Spain stuns Serbia, meets Croatia in the semis, Hungary faces Italy
Spain produced the biggest upset of the season so far as they stunned the Olympic title holder Serbian team with a convincing performance in the quarter-finals of the World League Europa Cup finals in Zagreb. The Spaniards is to meet host Croatia which downed Greece in the second half. The other semi-final will feature a golden oldie with Hungary and Italy. The Magyars managed to take some revenge against their nemesis Montenegro while Italy had to come back from 6-8 down against the Russians but a 5-0 rush put them back on track.
The opening day was right away the most crucial one at the FINA/LEN World League Europa Cup as for four teams the ‘beneficial part’ of the journey ended right here on Friday in the famous Mladost pool. The losers in the quarter-final couldn’t dream on grabbing the first Olympic berth on offer – only the winners kept the chance to fight on for a place in the Tokyo tourney (except for the Serbs, as the hosts of the Super Final in June).
Hungary's defence at work: Montenegrins – pictured: Alexandar Ivovic with the ball – found it hard to find the holes on the wall - Credit: Dino Ninkovic
In the first battle Hungary and Montenegro put up a brilliant fight. The Hungarians took control towards the end of the first period with a quick double and soon enjoyed a three-goal lead but their rivals came back and trailed by one at half-time and before the third period (7-6) too. Still, the equaliser never came and at 8-6 the outcome was virtually decided when Vladan Spaic punched his defender and referees immediately threw him out with a 4min suspension for brutality. Playing 6 on 5 for four minutes with 5:20 to go secured the Magyars’ win who staged a 3-0 rush during this period.
Next came the re-match of last year’s European Championship final between Spain and Serbia. Back then the Serbs edged out their rivals in a penalty shootout but this time the favourites fell to the Spaniards who offered a sparkling display of attacking water polo while the Serbian players struggled in the back and also with adapting to the new rules. Still, after being four goals down at 13-9 with 5:46 to go, the Olympic title-holder had a late surge and after 13-12 they had four shots in two possessions to save the game to a shootout but this time luck wasn’t on their side.
The Spanish offence was pretty effective against the favourite Serbs
Italy had fond memories from Barcelona when they trounced the Russians 11-1 in the Europeans quarters – however, this time it was a totally different ballgame. The Italians lacked the edge for a while and even if they led 6-4 late in the second period, deep into the third they looked a bit hopeless as Russia went 6-8 up. However, the Russians faded in the fourth, couldn't score for 10:29 minutes and during that phase the Settebello netted five goals to win the game.
Francesco di Fulvio in action
In the fourth match Greece kept up for a while against Croatia, it was tied after two periods but the host side managed to take the upper hand in the third as they jumped to a three-goal lead and never looked back.
Since Serbia enjoys a guaranteed place in the Super Final as the host, only the winners of the Saturday semis will secure their SF berths while the bronze medal match on Sunday shall be a heated battle for the last spot.
Schedule for Saturday
Games for 5-8th places
15.00 Montenegro v Russia
16.45 Serbia v Greece
Semi-finals
18.30 Hungary v Italy
20.15 Spain v Croatia
Match reports
Game 1, 15.00 – Quarterfinal 1: Hungary v Montenegro 11-7
Quarters: 4-2, 2-3, 1-1, 4-1
Referees: Mladen Rak (CRO), Sebastien Dervieux (FRA)
HUNGARY
Viktor NAGY, Soma VOGEL (GK – not entered) – Daniel ANGYAL, Krisztian MANHERCZ 1, Gergo ZALANKI 2, Marton VAMOS 1, Toni NEMET, Tamas SEDLMAYER 1, Zoltan POHL 1, Balazs ERDELYI, Denes VARGA 3, Bence BATORI 1, Balazs HARAI 1. Head coach: MARCZ Tamas
MONTENEGRO
Dejan LAZOVIC, Slaven KANDIC (GK – n. e.) – Drasko BRGULJAN, Duro RADOVIC 1, Marko PETKOVIC 1, Uros CUCKOVIC 1, Aleksa UKROPINA, Mladan JANOVIC 2, Bogdan DURDIC, Aleksandar IVOVIC 2, Vladan SPAIC, Dragan DRASKOVIC, Nikola MURISIC. Head coach: Vladimir Gojkovic
Extramen:
HUN: 5 for 9 (+ 3 for 6)
MNE: 5 for 16
Penalties:
HUN: 0 for 1
MNE: none
MVP of the game:
Denes Varga (HUN)
In the first game the Hungarians faced their nemesis: apart from beating Montenegro in the 2013 World Championship final, they have been on the losing streak at the majors ever since, including a painful QF defeat at the Rio Olympics, two SF defeats at Europeans and a shootout loss in last year’s World League final at home in Budapest.
