Spain pulled a rabbit out of the bag in the final second and then made Greece disappear in a magical show that had the huge crowd mesmerised at the men’s water polo semifinals at the OCBC Aquatic Centre on Tuesday. Hungary beat off Olympic champion Serbia 19-18 in the other semifinal, thus avoiding a shootout.
Day 14 Schedule
Classification 7-8
Match 45. 16:00. Italy v United States of America
Classification 3-4
Match 47. 17:35. Greece v Serbia
Classification 5-6
Match 46. 20:00. Montenegro v Croatia
Classification 1-2
Match 48. 21:35. Spain v Hungary
Overview
In the classification 1-4 semifinals, World Cup and European champion Spain survived an incredible Greek comeback from a violence foul down to level the match in the last second and win a penalty shootout 11-9 over Greece. In the second semifinal, played also in front of a huge crowd, Hungary held off a rampaging Serbia 19-18 whose captain, triple Olympic champion Dusan Mandic, was trying desperately to get Serbia across the line, scoring six goals.
In the classification 5-9 semifinals, Montenegro beat Italy 12-8 and outgoing world champion Croatia outplayed Olympic silver medallist United States of America 14-9.
In the classification 9-10 match, Romania came from 8-1 down at quarter time to force a penalty shootout at 16-16 but it could not survive with Japan finishing 20-19 in sudden death.
In the classification match for 11th position, Canada turned the tables on Brazil, winning 16-11 after losing the round encounter on penalty shootout.
Match Reports
Classification 1-4 Semifinals
Match 44, SERBIA 18 HUNGARY 19 (3-6, 5-2, 4-8, 6-3)
Hungary emerged the victor of a spectacular World Championship semifinal. The first semifinal needed a penalty shootout and this could have been one , as well, although Hungary denied Serbia at every corner despite its last-quarter rampage. Hungary made sure of the victory in the third quarter.
The first quarter heavily favoured Hungary but in the early stages it was a trade fair with Marton Vamos starting and Krisztian Manhercz making it 3-2 from the top on extra. Akos Nagy from the top right and Gergo Fekete for his second from the top left gave the Hungarians a 5-2 advantage. Dusan Mandic and Akos Nagy scored the next two with Hungary looking good at 6-3 by the first buzzer. Vasilije Martinovic from the deep left and Nemanja Vico at centre forward, receiving the air ball and backhanding into goal narrowed the margin to one. Peter Kovacs climbed high on the left post to accept a cross pass on extra for 7-5. Mandic scored his second on penalty at 3:33. Serbia went to a timeout and set up Dorde Lazic for his second goal on extra at the right post. At 1:07 skipper Nikola Jaksic, who scored his team’s first goal, scored from the left on a double extra and took Serbia to the lead at 8-7. Hungarian captain Manhercz then thundered off a shot from the top on a six-metre foul for 8-8 at 0:56. This was the halftime score.
Fekete landed his third with a skip shot from the left cross cage at 6:25 in the third period. Viktor Rasovic smashed in a deep left-hand-catch shot with his right arm at 6:02 and the match was even once more. Daniel Angyal drove and lobbed in from the bottom left and Jaksic converted extra off a left-post-catch-and-shoot for 10-10. Gergely Burian scored from a six-metre shot; Hungary went to a timeout and Manhercz scored for 12-10. Strahinja Rasovic trimmed it to one and Manhercz stretched the margin to two on penalty. Serbia lost a challenge and Vince Vigvari made it 14-11. Mandic converted another penalty but Fekete buried his shot from the bottom left. With the clock hitting four seconds, Akos Nagy made it 16-12 from the deep right for a healthy lead heading into the final quarter.
Hungary cemented its position in the gold-medal final when Angyal scored from a six-metre foul for a five-goal advantage. Mandic responded from the top but Burian was quick with his left arm at deep right for that five-goal lead again — 18-13. Mandic scored another penalty goal, almost tearing a hole in the netting. The match became frantic as Serbia was trying anything to score and bridge the gap. Teams were taking plenty of flying subs to keep up the energy. Mistakes were being made but not by Mandic as he backhanded from wide right with his left arm closer to the side of the pool for 18-15. Martinovic and Milos Cuk scored form the top within 40 seconds and the match was 18-17 at 1:50. Hungary took a timeout at 1:34 on extra and the ball travelled all around for Vendel Vigvari to score at 1:18. Mandic took a six-metre shot and bounced into the bar. Hungary used its time and Serbia called for a timeout at 0:36.
