Italy and Croatia crash into men's water polo final

How They Went

In the Classification 1-4 semifinals, Italy beat Spain 8-6 and Croatia survived the match and shootout to defeat France 17-16 in sudden-death penalty shootout (FT: 11-11. Pens: 6-5).

In the Classification 5-8 semifinals, Greece needed a penalty shootout to defeat Montenegro 14-13 after the match was tied at 10-10. Serbia reduced outgoing world champion Hungary to the play-off for seventh with  an 11-10 victory.

In the Classification matches, United States of America beat Romania 13-9 for ninth position and Australia sent off China 17-7 for 11th.

Today's Matches

Classification 1-4 Semifinals

Match 43. Spain 6 Italy 8

What a match this turned out to be with Italy stamping its authority early and taking it to Spain at every opportunity. It shut out Spanish captain Felipe Perrone and Alvaro Granados, the pair with 19 goals between them.

Italy was pressure city and the goalkeepers were sensational with Spanish hero Unai Aguirre stopping 14 and Italian goalie Marco del Lungo with 11 saves. If anyone suggested that Italy could stop the European champion for 10 minutes in the middle of the match while scoring four, you would have taken odds against.

The opening quarter was a goal apiece as Marco Larumbe had his score replied by Italy’s Francesco Condemi three and a half minutes later.

Alessandro Velotto made it 2-1 halfway through the second quarter and Alberto Munarriz fired in a floating ball from nine metres for 2-2. Then Italy blew Spain away, moving to 4-2 at halftime and 6-2 by 4:41 in the third — four goals in 10 minutes. It was not until 1:35 in the third that Larumbe scored his second for 6-3.

Spain went to the fourth with renewed energy, especially when Granados countered for 6-4 at 5:53. Spain called a timeout at 4:51 and this resulted in a goal to Munarriz from the left side of the pool. It was 6-5 to Italy. Captain Francesco di Fulvio pulled the trigger on an outside blinder for 7-5 at 2:01. Alejandro Bustos pushed in a floating ball on the line for 7-6 at 1:28. Then Italy drew a penalty and Andrea Fondelli converted for 8-6 at 1:00.  Spain gained an extra play, shot and had it blocked. It bounced down to Italy and the match went upfield. Italy played the time, handed to Spain who shot and then Italy controlled until the final buzzer.

Match Heroes
Munarriz and Larumbe led the charge for Spain but it was Italy’s di Fulvio, Fondelli and Condemi with their two goals each that helped them across the line.

Turning Point
Italy taking the 2-2 score to 6-2 midway through the third and maintaining it until 1:35.

Stats Don’t Lie
Italy shot 29 to 19 on percentage and converted four from 11 while defending 10 from 13, the major statistic of the match.

Bottom Line
Italy wanted to make a statement after finishing with bronze at the European Championships last month. Spain looked tired and struggled with the Italian defence that lifted considerably for this match.

What They Said

Sandro Campagna (ITA) — Head Coach

On his smile not being as large as after the quarterfinal:
“Yes. That match was incredible. This match was tactical match. It was an amazing game. Spain, I like a lot the coaching and the players. They play just water polo. Today, Italy was just a little bit better, today.”

On 10 minutes with no Spanish goal:
“It was our defence. All the team, they respect the plan. I was sure we could have a fantastic game.

On having the same play in the final on Saturday:
“I have to study.”

David Martin (ESP) — Head Coach

On Italy being better today:
“Congratulations to Italy. Italy is strong in defence in extra man and six on six, but after I am proud with the team. They are fighting till the end. Italy today was better. We will fight to win the bronze medal.”

Match 44. Croatia France in sudden death penalty shootout 17-16 (FT: 11-11. Pens: 6-5)

Croatia survived an amazingly exciting final quarter in which it saw its 9-6 advantage obliterated  and the match go to the shootout as the French won the period 5-2. Sadly for France, the fairytale was shot down in the 11th penalty as Croatia won and sets its sight on Italy this Saturday.

Croatia looked comfortable early on with the first two goals coming on extra-man plays thanks to Konstantin Kharkov and Matias Biljaka. At 3:21, Thomas Vernoux shot a cannon from the top for his 23^rd goal in Doha. Kharkov claimed a second and Romain Marion Vernoux both converted extra-man plays to close the first quarter at 3-2 to Croatia.

