the match.
Stats Don’t Lie
Spain made the most of the ejections converting five from 12 and defending three of six.
Bottom Line
Spain knows what it is like to win lately and showed that tonight. However, it is just day two and there is plenty of top water polo to be played as yet. Croatia needs to regroup if it wishes to qualify for the Olympic Games.
What They Said
David Martin (ESP) — Head Coach
“On any similarities to the European final last month:
“No, I think it was very different. I think that today our defence much stronger from the last final in the European Championships. The beginning, our defence was not so good (in Zagreb). Today we start very, very good with intensity. Croatia had a lot of chances to make goals. The blokes, the goalkeepers played very well. I’m happy with this performance.”
Jure Marelja (CRO) — Assistant Coach
On the loss:
“Overall, we cannot be satisfied with the result. We lost the game. We played two tight games in the European championship (beat Spain on day one in penalty shootout and lost by a goal in gold-medal final) with the national team of Spain and we expected a better game, but unfortunately today we weren’t good at any part of the play — on attack, especially in defence, we showed something but most overall, very bad game for us.”
Loren Fatovic (CRO) — Three Goals
On the match:
“They were a better team from the start. I congratulate them on the win. We didn’t manage to score some chances and they go on counters from our misses in attack. They were better in the head and mentally. I want to congratulate them. We have to move on and keep our heads up. It’s just the start of the tournament. We didn’t lose anything, so we have to analyse this game and be better during the next game. I think we will play in the quarterfinal Brazil or China and it’s the most important game in this tournament for us because winning this game means Olympic Games. We want to achieve it. We must be better in this tournament after this game and I think we will be.”
Match 13. Group D, Hungary 15 Italy 14 in sudden death penalty shootout (FT: 9-9. Pens: 6-5)
While the previous match was a replay of the European championship gold-medal final, this was a replay of the bronze-medal match in which Italy won 12-7.
There was no similarity tonight in front of a huge crowd, as in Zagreb last month Italy held a 4-1 quarter-time lead and 8-3 at halftime. It was game over. Tonight, world champion Hungary led and Italy went 2-1 up before Vigvari Vince spoilt the Italian party for 2-2 at the first break.
It was the same in the second, but Hungary went two ahead through Zalanki Gergo and Fekete Gergo by 1:47. At 1:14, Luca Marziali converted extra off the left-post position and Gonzalo Echenique countered for 4-4 at 0:40, the halftime score.
Italian captain Francesco di Fulvio created a huge stir when he rifled in a shot for the 5-4 lead in the third. But that wasn’t what stirred up the crowd. Hungary shot and the ball bounced off goalkeeper Marco del Lungo up to the halfway mark where di Fulvio was hunting. He swam forward, taunted Vogel Soma in the Hungarian goal with a defender on him and scored in one of the most remarkable goals at world championship level. It was 6-4 at 3:25. Then, Manhercz Krisztian scored from deep on extra and it was back to one. A Hungarian timeout came to nought and on the next attack Echenique drilled one for his second. At 7-5, Italy was sitting pretty. No such luck. Vigvari on extra and Vamos Marton from seven metres, sent a doughnut over del Lungo for 7-7 at 0:12.
Italy took a timeout early in the fourth and the result was a goal to di Fulvio, followed by another from Andrea Fondelli on extra. Suddenly it was 9-7 in Italy’s favour and 3:49 left in the match. Di Fulvio was ejected on the counter for his third major and Hungary went to a timeout at 1:53. Hungarian skipper Jansik Szilard took the honour and scored at 1:30. The unthinkable happened for Italy when the ball was stolen, Zalanki countered and he scored at 1:13 for 9-9. Despite an Italian timeout, there were no goals in the final minute and the match went to a shootout.
Italy missed the first two and Hungary missed the last two, meaning sudden death. Both teams scored twice and then Echenique missed and Zalanki put away the winner.
Match Heroes
Captain Jansik and Zalanki for grabbing back the two goals that sent the match to the shootout. Zalanki and Manhercz scored four each — two in the shootout. Di Fulvio was Italy’s best with three in the match and was not used in the penalties.
Turning Point
Those last two goals in regular time.
Stats Don’t Lie
Hungary won the extra-man count 7/14 to 3/8 and had the better shooting percentage at 35 per cent to 28.
Bottom Line
Hungary was out to prove a point after losing the bronze at the Europeans with its young side.
What They Said
Gergo Fekete (HUN) — Goal Scorer
On winning:
“Yeah, it was a tough game. I’m really glad that we managed to win this game. Now we can focus on the quarterfinal. Probably we will win the group. I’m glad that from 9-7 we were able to come back and we’re going to try to fix our mistakes.”
