USA secured their place in Sunday’s final of the FINA Men’s Water Polo World League Intercontinental Tournament, with a 16-11 defeat of Brazil on Friday.

The Americans only have winless China to play in the group matches at Yokohama International Swimming Pool, and seem certain to end this stage with a perfect five wins.

Japan won their key battle with Kazakhstan, 19-7, while Australia showed China little mercy in a 21-4 stroll.

USA head the standings with four wins, followed by Australia on three, Brazil and Japan on two, and Kazakhstan on one, with China bringing up the rear.

The last round of group matches are on Saturday. The 5th/6th and 3rd/4th place play-offs, and the final, are on Sunday. 

The six teams are vying for four places at the Super Final of the FINA Men's Water Polo World League in Huizhou, China, from June 21-26.

GAME 10: USA 16-11 BRAZIL

Quarters: 3-4, 3-1, 4-4, 6-2

Teams:

USA: Merrill Moses, Jackson Kimbell, Nikola Vavic (1), Alex Obert (1), Alex Roelse, Luca Cupido (3), Josh Samuels (1), Tony Azevedo (2), Alex Bowen (3), Bret Bonanni (2), Jesse Smith, John Mann (3), McQuin Baron. Head Coach: Dejan Udovicic 

BRAZIL: Vinicius Antonelli, Jonas Crivella, Guilherme Gomes (1), Ives Alonso, Paulo Salemi, Bernardo Gomes (1), Adrian Baches (1), Felipe Silva (2), Bernardo Rocha, Felipe Perrone (2), Gustavo Guimaraes (2), Josip Vrlic (2), Bernardo Oliveira. Head Coach: Ratko Rudic


USA-BRA

USA won the clash of the Americas to preserve their 100 percent record and qualify for Sunday’s final.

Trailing 2-4 late in the first quarter, the fightback began when USA captain Tony Azevedo, who plays for Sao Paulo club side Sesi, scored right on the buzzer.

A double block by Josh Samuels and goalie Merrill Moses when trailing 4-5 proved critical as Alex Bowen squared, and Bret Bonanni, nine-goal star of Thursday’s win over Kazakhstan, fired USA into a 6-5 interval lead.

A nip-and-tuck third quarter ended with another fine save by Moses to preserve a 10-9 advantage.

Josh Samuels, John Mann and Nikola Vavic then struck early in the final period, and Moses made six more key saves, as USA pulled away, eventually winning the quarter 6-2.

“We’re just getting in a rhythm, but we showed our potential. We’re far away from how we want to be in defence, but I have to be pleased in scoring 16 goals against Brazil,” said USA coach Dejan Udovicic.

On the likelihood of playing Australia in Sunday’s final — a repeat of Tuesday’s cagey opening match in the tournament, which USA won — he added: “This time it will be a totally different kind of game.”

Brazil coach Ratko Rudic accepts his team are likely to miss out on Sunday’s final, and instead compete in the play-off for third and fourth places, having faltered in the final stages today.

“It’s some kind of warning before beginning our final preparation for the Olympic Games,” he said. “We missed some easy shots and forgot to concentrate in defence — we veered away from our organised game plan.

“USA were much more aggressive and physically stronger, so when we got to the end of the third quarter we were not in such good condition. We are the only team that didn’t have any preparation for this tournament — I just took the players out of their clubs and brought them here. We have to learn how to play the whole game.”

Japan lie in wait for Brazil on Friday, in what is likely to be a rehearsal for Sunday’s 3rd/4th place play-off.

“Japan play a kind of pressing defence, so we need to prepare a little bit differently against them,” added Rudic.

 

GAME 11: CHINA 4-21 AUSTRALIA

Quarters: 2-9, 2-4, 0-5, 0-3

Teams:

CHINA: Guozheng Wu, Chenghao Chu (1), Beiyi Wang, Yingyi Gao, Zhongxian Chen (1), Zekai Xie (2), Wenhui Lu, Yemen Chen, Gelin Zhu, Yu Liu, Zhenrui Lei, Wei Tang, Linfeng Li. Head Coach: Lingyun Mao

AUSTRALIA: James Stanton, Richard Campbell, George Ford (1), John Cotterill (4), Nathan Power (1), Jarrod Gilchrist (2), Aidan Roach (4), Tyler Martin (1), Joel Swift (2), Mitchell Emery (1), Rhys Howden (2), Lachlan Edwards (3), Joel Dennerley. Head Coach: Elvis Fatovic


CHN-AUS

John Cotterill netted a first-quarter hat-trick as Australia stormed to a 9-2 lead against an inexperienced China.

