Written by: Russell McKinnon, FINA
Media Committee Member
Serbia beat Italy 12-9 in the
gold-medal match of the European qualifying finals for the 2022 FINA Men’s
Water Polo World League Super Final in France this July, but it was the
bronze-medal face-off that held most interest. The winner of this encounter
would gain the third qualifying berth after the top two had earned their places
on semifinal day. Spain swam away from Montenegro in the final quarter for
15-10 and now has another major tournament for the already-busy northern
summer.
PODGORICA, Montenegro — The first two
days threw up five matches won by a lone goal. On the final day, the gold-medal
final was the closest at 12-9; Spain’s margin was five goals and in the
play-off for fifth, Hungary swallowed Croatia 14-9 and Greece routed France
18-12 for the seventh classification.
With so many young players sharpening
their teeth in this tournament, it bodes well for the upcoming FINA World
Championships. Some teams were without star players through Covid-19 or injury
— Greece lost three — and Hungarian head coach Tamas Marcz was left at home
with Covid concerns and 1996 Olympian Zsolt Nemeth stood in for him.
ITALY 9 SERBIA 12
Classification 1-2
Serbia first, Italy second. Serbia
had the strength, persistence and stamina to defeat Italy. Serbia was rattled
at times, but it came through when needed. Both teams had the Super Final
qualification in the bag from the semifinals, so it was all about pride and
taking the opportunity to play against class opposition. Serbia is the Olympic
champion and Italy the world champion — a title Serbia is keen to snatch in
Budapest come early July.
Match heroes
Drasko Gogov (SRB) made sure of the
Serbian win, scoring a penalty in the first and scoring an extra-man goal from
either side of the pool in the third and fourth periods. Dusan Mandic, such a
power shooter with his left arm, needed only to steer in a brilliant cross pass
to centre forward on extra for his second and 12-8 inside the final two
minutes. Luca Damonte, a red-card recipient a day earlier, scored twice on
extra with his left arm and Edoardo Di Somma also scored two extra-man goals.
Turning point
Italy drew level at one, three and
four, let the margin slip to two at halftime and three at the final break. When
it went to four early in the fourth, Italy was assigned to second spot.
Stats don’t lie
Serbia’s normally tight extra-man
statistics did not eventuate this time with seven from 19 while Italy managed
eight from 20. Serbia shot at 34 per cent and Italy at 29. Serbia had to make
13 saves compared to Italy’s eight, such was the ferocity of the Italian
attack.
Bottom line
Serbia is still the best team in the
world and proved it today. With Worlds, Super Final and European Championships
to tick off this year, the first hurdle, such as it is, has been jumped. Italy
did not like the tough Balkan draw, but can take home much hope from the
efforts in the three matches. Both teams will be steeled for Budapest.
What he said
Sandro Campagna (ITA) — Head Coach
“We didn’t have a lot of power in
this match; maybe this is what we missed. Three matches against three
ex-Yugoslavia teams was too much for us in this period of the season. But I
cannot complain about my players because they did excellent. We played really
well, we just missed some goals and we received some silly goals on defence.
Getting scored on 12 times is too much, but defence played excellent the first
two quarters and the first two matches. Now we have a full summer (with
qualifying here for the Super Final). We now have time to get their physical
condition better and to study up. There’s a lot of things to do, a lot of
matches to analyse and still to play.”
SPAIN 15 MONTENEGRO 10
Classification 3-4 and final
qualifying berth for Super Final
In one of the lowest-fouling matches,
Spain returned to the World League Super Final fold with a commanding victory,
built on counter-attack and an excellent 5-2 final period. Spain jumped out of
the gate at 3-0, led 6-3 at the quarter and then had trouble fending off
Montenegro, spurred on by the near-capacity home crowd. The host made it 6-6 at
halftime, levelled at seven and then let the match slip away as Spain eased to
10-8 by the final break and onward to victory.
