Italy and Australia did battle for seventh and eighth classifications in the evening well after the women’s competition was over. The more professional Italians swept aside Australia who earlier in the competition had beaten France, Serbia and Hungary.
DAY 15 MATCH
Classification 7-8
Match 39, AUSTRALIA 6 ITALY 10 (1-2, 1-3, 2-4, 2-1)
\There was a huge crowd for this one-off encounter, showing the popularity of water polo in Paris. This was an Italian team that finished second behind Croatia at the February world championships and bronze in the Europeans a month before. However, here it was fighting for seventh spot after finishing second in the group stages but falling to Hungary in a penalty shootout in the quarterfinals. It then bowed to Spain to make this play-off. Australia found itself in the match after second spot in its group, via a painful penalty-shootout loss to United States of America in the quarterfinals and a six-goal loss to Greece in the crossovers.
Italy made sure of the match by shooting to a 5-1 lead midway through the second quarter with five different scorers. The Aussie Sharks’ Charlie Negus lobbed on counter for 5-2 to close out the half.
The Settebellos’ Andrea Fondelli on counter and Australia’s Milos Maksimovic with his second from the top left had the match at 6-3. Lorenzo Bruni with a second and Matteo Iocchi Gratta’s second and third goals gave Italy an almost unassailable advantage. Australia used a timeout to set up Jacob Mercep for the extra-man goal and 9-4 at the final break.
Luke Pavillard speared in a goal from his usual left-hand-catch position three minutes into the final period. Edoardo di Somma added to his second-quarter goal on action and Aussie co-captain Nathan Power converted extra inside the final minute for 10-6.
Match Heroes
Iocchi Gratta finished with three goals to finish with 13 goals, the same number as captain Francesco di Fulvio. Bruni (11) and di Somma scored a pair apiece. For the Aussie Sharks, Maksimovic scored a double to take his Paris tally to a team-high 16. Pavillard scored one tonight for 14.
Turning Point
The four goals straddling the first break that gave Italy room to manoeuvre.
Stats Don’t Lie
Italy converted four from eight on extra and stopped seven of 11 Aussie attempts. Italy scored the only penalty and had 27 shots to 21.
Bottom Line
Italy, an eight-time medal winner and three-time champion, was also seventh in Tokyo 2020 after bronze in Rio 2016. For Australia, it is a far cry from two fifth placings, but a huge effort with three big wins and second in the group against some tough opposition.