Match Heroes
Manhercz and Fekete scored four each and Nagy added three for Hungary. However, the star of the match was Mandic with his six goals and absolute close attention in the final minutes when Hungary thought he was going to score and others stepped up. Jaksic netted three and goalkeeper Radoslav Filipovic made 11 saves.
Turning Point
The first and third periods were where Hungary commanded most attention.
Stats Don’t Lie
The extra-man conversions were amazing with Hungary burying 10 from 16 and Serbia 10 from 14. Serbia scored all three penalty goals and Hungary one. Hungary took steals at seven-three and shot 37-31.
Bottom Line
Who looked like it wanted the win the most? Hungary. Serbia wanted it in the end but by then it was too late.
What They Said
Zsolt VARGA (HUN) — Head Coach
On the match:
“First of all, congratulations to both teams. Serbia, for me, is one of the best teams. They won the last Olympics and that’s why this victory today is so worthy. I’m so proud of my team. We’ve changed a lot the last year and today, we played with a little bit more heart and a little bit more fire.
“It’s always about defence, first of all. Today, it was really hard to defend because they are so good. They have (Dusan) Mandic, they have (Milos) Cuk, they have (Nikola) Jaksic. It was so hard to defend very well and they also have good centre forwards. Today we just had to find a way to score more goals than them. There were a lot of shots today and it was one of the highest-scoring games in the World Championships, so it was very nice.”
On what it means to return to the final after a tough year:
“It’s so, so important because last year, we had a few issues. We were fourth in the European Championship, seventh in Doha and then fourth in the Olympics. It’s important for us that we can prove that there is a Hungarian team who can fight till the end. No matter what happens, we will fight to the end.”
On the game plan for playing Spain in the final:
“We know each other very well. We played with them two times this year and in the last few years, we’ve prepared together for competitions. We’ve also played one game here with them, so we know each other very well. They are one of the best teams, really high level. They’ve played the last 10 years together, I think, or with small changes, and they have one of the highest quality water polo in the world.”
Krisztian MANHERCZ (HUN) — Captain
On the match:
“It was a really big battle, if I can say that. I just need to search for the words because I’m really exhausted. I’m sure you might think that the supporters on both sides enjoyed the game – that was 37 goals. Obviously, we need to improve for the next game, but I’m really proud because we needed a lot of energy and we proved that we are a new team, younger team with less experience, and we proved that we are now one of the best teams in the world and we are in the final.”
Akos NAGY (HUN) — Player of the Match
On winning as a young player:
“This means everything. This means the last 15 years that I put in the water polo, so it's amazing to be here and enjoy this.”
On what went well:
“I don’t know, I need to see the match, but I would say the pace that we played.”
On facing Spain in the final:
“This will be completely different. It's a final, so everybody will put 110 percent into the match and we’ll win.”
Dusan MANDIC (SRB) — Six Goals
On the match:
“We’re very disappointed. We didn't play like we wanted to play. They were more concentrated. We simply couldn't defend. Every defence was all man down, or goals, we (conceded) 19 goals. This is much higher than our (usual) style, our reputation, and how we play.”
On facing Greece for bronze:
“Greece is an incredible team. I mean, it's going to be very tough. It's a medal that we are fighting for, so we're going to try to recover as soon as possible.”
Match 43, GREECE 9 SPAIN 11 in penalty shootout. FT: 7-7. Pens: 3-2 (2-3, 1-3, 1-0, 3-1)
This was a repeat of the World Cup final in Podgorica, Montenegro in April when Spain lifted the trophy with a 16-14 scoreline. Spain did it again tonight but in vastly different circumstances. Two key players were shown red cards — one for the major violence foul and one for a violent action with substitution. Greece made a miracle comeback and tossed the win away in the last second and then in the penalty shootout.