Alessandro Campagna (ITA) — Head Coach
On the shock loss:
“We had the opportunity to win. We got in front and they beat us in the end. Unfortunately, we had some little mistakes and Hungary came back, but I cannot say anything against my players.”
Match 12. Group C, Serbia 14 Montenegro 6
When there is an Olympic berth is up for grabs and neither of you has one as yet, it can be tough. Serbia, as the defending champion, desperately wants to get to Paris and it sees by finishing top of the group as a quicker way to the ultimate goal.
To this extent, Serbia rattled in the first four goals by four different shooters, before Montenegro — a penalty shootout winner over United Sates of America on Monday — scored its first goal.
The second quarter was not so clear. Montenegro was back and Duro Radovic’s goal to close the first quarter was the impetus for a recovery that had the halftime score at 6-3, meaning Montenegro was on top for more than a quarter. Strahinja Rasovic took it to 5-1 on extra; Kanstantsin Averka converted extra after a timeout; Dusan Mandic claimed his second — this time with a monster penalty shot — at 2:47 before Montenegro’s Jovan Vujovic shunted in a rebound for 6-3 at 0:21.
It was almost panic time for both teams, but Serbia had Mandic with his incredible left arm. He already had two goals in his pocket and after Stefan Vidovic made it 6-4 for Montenegro, Sava Randelovic and Viktor Rasovic had the margin at four. Dusan Matkovic thanked VAR for confirming his 8-5 goal and Radomir Drasovic made it 9-5. Then Mandic speared in two shots each side of a Vlado Popadic slider from the top. Mandic’s second of the period came seven seconds from the last break — 11-6.
Djorde Vucinic fired in Serbia’s 12th goal at 7:01 of the fourth quarter. Serbian captain Nikola Jaksic climbed high on the left post to drag down the 13th goal while heavily defended at 4:57. Nemanja Vico went to centre forward, received the ball, turned and fired in for 14-6 for a remarkable victory.
Match Heroes
Mandic’s four goals were enormous and Montenegro had six different scorers. Radoslav Filipovic pulled down 12 saves in the Serbia goal and Petar Tesanovic (Main picture) managed 10.
Turning Point
Serbia’s 4-0 start; Montenegro’s 4-2 recovery for 6-4 behind into the third period, but from then on it all Serbia.
Stats Don’t Lie
Serbia shot 45 to nine on percentage and converted an incredible 10 from 15 on extra-man attack compared to Montenegro’s four from 13, meaning Serbia defended nine.
Bottom Line
Serbia is the reigning Olympic champion and wants to be in Paris, so a clash with USA on Friday will be immense.
What They Said
Viktor Rasovic (SRB) — Two Goals
On what it means to win this match:
“Yes, it was a big win for us, but we need to forget about this game because we have a very important game in two days against USA, so this what happened now. It’s very nice; congratulations to my team and we need to forget about this and think of USA because until now nothing happened, nothing is finished. We will play first until the last game and we will see the end of the tournament. About this game, we made a good performance. My team, in defence especially, and now we have to continue like this.”
Dusan Matkovic (MNE) — Goal Scorer
On losing to Serbia:
“We didn’t expect this. We wanted to set up our own rim, which we obviously didn’t do. Serbia just has amazing shooters and they punished our lack of aggressivity, energy.”
On where from here:
“We have to see what we did wrong. There’s nothing else we can do. We have to learn from our mistakes, prepare as best we can for the next game against Japan, which is crucial for us and so, we’ll take it from there.”
Match 14. Group D, Kazakhstan 3 Romania 25
Romania gained its first win after losing the opening encounter with Hungary 15-8.
Even though Kazakhstan opened the scoring through Alexandre Yeremin at 7:06, it was not until a second from halftime that it scored the second, when Sultan Shonzhigitov bounced in a defended shot from 10m and defeated the goalkeeper over his left shoulder. In between, Tudor-Andrei Fulea helped himself to four goals with six of his Romanian team-mates adding another nine.
Andrei Prioteasa, who scored twice in the first quarter, netted the first two of the third period — the first from the penalty line. Romania went to 18-2 with Fulea gaining his fifth goal.
In the fourth quarter, Prioteasa added to his tally for four goals and Matei-Ioan Lutescu scored successive goals for three as Romania won 25-3.
Match Heroes
Fulea and Prioteasa with five apiece. Marius-Florin Tic made nine stops in goal.
Turning Point
Romania coming from one down to 13-1 ahead just before halftime.
