The Euro Cup Women trophy shall be
lifted in the city of Budapest as Ferencvaros and UVSE reached the final. The
semis produced the expected outcome though not in the expected way. Padova
almost managed to upset Ferencvaros, which had won by three in Italy in the
first leg. Still, once falling behind by three at home, the Hungarians
prevailed by scoring the only goal of the fourth period to make their first-ever
European final. Soon UVSE joined them after downing Eger with surprising ease
and will go for their second title after 2017.
Semi-finals, 2nd leg: FTC-Telekom
Budapest (HUN) v Plebiscito Padova (ITA) 7-9 – aggregate: 19-18. UVSE Budapest
(HUN) v Tigra ZF-Eger (HUN) 10-6 – aggregate: 22-18.
Though the first semi-final seemed to
be a formality after Ferencvaros’ three-goal win in Padova, the second leg
boldly underlined the core principle of women’s water polo: expect the
unexpected. The Italians fought bravely and turned the encounter into a
thriller in the second half.
They set the tone with a fine opening
period while taking a 1-3 lead, but the home side responded well and came back
to even by halftime. And they rolled on to go ahead for the first time at 5-4 –
only to see Sara Centanni score a hat-trick in 94 seconds from back-to-back
possession to give Padova a 5-7 advantage. With 2:58 to go in the third, the
Italians managed to erase their home-deficit as Sara Dario netted one from
action for 5-8. A quick exchange of goals in the following 48 seconds
maintained the difference, and Padova had a golden chance to grab the lead in
aggregate, but they missed a 6 on 4.
The fourth brought a mind-boggling
battle with loads of missed chances. Padova, still holding on for 6-9, wasted
four woman-ups, while the hosts couldn’t score in two 6 on 5s. With 1:29 to go,
Ferencvaros earned another extra and Zsuzsanna Mate’s close-range shot somehow
found its way to the net with 70 seconds on the clock. The Italians’ last desperate
attempts didn’t bore any fruits, so they remained scoreless in the last period
(after netting five in the third), and the outstanding defensive efforts sent
Ferencvaros to the final. This is going to be a first-ever shot to collect
international silverware in the women’s team’s brief history (the men’s
treasury already features a range of European trophies).
A couple of hours later the other two
Hungarians faced off in the second semi-final. Having staged a brilliant first
leg, ending in a 12-12 draw, many expected another hotly contested, balanced
encounter. However, this time UVSE were the superior side in the fully packed
Alfred Hajos pool. It was an even game till 3-3, then scoring three connecting
goals late in the third, including two 12 (!) seconds, gave the hosts the
necessary edge to keep the game under control till the end. They could even
increase the gap to four goals in the third, and went 9-4 up early in the
fourth leaving no chance for Eger for a comeback. Alda Magyari came up big in UVSE’s
goal, she delivered a series of huge saves, stopped a penalty and was
instrumental in her team’s victory.
This is going to be the third final
for UVSE after 2017 and 2019 (in the second-tier competition), and a second one
against FTC this season as they already contested the gold medal match in the
domestic cup, won by Ferencvaros 9-5. Late March they are to meet twice to
settle the bill.
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