The Montenegrins opened the scoring though they could net only one goal in their first three man-ups while the Magyars immediately equalised from their first one. Soon a fine centre-shot from Balazs Harai put them ahead and even though Aleksandar Ivovic levelled the score again, two extraman goals in the last 76 seconds gave the Hungarians a 4-2 lead. Soon they went 5-2 and 6-3 up but in the second quarters Montenegro had the better finish, this time they netted two extras in 25 seconds.
They couldn’t go to even, though, as they missed four more 6 on 5s early in the third – Viktor Nagy came up with some big saves – and Denes Varga’s brilliant shot reset Hungary’s two-goal lead. It didn’t last long as Duro Radovic put away a 6 on 4 for 7-6. Since their rivals wasted two man-ups in the same possession, plenty of excitements were in sight for the closing period.
Denes Varga netted his third from an extra for 8-6 early in the fourth, then after some ‘field-work’ a sudden move closed down the game prematurely. Vladan Spaic punched his defender deliberately while swimming back, the referees noticed it and immediately called the 4-minute expulsion for brutality. Though Gergo Zalanki’s penalty was stopped by Dejan Lazovic but that slim hope faded soon. Playing permanently with a man less, the Montenegrins faced an uphill battle they couldn’t win. The Magyars played with cool head, scored three more goals and secured their place in the semi-finals.
Tamas Marcz, head coach, Hungary:
“Let me say our focus was solely on this match and spending enough time together set the team up for this great match. I think we were controlling the game before that red card too, our defence worked really well and we were efficient in front. We came here to play three good matches, the first is done, we are waiting the remaining two.”
Vladimir Gojkovic, head coach, Montenegro:
“At the beginning we took the lead and had some extras but we missed those chances. Even we played well in defence and our man-down worked well but our man-up wasn’t sharp as it should have been. The 4-minute exclusion then decided the match.”
Denes Varga, MVP of the game, Hungary:
“Before the game I asked my team-mates to demonstrate that we can play and fight like a team. I think we just did that right from the beginning. It was important as in the last twelve years, ever since Montenegro appeared on the stage as an independent nation, they usually had the edge over us. We had few nice and important wins but especially in recent years they beat us in a couple of big games. Today, we managed to get them, even until 8-6 I felt we were the better side so we deserved this victory.”
Game 2, 16.45 – Quarter-final: Spain v Serbia 13-12
Quarters: 5-4, 3-1, 3-4, 2-3
Referees: Michiel Zwart (NED), Sergey Naumov (RUS)
SPAIN
Daniel LOPEZ, Eduardo LORRIO (GK, n. e.) – Alberto MUNARRIZ 5, Alvaro GRANADOS, Miguel DE TORO, Alberto BARROSO 1, Bernat SANAHUJA, Agusti PERICAS, Francisco FERNANDEZ 1, Roger TAHULL 2, Felipe PERRONE 1, Blai MALLARACH 2, Alejandro BUSTOS 1. Head coach: David Martin
SERBIA
Branislav MITROVIC, Dimitr RISTICEVIC (GK, n. e.) – Dusan MANDIC 3, Viktor RASOVIC 2, Sava RANDELOVIC, Milos CUK, Dusko PIJETLOVIC 2, Dorde LAZIC 1, Milan ALEKSIC, Nikola JAKSIC, Filip FILIPOVIC 2, Andrija PRLAINOVIC 2, Strahinja RASOVIC. Head coach: Dejan Savic
Extramen:
ESP: 5 for 14
SRB: 6 for 12
Penalties:
ESP: 4 for 4
SRB: none
MVP of the game:
Alberto Munarriz (ESP)
The second game offered an outstanding fixture: the rematch of last year’s European Championship final. In that game the title-holder Serbs were forced to a penalty shootout by the host Spaniards who came up with an electrifying performance. Still, Serbia clinched that title and was also considered the favourites here.
However, they didn’t seem as sharp and powerful as in the past seasons when they had claimed seven straight titles at major events. Though as the host of the Super Final they have a guaranteed berth, and that might have had an effect on their appetite here – still, the Spaniards’ dominance from the second period was unusually strong.
The first period offered action-packed eight minutes, the Serbs led 1-2 but the Spaniards netted three connecting goals and from 4-2 they started controlling the game. Though their opponents came back twice to one goal but with a double in 39 seconds they jumped to an 8-5 lead at halftime.