Stats Don’t Lie
Romania was three from five and Kazakhstan one from four on extra-man attack with Romania shooting at 66 to 13 per cent.
Bottom Line
Romania is keen to get an Olympic berth and this was one step toward that achievement.
What They Said
David-Joan Bota (ROU) — Goal Scorer
On how the match worked to Romania’s plan:
“It was just a preparation match for the important one for us after the group stages, which is the most important for us because we want to take the one ticket for the Olympic Games. So, this is like a training for us. All our things worked very well.”
Matei-Ioan Lutescu (ROU) — Three Goals
On playing hard:
“It wasn’t an easy match because we decided to play very hard against Kazakhstan. Respect means 100 per cent every match. We are trying to repeat the things we need to do against the big teams.”
Match 16. Group A, Australia 29 South Africa 7
Australia improved on what it would probably regard as a relatively poor showing against Croatia on Monday, losing by five goals. BY bouncing back against South Africa, Australia is set for the biggest hurdle of the group — European champion Spain on Friday.
Australia exploded out of the blocks, going to 3-0 in three minutes and 6-2 by the first quarter. South Africa was in the mix with a penalty goal and a conversion of extra-man attack. The Aussie Sharks had a couple from centre forward and one penalty which could have been two if Jacob Mercep’s shot was returned to him.
Todd Howard pulled one back for the South Africans to start the second quarter and that was it as the Sharks went on the prowl, firing in eight unanswered goals — one on every attack. Mercep was on four and Sam Slobodien two.
Howard pulled one back for the South Africans to start the second quarter and that was it as the Sharks went on the prowl, firing in eight unanswered goals — one on every attack. Mercep was on four and Sam Slobodien two.
After Ross Stone opened for South Africa, Australia’s Blake Edwards scored three consecutive and identical goals from deep left on extra — a true hat-trick. Three more Aussie goals came up with the most spectacular on counter with Mercep instigating and finally receiving the last pass to score for 21-4, 10 seconds from the final break. It was his fifth goals from six attempts.
Marcus Berehulak scored twice as the Sharks shot out to 25-4. South Africa’s Matthew Neser with a bullet that was stopped just inside the bottom right and Stone with a second, had the match at 26-6. However. Berehulak scored his third of the period and fifth for the match and just when it was all over, South Africa’s Niall Wheeler drove in from the left, turned and flipped the ball over his head into the bottom right for 28-7 at 0:22. Milos Maksimovic converted extra for the final score of 29-7.
Match Heroes
Edwards with six, Mercep and Berehulak with five while Stone scored twice for South Africa.
Turning Point
Australia with the quick start and moving away from South Africa at 6-3 and moving to 15-3.
Stats Don’t Lie
Incredible extra-man stats at 10 from 13 for the Sharks and defending five of seven. The overall shooting was 73 to 29 per cent.
Bottom Line
Australia had a point to prove after the five-goal loss to Croatia and South Africa needed the experience ahead of Paris 2024.
What They Said
Nathan Power (AUS) — Captain
On the victory:
“It’s a test for us to show that we can execute at the highest level. It’s good to see that our mental reserves were that we could just keep going and going. It sounds like it should always be present but often it cannot be so. That qualifies us for the knockout stages now, which is a big one for us and I look forward to it.”
On players working together in combination:
“It’s great to see guys who made their first, second time on the big stage, getting in there hungry, chasing. You look at the stats and see guys like Jacob Mercep in his first time for Australia and Marcus Berehulak in his second time for Australia with big goal tallies today. What is equally encouraging is seeing them chasing on defence, working for every facet of the game.
Blake Edwards (AUS) — Six Goals
On the last match against Croatia:
“Bit of a slow start like against Croatia. Bit of improvement in the following three quarters. Probably extra-man attack let us down the most in that game and being in synch in defence, which can happen in the first match of the tournament. We’ve hopefully learnt from that, then we’ll put up a better fight against Spain in two days.”
On preparing for this tournament:
“It’s a big difference, the quality of the opposition. We can’t get too much out of it. We look at our preparation over December where we got some good results in common training with Greece and official games there, backed by the competition in Sardinia where we able to get on top of France and a close match against Montenegro and competitive in the first half against Italy. I think those results have built a lot of confidence in the guys. Now it’s just about putting it together in a major tournament.”
Lwazi Madi (RSA) — Captain
On the match:
“We really struggled. The Aussies have really prepped well for this tournament. We’ve just had our own hardships back at home, then , as well, but the guys are enthusiastic and positive and will be able to bounce back from this, but it is going to be a tough one, especially after we had such a good performance against Spain in terms of the attack and keeping the score down. This one hurts.”