Marion Vernoux equalised  two minutes into the second quarter and goals were traded for the rest of the quarter with Loren Fatovic gaining his second at 6-5, when his action shot just managed to sneak into the bottom left. Croatia had a three-on-one counter and Fatovic’s shot was smacked down by Hugo Fontani.

The 6-5 halftime lead was converted to 7-5 by Franko Lazic and narrowed by Enzo Nardon when he scored his first goal in Doha, firing it in low from an acute angle deep left. Jerko Marinic Kragic gained his second on penalty and Marko Zuvela sent his in from the right just before the buzzer.

France was back with a vengeance, just like against Hungary when it scored three in the last quarter in the quarterfinal. Alexandre Bouet shot his second on extra and Enzo Khasz, with his second here, at centre forward, closed the gap to one at 9-8. Rino Buric converted extra at 5:20 and Vernoux climbed high at the penalty line for 10-9. At 2:51, France gained an exclusion and took a timeout and that “unthinkable” thing happened when Bouet converted from the left for 10-10 at 2:33. At 1:09, Croatia went to a timeout and set Fatovic to score from the bottom left for 11-10 at 0:52.

France went on attack, moved the ball around to near the death and found Khasz at bottom right and the right-hander leaned to his left and sent the ball in cross cage at 0:16. The sound level hit 100 decibels easily. Croatia went on attack and the shot was not what was required and the match went to a shootout.

Match Heroes
Fatovic with his three goals in the match and one in shootout proved he was the best tonight. Bouet and his three was equal to what was needed. He also scored in the shootout. Spare a thought for Khasz who missed the final shot. He scored two glorious goals in the last quarter, including the match saver, to make shootout and then scored the first in the rotation.

Turning Point
Like two nights ago where France scored three in the last quarter, tonight it was a fantastic five to two that forced the shootout. And France made Croatia work to get there.

Stats Don’t Lie
Croatia probably made it across the line, or at least make the shootout, with five conversions of extra man and stopping nine of 14. Both teams shot 41 per cent and only one team missed a penalty shot.

Bottom Line
Croatia has been to the final three times, winning in 2007 and 2017 and losing the final in 2015. For France it is new territory indeed. To dream of a final probably was not beyond expectations as France proved it was no fluke to be here and in the mix after finishing a surprise sixth in Fukuoka just six months ago.

What They Said

Marko Bijac (CRO) — Goalkeeper/Captain (above)

On winning in the shootout:
“After this thriller, congratulations first of all to my team, of course. We fought really proud and let’s say we were more calm in this penalty shootout, but also big congratulations to French team which played a really, really good game and make it really, really tough for us to pass the day.”.

On tomorrow:
“We are really happy, of course, and tomorrow we will rest as best we can and prepare for the big final.”

Florian Bruzzo (FRA) — Head Coach

On losing in penalties
“It was a good performance. To lose under penalties is very cruel, but it is part of our sport, it is the rules and we have to work with that.”

On anything that stood out for him in his team’s play:
“No. The overall performance was good; we had some problems in the beginning and we didn’t react well about their moves, but at the end we played good water polo. I have nothing against the team, the players. It’s part of the game of sport.”

Classification 5-8 Semifinals

Match 42. Serbia 11 Hungary 10

This was such an engrossing match between two of the world’s powerhouse water polo nations and it was a semifinal for places five to nine. Just amazing. No medals on offer, no glory. Just water polo.

Hungary opened and then needed to level at two after Djordje Lazic and Djordje Vucinic gave Serbia the lead. Strahinja Rasovic on extra; Radomir Drasovic and Strahinja Rasovic again — both on penalty — gave Serbia the 5-2 quarter-time advantage.

It was Hungary’s turn for a triple with Gergo Zalanki, Adam Nagy and Denes Varga, for his second, levelled at 3:08. Goals were traded and the match was 7-7 at halftime.

Hungary missed a goal on a VAR decision and on the next attack, Sava Randelovic caught the ball on the centre drive and swept it into goal. Nemanja Vico converted extra at 1:21 for 9-7 and Zalanki blasted from the top for 9-8, 21 seconds from the final break.

The energy was still evident as the fourth period evolved. Drasovic started the action, dragging a ball backwards from two metres on extra on the first attack. Nikola Lukic speared one from left-hand-catch straight into the top right for 11-8 and a three-goal lead.