Dusan Mandic pulled one back early in the third but then came a man-up goal and a penalty and Spain led 10-6. Serbia was in trouble but netted quick and fine action goals and had a man-up to reduce the gap to one but missed it. It was a decisive moment as the next Spanish possession ended in another penalty – the new rule was applied that an attacker’s arm cannot be hit from the back even if he holds the ball – and Spain reset the three-goal cushion (Alberto Munarriz was 4/4 from the 5m line). Filip Filipovic’s blast found the back of the net with 22sec to go, but Spain was still 11-9 ahead before the last break.
And the beginning of the fourth showed the difference: the Spaniards buried their first man-up while the Serbs missed two, then Blai Mallarach let the ball fly from 6m to hit the top corner. With 5:46 to go at 13-9 it seemed it was over – but it wasn’t. At 13-10 the young Spanish Alvaro Granados chose a rather non-chalant finish in a one-on-one. That would have finished off the match, instead, the Serbs came back to 13-12 and had two possessions to save the game to a shootout. However, Andrija Prlainovic, who decided many big matches in the past, blasted the ball twice to Dani Lopez so Spain survived the late surge.
With the favourite Serbs falling, teams in the semis face some tough games as only the top three will make the Super Final.
David Martin, head coach, Spain:
“I think we played with the right intensity from the very beginning and that made the difference. Perhaps we adapted better to the new rules while the Serbians found that difficult. We are happy that we could win this match.”
Filip Filipovic, captain, Serbia:
“Even though we will play in the Super Final, we were ready to give our best in this match and to play with the usual focus. I think our defence didn’t work too well and our man-up didn’t click either. We had similar problems in our practice match against Croatia earlier and we also found it difficult to adjust ourselves to the new rules.”
Alberto Munarriz, MVP of the game, Spain:
“We played with the best team in the world, they have fantastic players in each position and their top guys have been playing together since long years. So we needed to give our best and we managed to achieve this. Since last year this team started playing really well, but we just need to continue this way.”
Game 3, 18.30 – Quarter-final: Italy v Russia 11-9
Quarters: 3-3, 3-2, 1-3, 4-1
Referees: Axel Bender (GER), Nikolaos Budiramis (GRE)
ITALY
Marco DEL LUNGO, Francesco DE MICHELIS (GK, n. e.) – Francesco DI FULVIO, Guillermo MOLINA 1, Pietro FIGLIOLI 2, Edoardo DI SOMMA, Alessandro VELOTTO 1, Vincenzo RENZUTO, Gonzalo ECHENIQUE 4, Nicholas PRESCIUTTI 1, Michael BODEGAS, Matteo AICARDI 2, Zeno BERTOLI. Head coach: Alessandro Campagna
RUSSIA
Petr FEDOTOV, Vitaly STATSENKO (GK, n. e.) – Ivan SUCHKOV, Ivan VASILEV 2, Nikita DEREVIANKIN, Ivan KOPTSEV, Daniil MERKULOV 1, Ivan NAGAEV 2, Igor BYCHKOV, Dmitrii KHOLOD 1, Sergey LISUNOV 1, Roman SHEPELEV 2. Head coach: Sergey Evstigneev
Extramen:
ITA: 4 for 13
RUS: 4 for 8
Penalties:
none
MVP of the game:
Gonzalo Echenique (ITA)
Last July Italy thrashed the Russians in one of the most one-sided quarterfinals in the history of the European Championships. They won 11-1 and many thought that another easy one cruise was awaiting the Settebello.
Instead, they found themselves in the middle of a dogfight as the Russians stunned them with a superb performance. Italy took the lead twice but the Russians netted two for 2-3 lead and Zeno Bertoli just beat the buzzer (0.2sec remained) to equalise for 3-3 at the end of the first. Soon after 4-4 Ivan Nagaev missed a one-on-one and that seemed to have been a costly mistake as the Italians jumped 6-4 up in a minute. Nagaev didn’t break down and pulled one back 12 seconds before the middle break.
Then in the third the real misery started for the Italians. They missed three 6 on 5s in a row – Petr Fedotov was quite solid in the goal – and the Russians punished them heavily. Sergey Lisunov buried an extra, then Roman Shepelev netted an outstanding action goal and Nagaev added one more from a counter to go 6-8 ahead. Italy’s troubles would have got deeper but Daniil Merkulov’s lob from another counter landed on the post. Instead of +3, soon it was 7-8 as Gonzalo Echenique scored from a man-up.
And Italy came back to even quickly in the fourth with another man-up goal. In this phase the Russians seemed to be running out of gas, missed an extra, then a clear centre-shot and soon that hit back as Italy managed to regain the lead with 4:03 to go after a nicely set-up goal from Nicholas Presciutti. They doubled the gap soon as Matteo Aicardo also netted a 6 on 5 for 10-8, with 2:36 to go and there was no way back for the Russians. With Echenique’s goal the Italians completed a 5-0 rush while Ivan Vasilev’s nice action goal came way too late, after a 10:29 minutes long draught in front – these two data determined the outcome.