On what preparation is needed for the Olympic Games:
“We need to regroup. This is good preparation for us going back. Unfortunately for us when we come to these tournaments it is usually during our off-season. When we go back, we will be in our prime season back in South Africa, which will help us train more as a team. Hopefully we can improve on our results over there.”
Match 11. Group C, United States of America 18 Japan 5
USA, still smarting from the penalty-shootout loss to Montenegro on day two, made sure against Japan as it rebounded and showed what it is a capable of in Doha.
The match was tied at one and by quarter time USA had a stranglehold on the match at 4-1, progressing to 8-1 at halftime and 9-1 at the start of the third before Japan responded. In between USA was pummelling the Japanese goal and missed its fair share, as well. The score became 9-2 through Adachi Seiya on counter. Johnny Hooper, claimed his third; Max Irving sent in his second from the top and captain Ben Hallock muscled his third goal. Ogihara Daichi closed the period’s scoring for 12-3.
Hooper opened the last with a finely threaded shot from the top, closely followed by a strike on counter. Hallock followed with a double; Inaba Yusuke had his penalty attempt smacked down by Adrian Weinberg; Dylan Woodhead blasted from the top; Inaba made amends; Hooper hammered in number six for him and Ogihara closed on counter for 18-5 by 0:10.
Match Heroes
Hooper with six goals from eight attempts followed by Hallock with five goals. Drew Holland was magnificent for USA with nine saves for 75 per cent. Ogihara was the double scorer for Japan.
Turning Point
Taking the match from 2-1 to 9-1 by early in the third period. It set the tone of the match.
Stats Don’t Lie
USA converted six from seven on extra-man attack to Japan’s one from four. The shooting percentage was 60 to 21.
Bottom Line
USA is deemed a medal contender. After the Montenegro match is needed to show steel and resolve and preparation for more of the important matches to come.
What They Said
Maxwell Irving (USA) — Three Goals
On playing Japan:
“That was a big match for us. Japan is a very strong unit and opponent and going to come out and play hard. For us, the focus was really on ourselves. We had a very disappointing loss against Montenegro (Monday). I thought we could play much better, losing in a penalty shootout. This game for us today really meant a lot, testament to what we were going to put forth in the water; a testament to who we were going to be as a team and it was an opportunity for us to show resilience for not only ourselves but for everyone else at this tournament.”
Ogihara Daichi (JPN) — Two Goals
On the toughness of the match:
“Our tactics worked quite well but it was very difficult.”
On any positives:
“There are so many points to fix and improve, so that we will review, so we can overcome the difficulties, then we can play better on the next game.”
Match 10. Group B, Greece 23 Brazil 4
Greece, a 24-6 first-day winner over China, made it two in a row and now goes to the final group match against France to see who progresses to the quarterfinals.
Brazil put on a brave face in the opening quarter, coming back from two down to level, going 4-2 down and coming back to 4-3. However, the goal tap was turned off and Greece gained control, plugged up the gaps and went on a scoring feast, nabbing two goals more for 6-3 at the first break.
Greece kept Brazil scoreless in the second quarter and threw in four more with Efstathios Kalogeropoulos starting the period where he left off in the first, for his third goal. Seven other Greek players scored goals until now, showing the depth of the team. Two goals came from two metres and another from the penalty line.
The third period was a six-goal romp for Greece with Brazil having no answer for the stronger Europeans. Nikolaos Gkillas netted twice, scoring one of the two goals and captain Ioannis Fountoulis needed VAR to confirm his attempt went across the line. Alexandros Papanastasiou gained a second goal.
Konstantinos Kakaris pleased the hundreds of schoolchildren when he scored consecutive goals from two metres to start the fourth quarter. Konstantinos Genidounias slaped in a rebound; Argyropoulos put away a penalty and Fountoulis scored on counter and the penalty line as the score rose to 22-4. Brazil arrived back into the scoring when Pires popped high to receive a cross pass on extra at 1:32. Papanastasiou had the last say on extra, off the right-post position, and 23-4.
Match Heroes
Fountoulis topped all scorers with four while all his field players scored except one.
Turning Point
Going from 4-3 and denying Brazil for nearly 23 minutes.
Stats Don’t Lie
Greece was six from nine on extra-man attack and Brazil two from three. The overall shooting stat was 58-20 per cent.
Bottom Line
Greece looked awesome and on target for the finals, such is the strength, swimming speed and quick thinking of the athletes.
What They Said
Efstathios Kalogeropoulos (GRE) — Three Goals
On beating Brazil in the context of the tournament:
“If we play each game like this, with energy and passion, I think we will do something really good here.”