Hungarian skipper Szilard Jansik drove into the left-post position to score and  a little later Lukic was red-carded with substitution. Hungary hit the wood and defence twice before Vince Vigvari, one of the previous shooters who had his shot blocked, stole the ball and scored bottom left for 11-10 behind. Serbia called a timeout on extra at 1:57 and the shot hit the wood. A contra foul by Hungary was called as the ball came from downtown into the goal. Serbia shot and gained the corner at 0:44.

Serbia dumped the ball after using the time and Hungary went on attack, only to call the time at 0:14 after the team had already swum up the pool. Hungarian goalkeeper Soma Vogel came up to two metres, accepted the ball, turned and shot into his counterpart. Serbia gained the rebound and had the victory.

Match Heroes
Strahinja Rasovic scored three and just-named World Aquatics Male Water Polo Athlete of 2023, Gergo Zalanki, also scored three — for Hungary.

Turning Point
When Serbia went from 2-2 to 5-2 late in the first quarter, allowing it to dictate the match.

Stats Don’t Lie
Serbia had the better of the shooting percentage at 42-30 and converted four from seven on extra and defended a magnificent nine from 12.

Bottom Line
Serbia controlled throughout and gave the impression that it would not win. Hungary was playing on the memory of 2023.

What They Said

Djordje Vucinic (SRB) — Goal Scorer

On beating world champion Hungary:
“It was a very difficult match for us; we lost the quarterfinal and Hungary is one of the best teams in the world. I’m happy that we won. We have one match more, day after tomorrow against Greece, and we will do our best, for sure.”

On playing Hungary a lot:
“They won the last world championship and this is very important for us because we need to practise harder and I hope we will be better for the summer Olympic Games.”

Vince Vigvari (HUN) — Goal Scorer

On losing to traditional rival Serbia:
“The way we played in the first quarter was, I would say, was the decisive quarter as after that defence was OK, but in the first quarter, I don’t know, we were still in the quarterfinals, which is unacceptable when you play a world championship and represent Hungary. Now we lost together and we are going to get together and get back.”

Match 41. Montenegro 13 Greece 14 in penalty shootout (FT: 9-9. Pens 3-4)

Greece might have been the chief protagonist here, but Montenegro kept punching back. Many teams have wanted to knock Montenegro off its pedestal and the target was pinned to the back. More than one team said about Montenegro “if only”. Greece did not want to be in that club but must agree with what everyone said that Montenegro was a persistent bunch. And that’s what it proved as it would just not go away, grabbing a last-gasp equaliser to force a shootout — which luckily for Greece went its way.

The match was tied at one, and two by the first quarter’s end.

It was tied at three and four in the second before Greece gained an edge at 6-4. This was quickly trimmed to 6-5 and could have been closer if Duro Radovic had his shot not been blocked on penalty by Emmanouil Zerdevas.

The third quarter went the way of Greece after Marko Mrsic scored off a cross pass on extra at 5:26. Dimitrios Skoumpakis  converted extra and Angelos Vlachopoulos scored from the top left for 8-6, the score at the final break.

Then Radovic nailed his second and third goals, the first on extra and the second on action and it was a tied match for the sixth time — 8-8. At 2:41 Drasko Brguljan — the oldest men’s player in Doha at 40 this year —  scored off the extra play for 9-9 at 2:41. In the final minutes, Montenegro missed a shot; Skoumpakis hit the cross bar and Greece retained and at 0:12. Konstantinos Gkiouvetsis squeezed it in deep left off the goalie into goal for a likely victory.

However, Montenegro took the timeout and sent goalkeeper Dejan Lazovic into the front line and Vlado Popadic passed the ball right, received it back and sent the ball under the left arm of Zerdevas for 10-10 at 3-3. The Greek reply just made two metres. And the match went to penalty shootout.

Montenegro started and had its first spear over the bar and its third blocked by Zerdevas. Greece’s second was equally blocked. Montenegro converted its last two and Greek captain Ioannis Fountoulis did the same for the victory. Both weary teams left the stage.

Match Heroes
Kakaris for Greece with his three and player of the match. Duro Radovic had three for Motetnegro and both goalkeepers made nine saves.

Turning Point
It never turned but eight ties and that remarkable final shot that secured the shootout were just remarkable.

Stats Don’t Lie
Greece made five from eight on extra and blocked six of 10. Montenegro had the higher shooting percentage at 37 to 33

Bottom Line
Greece is the higher-rated team and should be in the play-off for fifth considering it came so close to playing for a medal, losing the quarterfinal with Italy 11-10.