Match heroes
Spain’s Alberto Munarriz was named
player of the match for his four goals with the last a penalty conversion for
12-8. Power centre forward Roger Tahull grabbed three of his own, as did Bernat
Sanahuja. For Montenegro, Marko Mrsic scored four goals, including the last two
for his team. Marko Petkovic had three on his belt by halftime.
Turning point
The opening three goals, the switch
to 6-6 by the Montenegrins and then the 4-2 Spanish third quarter were all
decisive times in the match.
Stats don’t lie
Montenegro had the better of the
extra-man attack at five from 10 — probably the best percentage of the week —
and Spain sent in three from seven.
Bottom line
Spain was the fitter and faster of
the two and deserved to gain the third and final berth for the Super Final in
Strasbourg, France in late July.
What they said
Alberto Munarriz (ESP) — Player of
the Match
“Obviously, we missed this
tournament, the World League Super Final, last year so we’re happy to be back.
We want to be at the top level of every competition. To do that, we have to be
in every game and play good water polo. I think today that we have shown some
quarters where we play great water polo. We also had some mistakes, but that’s
normal.”
David Martin (ESP) — Head Coach
“Ah, I feel satisfied. It’s always
important to come away with a win, but even more because we’re back in the
Super Final. It’s a very important for us to be there playing against the
reigning world and Super Final champions. It’s very hard, very difficult in
this moment of the season, but I’m very happy with the performance of the
team.”
Vladimir Gojkovic (MNE) — Head Coach
“Okay, we didn’t have concentration
before the game. We opened the game with a lot of mistakes. What can we expect
from Spain? They have the best counter-attack in the world; when we make a lot
of tactical mistakes? After that, we recovered and got back into the game. The
last two quarters were very difficult and, okay, we need to go back and analyse
the game to try and be better next time. We saw some good things, yesterday and
today with the young players. They showed great potential and great character.
I am satisfied with them.”
HUNGARY 14 CROATIA 9
Classification 5-6
Hungary showed why it is the Olympic
bronze medallist with a front-running start and a 10-5 second half. From 3-1 at
the quarter to 4-4 at halftime and a four-minute Croatian lead, Hungary
switched the advantage to 7-4 and then 9-6 by the final break. The last quarter
was a formality.
Match heroes
Marton Vamos was the undoubted star
for Hungary with his withering left arm from long distance. His first goal came
off a smart cross-drive in front of goal, the second from penalty and the other
two from seven metres. Fellow left-hander Gergely Burian scored a pair that
gave Hungary impetus from 5-4 to 7-4. Jerko Marinic tried to bring Croatia back
single-handedly, scoring the last three Croatian goals in less than two and a
half minutes.
Turning point
Hungary’s opening 3-1 quarter was
overturned by Croatia as it went 4-3 ahead. The match swung Hungary’s way in
the third period, going 7-4 up and moving to 12-6 midway through the last.
Stats don’t lie
Hungary managed just three from 12
attempts on extra-man attack to Croatia’s five from 15. Both teams turned over
the ball seven times and the saves were 11/10. Luca Bukic (CRO) had two
attempts at the penalty line, with the second, in the third period, barring
out.
Bottom line
Croatia will need to look at its
immediate future and the line-up that will take it forward to Budapest 2022 and
the European Championships at home in Split in August-September. Hungary is
heading in the right direction with new players being blooded with Paris 2024
in mind and can look forward to an excellent campaign when it plays to packed
stands in Budapest this June-July.
What they said
Marton Vamos (HUN) — Player of the
Match
“We have been developing ourselves,
match by match. It was a tough game against Croatia; they are a very good team.
But I think we had a better head. It’s not easy to reach the fifth position;
mentally it’s hard and we were better. I am satisfied with this result.”
Ivica Tucak (CRO) — Head Coach
“The first two quarters, we played
well. We saw a lot of good stuff from our team. We were energetic and playing
very well. With three games in a row, though, it was very hard for us. At the
end of the game, we lost a bit of the concentration and that was the main
problem we had. But this was a very good tour, a very good tournament for us
because we were able to tackle the problems we have within our team as we’ve
had a lot of changes. This will help us at the upcoming World Championships in
Hungary.”