Spain, who also holds the European crown, won the first period with Bernat Sanahuja scoring twice and Alejandro Bustos starting with a scored off the left post. Early in the second quarter mayhem ensued for the Greek players as VAR review showed that Aristeidis Chalyvopoulos had committed a violent act on a Spanish player and was red-carded from the match on a violence foul, which gifted a penalty shot to Spain and four minutes of extra player. Alvaro Granados squared away the penalty and on the next attack scored from deep left. Several minutes later Sanahuja scored his third. That meant that Spain had made use of the suspension period 3-0. Seconds after Greece was back to full strength, Konstantinos Gkiouvetsis scored from a six-metre foul shot for 6-3. Greece was still in good shape to come back. Greece found itself in a similar position against Italy two nights ago when an Italian committed a violence foul and Greece fired in four goals. Tonight was payback, so it seemed.
It took some time coming in the third period with neither side getting through for some time. Greece went to a timeout at 4:51 and Stylianos Argyropoulos quietly sat at the top and fired the ball in with blistering speed just when everyone was relaxed. Now it was a two-goal deficit. That was 4:51 and no goals came for the rest of the quarter. The major concern was a violent foul with substitution against Spain’s superstar, Granados. He left a hole in the team’s attack. However, neither team could score before the final-break buzzer.
Gkillas hammered one in from the top and the huge Greek supporter base went crazy. This came at 5:56 and at 4:40, Evangelos Pouros scored from the lower left for a crazy 6-6. Spain went to a timeout and lost the ball feeding it into centre. At the other end of the pool, Gkillas, who allegedly had his face “touched” by Granados, wasted no time rifling in a shot from the left-catch position. Greece had clawed back to 7-6 and Spain has not been without a goal since 3:13 in the second quarter — days ago. Spain went on attack and had the shot blocked. Greece played it slowly upfield, tossed it clear with four seconds left. The Spanish defender collected the nearby ball and rocketed it to Alberto Munarriz at the point position, who took the foul and Munarriz speared the ball into goal with a second left on the clock. It was 19 minutes 12 seconds since the last Spanish goal. No shot came and the match went to penalty shootout. Greece had got out of prison and then thrown the key to Spain to reopen the match.
In penalty shootout, Spain started and scored the first three. Greece scored its first two and had the third shot blocked. Larumbe made it four straight for Spain and Konstantinos Kakaris targeted the head of the goalkeeper, which rebounded the ball and Spain had advanced to its second final this year, a third in two years and, more importantly will advance at least one better position that its bronze medal in Doha last year.
Match Heroes
Sanahuja with three goals and Granados with two while Unai Aguirre made 11 saves in the Spanish goal. Genidounias and Gkillas scored twice for Greece and Panagiotis Tzortzatos dragged down 12 balls in goal.
Turning Point
The initial violence foul; Granados’ ejection, Greece’s miracle comeback to take the lead and then Munarriz’s spectacular salvation at the end. And the shootout.
Stats Don’t Lie
Spain was troubled on extra at one from nine. Greece scored four from 13, also troubled. Both scored a penalty goal, Spain made seven steals to three and Greece shot 32-31.
Bottom Line
Spain is a magical team but this reel will go on Youtube and possibly “Spain’s Got Talent” in the magician section.
What They Said
Felipe PERRONE (ESP) — Captain
On the match:
“It was a really emotional game. We really struggled in the moment. We scored six goals and we couldn’t score any more, and in the last second, we drew, and then won on penalties. This is really the beauty of this game. I think people who watched this game saw how all the players, not just us, but the Greek players also, how it’s an amazing sport, and how we are giving our hearts, our soul in the water.
On Greece:
“I think the Greek defence is amazing. We need to respect them also, because it’s an amazing defence. But it’s true that it’s the semifinals at the World Championships, and it’s a lot of emotion, so maybe we should control more. But again, I’m super happy that we are in this final.
On goalkeeper Unai AGUIRRE:
“He’s amazing. Since I met him when he was 17, he was saying that he wants to be the best goalkeeper, not in the world, but in history. And I think he has this self-confidence and he’s also humble. But he works a lot, and so he deserves these two penalties. He worked a lot to get these two penalties.”
On playing the final at his last World Championships:
“It’s really a dream come true. I worked a lot. I’m 39 years old. It’s not easy. These guys have a lot of energy, and I really worked a lot, and I give everything to be here. Of course, you never know what will be the result, but I could not believe in even my best dream, that I will be here in this final and enjoying this tournament as I’m enjoying here. I just remember my kids before the tournament, I was not sure if I would come, and they said to me, ‘Dad, enjoy it’. And I’m really enjoying.”