What They Said

Theodoros Vlachos (GRE) — Head Coach

On winning:
“We were still disappointed that twe lost the quarterfinal against Italy. It’s not easy to find the motivation to play much better. I think we play good enough to control the game for all four quarters. How we finished was fair for both teams and penalties is also lucky.”

On Montenegro being a sticking point for many teams:
“Montenegro is really a very good team, a very young team; a lot of energy; they follow the system of the coach. I think for the future it will be stronger and stronger. It’s not easy to beat them. Their passing around the field… They have a lot of energy. If you are not ready and you are a little disappointed because of the last game, you can have troubles as we had today.”

Konstantinos Kakaris (GRE) — Player of the Match/Three Goals

On Montenegro being tough opposition:
“Yes, they are a very good team. They are young and been playing very good. The game was very, very close, tied and played penalties. Both teams are mentally and physically tired, so it was a very difficult game for both. We won at the end and it’s good for us.”

Duro Radovic (MNE) — Three Goals

On Montenegro being regarded as a tough opponent:
“Yes you can say that, but we have been fighting for two months. It was very important for us because most of the team has never been to the Olympics . We didn’t show our best performance. With the Olympics, we will fight all summer and prepare to show our best in the Olympic Games.”

Classification 9-10

Match 40. Romania 9 United States of America 13

Romania made sure that USA’s exit from Doha would be tough and the final result showed that. Romania started the scoring and levelled at two before USA slipped out to 5-2 by the first break.

It was two apiece in the second quarter and could have been a win for the Romanians except the shooter was still asking for a player to move on penalty when the referee blew the whistle at 5:59. Vlad-Luca Georgescu and David Belenyesi narrowed the margin to 5-4 down. However, Chase Dodd off the right-post position and Alex Obert off the left post, knocked the score to 7-4 by halftime.

In the third quarter, Romania had the better of play, winning 4-3 with Belenyesi the only multiple scorer. At the other end, Max Irving scored twice — once on extra — and Alex Bowen rifled one in from the top at 7-10. Andrei Prioteasa lanced a shot from the deep right into the bottom left with his right arm at 0:19.

Romania lost a player at 6:44 when David-Joan Bota was alleged to have committed a violence foul, which nullified Andrei Neamtu’s earlier counter-attack goal. USA played the extra-man attack and Dylan Woodhead scored off the right-post position for 11-8, a big turnaround. Ryder Dodd had his penalty attempt stopped by Marius-Florin Tic and Bowen fired in a deflected goal for 12-8 at 3:59. Georgescu claimed his fourth on extra and  Obert muscled in from two metres for 13-9.

For USA it was the lowest classification since 2017 when it was 13^th. It has filled the six-nine positions in the last three editions. Romania was last at this tournament in 2013 when it finished 13^th.

Match Heroes
Bowen and Irving shot three each with Bowen topping the team scoring with 14 and Johnny Hooper — one today —closing at nine goals. Adrian Weinberg made 11 stops in goal. For Romania, Georgescu sent in four to be his team’s leading scorer at 17.

Turning Point
It was always going to be USA, so when it took a 3-2 lead and closed the quarter at 5-2, the writing was on the wall.

Stats Don’t Lie
USA struggled on the extra-man situation, converting just four from 13, meaning Romania blocked nine while scoring four from seven. USA, however shot at 42 per cent to Romania’s 28.

Bottom Line
USA is definitely a top-eight team, although being underdone at a time when the top European teams are coming off their championship, made it hard to keep pace.

What They Said

Adrian Weinberg (USA) — Goalkeeper

On the tournament:
“Definitely could have gone better and we didn’t finish the way we like, but I think it’s a good thing we have a lot to learn from and we can expand on this when we have our training and just being able to capitalise on everything we didn’t do well here, I think, is the lesson to learn from all this. We’ll be ready for Paris.”

On any highlights:
“There are definitely things we did well. There were a lot of times on front-court defence we were playing great; front-court offence there were just moments where we were really good and being consistent in that the whole way through the game and the tournament is very important, so, yeah, being consistent is something we have to work on.”

Alex Obert (USA) — Goal Scorer

On the benefits :
“One of the biggest benefits is just getting high-level games in the Olympic year. Usually this is a time when we’re all separated and not together, so just being able to come together for this five-six weeks and play some very competitive games; we saw what we need to fix to be able to make those little adjustments to win those important games.