GREECE 18 FRANCE 12
Classification 7-8
This match was a secretary’s
nightmare with 30 goals and 35 major fouls. As disruptive as the match was, it
still produced some excellent moments like the way Konstantinos Kakaris managed
to slap the ball into goal from two metres off a swift cross pass to the water.
With so many extra-man attacks, it was a case of who could do it better and the
teams negated each other with eight conversions apiece. It was a match of
attrition and Olympic silver medallist Greece had the stronger club players,
many of them new to this level. France died in the final quarter and needs to
be able to address this for the longer tournaments. Greece won the first
quarter 5-2, lifted to 9-5 at the long break and went into the final period
with an unassailable 15-8 advantage. France’s Mehdi Marzouki, who had eight
goals from the previous two matches, was restricted to a pair today.
Match heroes
Kakaris was superb for Greece at the
centre-forward position. While his first three goals came from there, his
fourth at the end of the third period was from counter-attack. Stylianos
Argyropoulos netted three, including one of Greece’s two penalty goals. Thomas
Vernoux unleashed a three-goal spurt, lifting France from 9-5 down to 10-7 straddling
halftime. His fourth came from extra-man attack at 16-11 and it was the first
time we saw this mercurial athlete explode into the scoring positions in
Podgorica.
Turning points
From 2-2 to 5-2 at the first break,
Greece had the mettle of France, who swung the pendulum by two goals in the
second period before Greece rammed in four straight, signalling who was going
to win.
Stats don’t lie
Greece converted eight from 15 and
France eight from 16; Greece converted two from two at the penalty line and France
had one of its two blocked by the keeper. France made 14 turnovers to Greece’s
seven.
Bottom line
Greece has a history and a club
system that keeps producing top players and top junior teams. These youngsters
gained an opportunity in Podgorica and will give head coach Theodoros Vlachos
much-needed information on whom of these will be given the chance at Budapest
2022. France, as head coach Florian Bruzzo agreed, needs to be able to play day
in, day out in the longer tournaments and not become exhausted when most needed
to perform.
What they said
Konstantinos Kakaris (GRE) — Player
of the Match
“We didn’t play well the first two
games. We needed to win today and we needed even more to play well. And I think
we did. We had a few mistakes, for sure, but this was a good effort on our part
to recover after the two opening losses. I think it’s the most important thing,
to start the game with energy. Sure, you need to control the mistakes and
everything, but the most important (thing) is to start and play with energy.”
Theodoros Vlachos (GRE) — Head Coach
“Always when you win an official game
in the FINA World League, you feel very good, even if it is the third game we
played. When we lost to Serbia and lost the opportunity to qualify for the
Super Final, for me this was the best test for our many new players that came
here. We came here with only four players from our Tokyo Olympic team. So, for
all the others, I wanted them to show me something with how they play in the
water and how they fight game by game. I think they showed me many, many
things. We will use all these experiences for the future. I am satisfied.
France is a really good team; they’ve improved a lot the last three-four years.
They are playing without any pressure and in two years they have the Olympics
in their country. They have quality; they have fight. They have good players; I
was expecting that they will play with risk and try to attack again and again
and again.”
Florian Bruzzo (FRA) — Head Coach
“We didn’t have enough power to be
competitive across all four periods. We didn’t play well. We didn’t do what we
wanted to, so it’s impossible to win against Greece when this is the case. It
was an interesting game for us regarding the lack of enthusiasm of play. Then
we had a key player pick up two fouls very quickly, so we give some (time) to a
younger, inexperienced one. They can do and we will show them how to understand
and to grow into becoming a top player and not just being in the shadow of this
good player that we have. At the World League Super Final, we need to learn how
to play six games in a row in six days. You know, the third game here was too
much for us and in Strasbourg there will be six.
Final classifications:
1. *Serbia
2. *Italy
3. *Spain
4. Montenegro
5. Hungary
6. Croatia
7. Greece
8. France (*pre-qualified as host)
* Qualify for Super Final
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