Bernat SANAHUJA (ESP) — Player of the Match
On the match:
“We played a lot of defence. The last two quarters, we were a little down in attack. but we kept defending and that's the key of the match.
“It was great with a really good start. But in the last two quarters, we were a little bit down, but we kept pushing. I’m really happy for what the team did and we have to keep it like this for the final.”
On Greece catching up:
“We didn’t attack like we know, we didn’t shoot like we know, but we kept defending. We have to get better in attack but we did the other side really well and in the last second Muna (Alberto MUNARRIZ) scored and it was amazing.”
On returning to the final after two editions:
“Now we have to get a little bit of rest for the head, but I think we are prepared. We have to keep training and see who we’re playing against, but we are in a good moment. We have to start just like today, but we have to stay like this the whole match.
“It’s always our goal to get the gold. Sometimes, you cannot play for that but I think the team wants this gold so much that we have to play for it.”
Konstantinos GENIDOUNIAS (GRE) — Captain
On the result:
“I'm feeling empty, really. For one second, it was our game. One second to go, it was our game. That's water polo, that’s sports, that’s life. One second you have something, the other second you don’t. We still had the chance to win in the penalty shootout, but we didn’t.”
On what helped them close the gap in the third quarter:
“Our defence changed, it’s the same defence we played against Italy. Unfortunately, in the first half, we went down by four goals, but we managed to come back, managed to go ahead. I think it’s one of the worst ways to lose a game.”
On the last few seconds:
“I remember it. We had the ball and we had only one job to throw it as far as we can and come back to defence. Unfortunately, the ball didn’t go far away, we gave them an opportunity to shoot and that’s the worst part.”
On the positives from the match:
“Our defence was good and how we reacted, how we came back from a difficult situation. That’s what we have to keep from this game to go get the third place.”
On recovering from the loss:
“We don’t have a lot of time to cry about it. We still have a final to play. It’s the third-place game, but it’s still a game we want to win, so we have to try to forget it. I know it’s kind of impossible, but for a couple of days more, we need to focus and go play one more game.”
Classification 5-8 Semifinals
Match 42, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 9 CROATIA 14 (1-2, 1-5, 5-3, 2-4)
Playing for the 5-8 positions is always tricky at a World Championships as motivation, desire and energy come into play. Especially hard if you last played and won the world title and now fifth is the best you can do. However, Croatia did some excellent stuff and USA was equal to the task after the wake-up call. It was also a clash between two of the three group winners who did not survive the quarterfinals.
USA is rebuilding after its fantastic bronze-medal success in Paris 2024 but it received a lesson in the second quarter against outgoing world champion Croatia. The passing was swift and the execution at lightning speed. The second quarter favoured Croatia after a first quarter where USA managed to throw up its shutters and restrict Croatia to two goals. Marko Vavic slapped in a rebound at two metres for 1-1 and Loren Fatovic joined Luka Bukic on the scoresheet. Filip Krzic left the pool at 4:38 with a hand injury and spent most of the match on the bench. Rino Buric cross-caged from top right to start the second quarter but not until 5:53. Dom Brown squeezed in a ball between goalkeeper Marko Bijac and the right post from very deep for 3-2 down. Marko Zuvela cross-caged; Konstantin Kharkov shot from the top; Josip Vrlic latched on to a pass to the right post on extra and Kharkov snapped in a deep shot from the right off a cross pass for 7-2 inside the last minutes of the half.
USA came good in the third and won the period well. Chase Dodd and Franko Lazic traded goals before Hannes Daube at wide left and captain Max Irving from the top narrowed the margin to three. Buric on the left-post position off a cross pass and Loren Fatovic from outside, made it 10-5. Ryder Dodd from the top and Vavic from deep left narrowed it to three again by the last break.
Chase Dodd started the fourth for 10-8 when he drove into centre, turned, received the air ball from Daube and scored. Daube had his penalty shot saved, then Lazic, Buric, Zvonimir Butic and Zuvela had the score at 14-8. Jake Ehrhardt scored off the right-catch position at 0:45 and that was the match.
