Courtesy: LEN
With a tremendous finish, OSC managed
to save the Euro Cup final to a penalty shootout but there Viktor Nagy came up
with three straight saves and that secured the trophy for Szolnok. This was the
club’s first victory at the European stage since they won the Champions League
in 2017.
Euro Cup, Final, 2nd leg: OSC
Budapest (HUN) v Szolnoki Dozsa (HUN) 11-8, pen: 0-3. Aggregate: 22-25
For 24 minutes, nothing promised that
OSC could endanger Szolnok’s march to the trophy as the visitors, enjoying a
three-goal advantage from the first leg, could keep the game even. At the
beginning they were leading though it stood equal at the end of each of the
first three periods (2-2, 5-5, 7-7).
OSC’s offence wasn’t really balanced,
wasted a handful of 6 on 5s, while Szolnok looked confident. The hosts could
take the lead three times but their rivals could immediately reply by netting a
man-up on each occasion. At 6-7 Szolnok could have closed down the match but
missed a man-up and OSC scored at the other end for 7-7.
However, with little more than 4
minutes remaining it was still 8-8. Then Marton Toth netted a man-up after a
time-out and with 3:09 to go Balazs Erdelyi scored his 5th and at 10-8 OSC got
close for the first time. They killed Szolnok’s next 6 on 5 and Balazs Harai
had some space for the first time in the centre and he used that for 11-8 –
with 1:44 on the clock it was all equal in aggregate. Szolnok could not even
shoot from its last man-up and OSC had another possession and Harai had another
shot, this time a backhand, but Viktor Nagy saved that so the decision was left
to the penalties.
In fact, that last save was a preview
what was coming in the shootout: Nagy, a fine penalty-killer, came up big with
three saves in a row while his teammates buried the shots. Thus it ended after
three rounds and Szolnok could celebrate its first-ever Euro Cup win.
Budapest, located 100km from Szolnok,
is the lucky city for them as they claimed their Champions League trophy also
in the capital in 2017. That time they triumphed in the Duna Arena, where the
European Aquatics Championships are set to start from Monday – the culmination
is of the European water polo club season is due in the first weekend of June
when the Champions League Final Eight will be staged in Belgrade.
Quotes
Zivko Gocic, coach, Szolnok “I’m very
proud of the team, the players worked like hell since July and now here we are,
with a trophy in our hand. It was another tough match, OSC played very well, we
just couldn’t score after 7-6, if we went two up that would have ended the
match. Instead it was left to the penalties but I don’t agree with those who
say that is all about luck. You have to work for the luck, you have to practice
the shootout, you have to be ready mentally and Viktor Nagy did a great job in
all sense.”
Daniel Varga, coach, OSC “We can talk
about a lot of things if we wish to find out what made the difference. Small
things, a block, a fine shot, a bad pass… It was a final of eight periods so we
can also recall the last minute of the first leg when we trailed by only one
goal but at the end we lost by three – I guess, it would have been a different
match today if it starts from a single-goal difference. Anyway, I have to be
very satisfied as this team has come here after covering a very long way. I
don’t think many people would have said last summer that this team could reach
such level by this time. We are now close to Szolnok, we are close to
Ferencvaros, the team has a character, a recognisable playing style and that’s
a great achievement in my opinion.”
Viktor Nagy, captain, Szolnok “I
wanted this trophy so badly so I had only one option, to stop those penalties…
I think it was a great game, it was great to see two Hungarian team reaching
the final, it’s good news for the summer too. OSC played pretty well, congrats
for them, I think we lost a bit of our sharpness in the fourth and that’s why
we had to decide this in the shootout.”
Foto: Deepbluemedia / Insidefoto
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