“In my mind, I would say we had three almost cross-over elimination games — the first Montenegro, which we lost (in shootout); then the game against Serbia, which we lost 14-12; and the game against Italy, which we lost (13-12). We will learn from those mistakes and hopefully next time we will win.”

Marius-Florin Tic (ROU) — Goalkeeper/Captain

On being back in the fold after 11 years:
“I think it was a really good tournament actually because we didn’t play for 11 years at the world championships but we still have a lot of space to improve; pretty young team and I hope now we will always be at the biggest competitions.”

What is the feeling the team:
“The feeling is very nice, it is something special; we are stronger than ever before but we still need the discipline and the concentration to play such a tournament at such a high level. We played six games here. It could have been seven if we were a little bit more careful with Montenegro, but this is life and I’m really happy to be part of this group.”

Classification 11-12

Match 39. China 7 Australia 17

Australia fell one place from last year in sending off China with a large margin.

The Aussie Sharks are in a rebuilding phase, needing to get everything right before Paris 2024, but it was the clash with France that hurt, going down by three. But then France went to the semifinals…

Both teams played Croatia with Australia losing by five and China by 18. Today’s result was predicted, although having top shooter Luke Pavillard red-carded for violence in the last four minutes did skew the score.

Australia went 6-1 and then closed the period at 10-8 in a power surge that included two goals each to captain Nathan Power and Milos Maksimovic.

The second quarter reaped goals for Power and Maksimovic again as halftime rolled around at 12-2.

This became 14-2 in the third before Zhu Beile converted extra-man attack at 5:12 — the first Chinese goal in nearly 15 minutes. Maksimovic and Jacob Mercep both added their fourth goals as the margin slipped to 13 at 16-3.

Australia opened the fourth and China responded with a pair from Zhang Jinpeng and Chen Zhongxian. As Australia defended, Pavilaard was red-carded for alleged violent action at 4:15, meaning a penalty was awarded and converted and China went on a four-minute extra-man. Australia blew a goal chance from two metres, hitting the bar. China scored on the second and third of four attempts and the match wore down to the inevitable result.

Australia had its second win in Doha. Its best finish was fourth in 1998 in Perth, the closest any non-European team has been to the medals. USA has also achieved this feat. China was 15^th last year, so the improvement is huge under new coach Ivan Asic.

Match Heroes
Mercep and Maksimovic topped the Aussie scoring with four and Power had three. Mercep and Pavillard finished Doha with 13 apiece with Maksimovic on 12 and Blake Edwards on 11. Chen Zhongxian slotted three for China to close the tournament with 12, his team’s best.

Turning Point
The opening quarter, which Australia won 8-2.

Stats Don’t Lie
Australia went three from three on extra-man attack and defence and defended five of eight. On overall shooting, Australia shot at 55 per cent to 30.

Bottom Line
Australia was the better-ranked team and made sure of a huge win.

What They Said

Angus Lambie (AUS) — Goal Scorer

On the tournament:
“We’re not really happy with the result. We really wanted to finish in the top eight for the tournament. At the same time, we’re really happy with our progression; we played some tough teams. Ultimately, we played three of the top four teams at this tournament. We were not really happy with the results; we’re really happy with the hit-out that we got and we’re actually getting more opportunities to gel as a team, as well. You come to these tournaments to play the best in the world and this is where ultimately we want to be in a couple of years’ time.”

On after Doha and before Paris 2024:
“A lot of the boys have their individual clubs to go back to in Europe and obviously with the Australian national league, go back and play in Australia. We will stay in touch with our coaches. Really, we have opportunities to go back, get some feedback from the coaches on what we have to work on, take that to our clubs and get  some really good hit-outs and reps. Then we have a six-eight-week tour for the Olympics where we will have a good opportunity to get together and work hard.”

Zhao Yuehao (CHN) — Player

On the tournament:
“I am a young player attending my first world-class tournament. I experienced good defence and learned how to play with the team as I am a left-hander.”

On the best moment for him in Doha:
“Playing great players at the highest level. I have learnt a lot from this tournament.”

Day 14 Schedule

Match 45. 10:00. Classification 7-8, MNE v HUN
Match 46. 11:30. Classification 3-4, ESP v FRA
Match 47. 16:00. Classification 5-6, GRE v SRB
Match 48. 17:30. Classification 1-2, ITA v CRO