Match Heroes
Buric topped the scorers with three goals with Kharkov, Fatovic, Lazic and Zuvela on two each. For USA, Vavic and Chase Dodd scored twice.
Turning Point
Croatia going to 7-2 at halftime.
Stats Don’t Lie
Croatia scored two from six on extra and USA five from eight. USA missed one penalty; Croatia stole the ball 11-8 and mastered the shots 32-27.
Bottom Line
Croatia is the outgoing world champion and USA is no slouch as Olympic silver medallist, a moniker it can use for the next three years as it rebuilds.
What He Said
Konstantin KHARKOV (CRO) — Player of the Match
On the match:
“We’re very glad that we won after that hard loss against Hungary. We’re calm now and we have two days till the end of the championships, so we will try to make our best result as well against Montenegro.
“For sure, it was hard to recover after that match because we’re out of the play-offs for the medals, but we still need to play as all sportsmen do.
“We had a better beginning in the game, we had better defence and we controlled the whole game well.”
Match 41, ITALY 8 MONTENEGRO 12 (0-3, 3-4, 1-2, 4-3)
Montenegro came through with the goods and defeated Italy by a handsome four goals, built heavily on a wonderful start. Montenegro did what few teams are capable of doing and that is keep Italy scoreless for a full quarter. Aljosa Macic from the top left and Dmitrii Kholod from the top right scored in the middle of the first period followed by a third goal, from Macic, using his sheer power from top left. Italy was denied throughout. At the start of the second quarter, the Settebello finally broke through with Filippo Ferrero converting extra from top left. Filip Gardasevic on counter lifted Montenegro to 4-1. Lorenzo Bruni had his penalty shot saved. Montenegro had a timeout but the play failed to get away a decent shot. Edoardo di Somma started a trading frenzy when he countered and scored after two quick passes. Balsa Vuckovic, di Somma, Gardasevic; a Francesco Condemi penalty attempt where the ball went shy high out of his hand and then Savo Cetkovic with a backhand at centre forward that had Montenegro at 7-3 before the halftime buzzer.
It was much tighter in the third period with Montenegro against having the edge but with a lower margin. Dimitrije Obradovic and Francesco Cassia swapped goals, nearly two minutes apart and an Italian timeout failed to adjust the scoreboard. Vuckovic converted extra from the deep left for 9-4 at 1:48. Neither side could make inroads in the final two minutes.
Italy started the final-quarter trade with Mario del Basso off the right-post position; Cetkovic on extra; Francesco di Fulvio from the top and Vuckovic with a skip shot off the left-hand-catch position for 11-6. The young Vuckovic then converted a penalty foul for his fourth, which earned him player of the match. No joy for Italy on timeout and the same for Montenegro when Kholod’s penalty attempt hit the bar. Nicholas Presciutti converted extra from the deep left and di Fulvio also scored off extra. However, the last shot came at 0:14 and Italy was consigned to the seventh-place play-off.
Match Heroes
Vuckovic with four goals (10 for the week) was the best for Montenegro with doubles to Macic, Cetkovic and Gardasevic. Petar Tesanovic, the Montenegrin captain, made 10 saves and eight of them in the first half. For Italy, di Fulvio and di Somma scored twice.
Turning Point
Montenegro with those first three goals and showing Italy who was master.
Stats Don’t Lie
Montenegro converted four from seven on extra and stopped five from nine. Montenegro missed one of two on penalty shots and Italy none from two. Montenegro made 10 steals to eight and shot 29-28.
Bottom Line
Montenegro showed up to win. Italy was ruing a bad run in Singapore.
What He Said
Balsa VUCKOVIC (MNE) — Player of the Match
On the match and the next:
“I'm very proud of my team-mates. This was a very hard match, and we will prepare for the next match against the USA or Croatia. Defence is the more important (aspect) in this sport. Next match, we will play very hard to win.”
Classification 9-10
Match 40, JAPAN 20 ROMANIA 19 in sudden-death penalty shootout. FT: 16-16. Pens: 4-3 (8-1, 4-3, 2-8, 2-4)
What an incredible match this was! For Japan to go 8-1 in the first quarter and then to allow Romania to win the rest of the match 15-8 and force a penalty shootout was truly remarkable by the Romanians. And then for the shootout to go to sudden death after the first rotation yielded two saves each was equally fantastic. A delight to watch.