What worked well today:
“Our defence and our swimming in counter-attack. It gave us a lot of goals. It gave us a lot of penalties and that’s why the score was so open.”
Rafael Real (BRA) — Nine Shots
On playing a team as tough as Greece:
“We knew coming into the match that Greece was a way better team than us. We approached the game as a preparation and training for the match with China (Friday). It’s an important game and I believe still that we could hold them a little bit for the first quarter but then their preparation was better than ours and it showed. It showed on the score and we have a lot to learn and a lot to improve.”
Match 9. Group B, France 16 China 9
France gained its second win of the championship, although with a hesitation that it will wish to resolve before the all-important clash with Greece for the group decider on Friday.
France took the initiative three times and three times China jumped back. The first two goals were on extra-man attack, French captain Ugo Crousillat scored on action with his wicked left arm and then three goals came from the penalty line for 3-3 at the first break.
The second quarter was just as frantic with the Thomas Vernoux party hitting overdrive. Goals were traded to 6-5 as France maintained its ascendancy with Vernoux, who scored the 3-2 conversion in the first quarter, drilling all four French goals. It could have been five but for his penalty attempt smashed down by Wu Honhui. Vernoux made the 6-5 goal anyway and snapped the trading by firing from the top for 7-5. His power shooting and massive strength belies the fact that he is an accomplished pianist. He is tinkering with goals here, not keys.
The shackles came off a little but France did not seem to want to surge away, making too many errors. However, Vernoux magically turned two opponents to score at 8-5 for his sixth and Chu Chenghao sat up well outside to score — probably nine metres — for 8-6. The attack before, France ruined an easy goal chance. France blew an opportunity following a timeout but did succeed in converting a later penalty foul through Crousillat for 9-6 at 1:21.
France finally put everything together in the fourth period to deny China any chance of a first victory. Goals were traded as France went to sleep after Alexandre Bouet scored, Chu helping himself to an easy shot. France then put away four straight, giving one to China and taking another two for 16-8. China had three attempts in the final 30 seconds with Chen nailing its ninth goal on the buzzer and his third for what was a 7-3 breakout quarter.
Match Heroes
Vernoux with his wonderful contribution of six goals and his display of agility. Crousillat and Bouet had three each. Chen Zongxian was best for China with three.
Turning Point
France going six straight from late in the third until midway through the fourth.
Stats Don’t Lie
France shot three from six on extra-man attack and China one from four. It 55-31 on shooting percentage in France’s favour.
Bottom Line
France deserved the win. China deserves praise for the first three quarters.
What They Said
Thomas Vernoux (FRA) — Six Goals
On the early time for the match:
“We are very happy with this victory because we knew a game at nine o’clock is very difficult. We are not used to play at this hour, but I think the team reacted very well, especially in the third and fourth quarters. We made a few mistakes, but I think the result doesn’t reflect the state of our mind for this competition and we look forward to playing Greece for the first place in the group. Now it’s time to take a rest for the game in two days.”
Remi Saudadier (FRA) — Athlete
On the first quarters being hesitant:
“We started with the idea to make a really good game and maybe that makes too much pressure on us and we make too many mistakes and it becomes complicated. You make one mistake, two mistakes and three. In the end, when we started to have one, two, three-goal difference, it was easy to take this match, but it was a very tough game for us. We were also not surprised because we knew they would fight for this game.”
On the second victory:
“We have two victories — Brazil and today China. Now we play Greece in two days and it's a very important game for first place in the group.”
Chu Chenghao (CHN) — Two Goals
On losing it in the last quarter:
“Maybe the players were tired and lost our confidence and focus.”
On starting well:
“At the start of the game we were very aggressive and had energy and played to what the coach asked.”
Progress Points
Group A: Spain 6, Croatia 3, Australia 3, South Africa 0.
Group B: France 6, Greece 6, Brazil 0, China 0.
Group C: Serbia 6, USA 4, Montenegro 2, Japan 0.
Group D: Hungary 5, Italy 4, Romania 3, Kazakhstan 0.
Day 6 Schedule
Match 18. 09:00. Group C, Montenegro v Japan
Match 19. 10:30. Group Kazakhstan v Hungary
Match 20. 12:00. Group D, Romania v Italy
Match 21. 13:30. Group A, Australia v Spain
Match 22. 16:00. Group A, South Africa v Croatia
Match 17. 17:30. Group C, Serbia v United States of America
Match 23. 19:00. Group B, Greece v France
Match 24. 18:30. Group B, Brazil v China