Alessandro Campagna, head coach, Italy:
“You know, the first game is always difficult, and especially with the new rules you don’t really know what to expect. For a while we had problems but in the fourth period we played our game and that showed the difference.”
Dmitrii Kholod, captain, Russia:
“We played with one of the best teams in the world and I think we need some more time to win a game like this. For most of the time we played well but in the fourth period the Italians scored four goals and this was decisive.”
Pietro Figlioli, captain, Italy:
“This was a game when we tried to adopt ourselves to the new rules as there are still some grey areas at this stage. Anyway, I think we thought a bit too much of the new regulations, once we settled in the pool we showed our real strength.”
Game 4, 20.15 – Quarter-final: Greece v Croatia 11-13
Quarters: 2-1, 4-5, 1-4, 4-3
Referees: Boris Margeta (SLO), Attilio Paoletti (ITA)
GREECE
Emmanouil ZERDEVAS, Konstantinos FLEGKAS (GK, n. e.) – Konstantinos GENIDOUNIAS 1, Dimitrios SKOUMPAKIS, Marios KAPOTSIS, Ioannis FOUNTOULIS 3, Alexandros PAPANASTASIOU 1, Georgios DERVISIS 1, Stylianos ARGYROPOULOS, Konstantinos MOURIKIS 1, Christodoulos KOLOMVOS, Alexandros GOUNAS 2, Angelos VLACHOPOULOS 2. Head coach: Theodoros Vlachos
CROATIA
Marko BIJAC, Ivan MARCELIC (GK, n. e.) – Marko MACAN, Loren FATOVIC 3, Luka LONCAR 1, Maro JOKOVIC 2, Ivan BULJUBASIC 1, Ante VUKICEVIC, Andro BUSLJE, Lovre MILOS, Josip VRLIC 2, Andelo SETKA 2, Javier GARCIA 2. Head coach: Ivica Tucak
Extramen:
GRE: 6 for 18
CRO: 8 for 18
Penalties:
GRE: 2 for 2
CRO: 0 for 1
MPV of the game:
Loren Fatovic (CRO)
The fourth QF served up the expectations as well, Greece kept up with the world title-holder Croats for quite a while before they bowed to a better opponent.
Konstantinos Mourikis opened the scoring but Andelo Setka equalised from a fine counter. Then the Croats wasted four man-ups in a row – in fact it’s interesting to see that the Balkan teams struggle in the frame of the new rules since their most lethal weapon was to destabilizing the defences by passing around and taking the killing shot in the 22-23rd second of the possession when the excluded player was still swimming back. With the possession time expiring parallel with the exclusion, this tool can no longer be used.
In the second period the Greeks looked to have a better spell, took the lead four times but couldn’t hold it. Once the new approach helped them to earn a penalty – even if the centre had his hand on the ball, he was fouled from the back – but then a silly mistake cost them the opportunity to double their lead, instead, they faced a man-down and the ensuing equaliser (while the used the flying exchange, their players forgot to touch hands which is compulsory).
Whatever problems the Croats might have with the new rules, they found the right schemes in their man-ups and managed to bury three in succession in the third period. The Greeks struggled at the other end, needed 5:51 minutes before Alexandros Papanastasiou’s bouncing ball found the back of the net again. The Croats responded well with a fine one-timer from Loren Fatovic 0:07min from time so they turned into the last period with a comfortable 7-10 lead.
With a fast counter they went 7-11 up and from that point they just had to maintain the gap carefully. Though after 8-12 the Greeks came back to 10-12 with 2:00 minutes remaining – the Croats missed a penalty in the meantime – but Javier Garcia’s great blast blew away the last hopes of the Greeks in a game bringing 39 major fouls, nine players were fouled out, perhaps a bit more than expected when neither sides played with extreme toughness.
Ivica Tucak, head coach, Croatia
“We knew we didn’t have any room for making mistakes today as this game decided our faith. Our focus was better in the second half, our level was much better then both in attack and in defence.”
Theodore Vlachos, head coach, Greece:
“This game was partly about the new rules, about the adjustment, no one knew what to expect exactly. In the first half we played as I expected but then we started having problems. The Croats increased their pace, swam a lot and we couldn’t keep their rhythm. I wanted to see my players fighting a bit more, to play a closer game but we have to accept that Croatia has a better quality now.”
Andre Buslje, captain, Croatia:
“The first three games proved that here anything can happen. Hungary finally beat Montenegro, Spain did a great surprise against Serbia and Italy had some problems before beating Italy. Those were all alerting signs for us and to be honest we felt some pressure in the first half. But then we settled and showed that we were the better team.”