The first quarter was like a tsunami with eight goals to one. That’s averaging every attack and the 4-1 score came before the four-minute mark. Yusuke Inaba plugged the first two for Japan; Daichi Ogihara had a pair, as well and Kiyomu Date scored three of the last four. Romania took a timeout at 4:20 but the Japanese responded with four goals. Centre forward Alexandru Gheorghe gained the first Romanian goal. In the second quarter, Romania came back into the fray and denied many Japanese chances. Francesco Iudean scored his 13th and 14th goals of the tournament for 8-3 with Inaba picking up his third before Gheorghe repeated his first-quarter effort for 9-4. Three more Japanese goals came within a minute inside the last 1:40 before halftime, Inaba netting his fourth from a snappy six-metre shot and Date going on counter for his fourth.
Who would have thought that Romania would bring its A game in the third quarter, shooting five unanswered goals with more to come? That it did with Andrei Neamtu grabbing two. Japan called a timeout, gained an exclusion and Kenta Araki converted from the left post for 13-9. Levente Vancsik buried his shot and minutes later Inaba cherished a four-goal margin on counter. Neamtu and Vlad-Luca Georgescu, both on extra, narrowed the margin to two with two last-minute goals with the 12th with four seconds on the clock.
The last quarter was a heart-stopper with traded goals from Andrei Tepelus in the first minute to Adachi at 16-14. Sebastian Oltean drilled from the top and Georgescu scored his most important goal to equalise on extra from the top right at 0:34. Japan had two shots covered and the shootout had been booked.
Japan started and missed its first two and Romania missed its second shot. The next three went in and Romania had its fourth shot saved meaning the match was tied at 18-18. The next two shots were successful, ending the rotation and sending the match into sudden death. Watanabe did what he couldn’t at the start, by scoring Japan’s 20th goal and Georgescu had his shot blocked by goalkeeper Ren Sasano for the Japanese victory.
Match Heroes
Japan’s Inaba with five goals to finish with 23 in Singapore. Date collected four (12) while Watanabe’s one pushed him to 17. Captain Marius-Florin Tic stopped 14 shots for 60 in Singapore.
Turning Point
Japan’s 8-1 and then Romania’s relentless surge back to 16-16.
Stats Don’t Lie
Japan converted seven from 11 on extra and Romania a fantastic six from eight. There were two penalty goals for Japan and one for Romania. The teams stole the ball seven times each and Japan shot 38 to 34.
Bottom Line
Japan was 13th last year and Romania 10th in its first return since 2013 when it was 13th. This year it will settle for 10th. Japan was ninth in 2022 as well, a year after finishing 10th at the home Olympic Games. It was eighth at this year’s World Cup, so is up there with the best. This was its third win here.
What He Said
Yusuke INABA (JPN) — Captain and Five Goals
On the close match:
“I have no idea how it became like that. We (conceded) a lot of goals in the third quarter and it was really a tough game, see-saw game. I don’t know, for us, it was a terrible game. We were leading by seven, eight goals, then they came back to tie and first we missed two penalties… it was wow, just wow.”
On what changed in the third quarter:
“In the third quarter, they changed tactics. They put two centres every time and we got many exclusions than goals, so they were really smarter than us. In the last 11 seconds, we really wanted to score because we knew that if we went to penalties, we would have a lower possibility of winning. Their goalkeeper Marius-Florin (TIC) is really good, so in the last 11 seconds, everyone really wanted to score, but we couldn’t. But after these 11 seconds, I said to everyone ‘Just think about victory’, and then we won, so it’s OK.”
On Japan's campaign:
“We were really good here compared to the Paris Olympics. In Paris, when we played against Hungary, against Spain, we lost by 15, 14 goals, which is a lot. But this time, by five or six, so now, for sure, we are getting better. Step by step but it’s OK; we will continue to grow.”
Classification 11-12
Match 39, BRAZIL 11 CANADA 16 (3-1, 2-4, 1-5, 5-6)
Canada won the battle of the Americas, coming from 4-1 behind to win by five and back in the numbers after missing 2024 and finishing 12th in 2023. These two teams met in the rounds and Brazil won 19-18 in penalty shootout on day six. Canada did not make that mistake twice. Head coach Pat Oaten is no stranger to international limelight coaching, leading the Canadian junior women’s team to the world crown at Calgary 2003. He also did a long stint with the senior women’s team and with Brazil women.