Despite subsequently playing at a much lower intensity, Australia had built an 18-4 lead after three quarters, as China’s attacks lacked potency and penetration. 

Australia added three goals in the final couple of minutes to wrap up the tournament’s most decisive win so far, 21-4. 

The Aussies will join USA in Sunday’s final if they beat Kazakhstan in their last group match on Saturday.

Australia coach Elvis Fatovic sat out a one-match ban after seeing red in Thursday’s tense defeat of Japan. His poolside place was taken by assistant coach Paul Oberman.

“The plan was to go hard early and put the pressure on them by the end of the first quarter,” said Oberman.

“We had to make sure we did all the little things correctly — reduce turnovers, make sure we had safe passes, and get round on the arm to steal the ball in defence, which we did.

Oberman also looked ahead to a potential showdown in Sunday’s final with USA, who won a tight group match between the sides 8-6 — including a 0-0 first quarter. 

“I think it’s going to be a similar game. Both head coaches are from the Balkans so they focus on defence, and defence wins you games. The final of any international sporting event tends to be quite defensive,” he said.

China coach Lingyun Mao reckoned his zonal defence strategy didn’t work so well, but added he would probably retrain this approach for Saturday’s match with USA.

“USA are the same level as Australia, so already the younger players are getting used to the high level of competition. Mentally it’s OK for them, but physically they are finding it hard to cope,” said Mao. 

 

GAME 12:  JAPAN 19- 7 KAZAKHSTAN

Quarters: 4-1, 4-2, 4-3, 7-1

Teams:

KAZAKHSTAN: Madikhan Makhmetov, Yevgeniy Medvedev, Maxim Zhardan, Roman Pilipenko, Miras Aubakirov, Alexey Shmider (2), Murat Shakenov (2), Yulian Verdesh, Rustam Ukumanov (2), Mikhail Ruday (1), Ravil Manafov, Altay Altayev, Valeriy Shlemov. Head Coach: Nemanja Knezevic

JAPAN: Katsuyuki Tanamura, Seiya Adachi (2), Atsushi Arai (3), Mitsuaki Shiga (1), Akira Yanase (2), Atsuto Iida, Yusuke Shimizu (2), Yuki Kadono, Koji Takei (4), Kenya Yasuda, Keigo Okawa (2), Shota Hazui (3)`, Tomoyoshi Fukushima. Head Coach: Yoji Omoto


JPN-KAZ

Japan scored a key win over Asian rivals Kazakhstan in the battle to finish in the top four here and gain a coveted place in next month’s Super Final. 

Japan goalie Katsuyuki Tanamura saved an early penalty, before skipper Yusuke Shimizu opened the scoring for the hosts on the way to a 4-1 opening-quarter success.

Shimizu, and Kazakh danger man Rustam Ukumanov, traded delicate scoring lobs early in the second period, before Japan pulled 8-3 clear at the break.

Kazakhstan’s challenge petered out in the second half as, roared on by a home crowd enthusiastically banging their inflatable bam-bam sticks, Japan  closed out the match with the minimum of fuss.

Brazil face Japan on Saturday, and possibly on Sunday in the 3rd place play-off.

“We really wanted a big victory so that Kazakhstan think they can never beat Japan in future. Of course, this margin is not typical because they have a young team. Our plan worked pretty well, and the matches against Brazil could be a good trial for Rio, as Brazil are in our group,” said Japan coach Yoji Omoto.

“If we beat them twice, that could leave them demoralised, and thinking they won’t beat us in Rio. If we lose both matches, we may look to change things.”

Japan had a scrimmage and training camp with Australia, Hungary and USA just before qualifying for Rio, which Omoto feels has been of great benefit in developing his players.

“All three of those teams are stronger than the other teams in Asia, so that helped us quite a lot,” he added.

A clearly disappointed Kazakhstan coach Nemanja Knezevic was almost at a loss to explain the way his players capitulated.

“My team was no good today. The defending really disappointed me, they didn’t listen to me. I hope I can change their mentality.”

Kazakhstan are likely to be in Sunday’s 5th place play-off, where they would face China, who they beat 15-10 in the group stage.