Brazil had the better of the first quarter at 3-1 with captain Gustavo Guimaraes with the first two goals — off the left-post position on cross and from deep right. Roko Pozaric replied for Canada on counter and Marcos Pedroso took it to 3-1 from centre forward, but about five metres out. Pedro Real gave Brazil a 4-1 advantage nearly three minutes into the second period and Nikos Gerakoudis replied, both from the same position at the top. Brazilian head coach Thiago Nacimento collected a yellow card. Guimaraes hit the penalty goal for a three-goal margin. Canada jumped back into the match with Jason O’Donnell from the top right. Aleksa Gardijan did not survive a VAR review for a violent action but Brazil could not convert the extra chance. Ali Oussadou converted a penalty foul and Reuel D’Souza brought up his 20th goal from the top on extra for 5-5.
Canada’s dominance continued in the third period with captain Bogdan Djerkovic dragging one down off the right-post position on extra; Pozaric from the top left; D’Souza on penalty and then from the top right for 9-5. Lucas Farias broke the more-than-10-minute drought from deep right at 1:24. After a Brazilian challenge was rejected. D’Souza brought up goal number 23 from the penalty line and 10-6 at the final break.
O’Donnell grabbed his second with a cross-cage shot in the first minute of the final stanza. Goals were traded with D’Souza scoring a pair, including the first helicopter (360-degree) shot of the tournament off a six-metre free throw. Captain Djerkovic scored another from centre for 14-8; Luca Andrade scored twice for Brazil as his team’s leading scorer and Guimaraes finished all scoring with his fifth. On the other side, D’Souza converted a penalty for his seventh of the match in his first World Championships for eight years.
Match Heroes
Canada’s D’Souza, with seven goals, to make him the tournament’s leading scorer by far with 26. Guimaraes scored five goals for 12, one behind Andrade, who scored twice today. Joao Fernandes finished with 10 saves and an incredible 64 in Singapore.
Turning Point
Canada turning from 4-1 down and onwards to victory.
Stats Don’t Lie
Canada converted five from 12 on extra and Brazil four from eight. On penalties, Canada put away four and Brazil two. Canada made nine steals to three and shot a huge 41 to 29.
Bottom Line
Canada is now 11th and Brazil up from 14th in 2023.
What He Said
Reuel D’SOUZA (CAN) — Player of the Match
On the match:
“I’m really proud of my team. This was a big goal of ours today, to come out and beat Brazil by any means. We knew it was going to be a dogfight and I’m just really proud of how we took it one possession at a time; we chipped away and ultimately we did what we wanted to do.”
On what changed after trailing in the first quarter:
“We reminded ourselves what makes us a group. It’s our love for each other, love for the team, love for the country. That was the message, that was the motto. Chip away one possession at a time, play for Canada and play with heart. When push came to shove, we were the ones to bring the energy. A 9am game is not easy for anybody, even the best athletes in the world. We woke up today on a mission and we ultimately went out and did what we wanted to do.”
On scoring seven goals:
“This whole tournament, I’ve been telling myself that I just need to go out there and do what I’m capable of. I know what I can do and I just had to go out there and do it. For me, it’s not about scoring goals. It’s about helping my team win, about putting my team in the best position to win games. And I feel like if I can stay out of exclusion problems, stay in the water, I can contribute in a lot of ways, not just scoring goals. I’m very proud of what I did this week and I’m really proud of my team for our ability to recover from that first game and come back today.”
On Canada's Singapore 2025 campaign:
“There were a lot of ups and downs. There were some games that we wanted to perform better and today, we did what we wanted to do, so today was the up. I think there were a lot of downs, but this is what we need. We need these games, we want to play these difficult games, we want to get put in tough, uncomfortable experiences and positions. As far as preparation for Los Angeles 2028 goes, we’re going to have to beat Brazil and Argentina to go. That’s plain and simple, so the more times (we get) to play Brazil, the better. Getting to play them twice this week is great for us. We’re really happy to end on a good note before we see each other again in December for hopefully Division 2 of the World Cup.”