Finals Day — Alfred Hajos Pool, Budapest

Classification 3-4 

ITALY 5 NETHERLANDS 7

This was a match of two teams on each side, strangely enough — the one scoring and the one trying to score. To think that the team trailing 4-1 could come back and win by two was unthinkable. However, Netherlands did the unexpected. It opened the scoring at 6:36 and then could not breach the defence until 0:48 of the second period. That was 13 and a half minutes. In that time, Italy scored four unanswered goals — two goals before quarter time and two more in the first half of the second quarter. Italy was on the way, even though some of its earlier shots were tentative, lacking zest and strangely off mark. It was not until inside the final minute of the first half that Netherlands made it 4-2 when Kitty Joustra snapped up a rebound to score. Both teams worked hard on defence in the first four minutes of the third period, to no effect. Then Vivian Sevenich drifted to her left and backhanded the 4-3 goal. Sabrina van der Sloot then drilled from the deep left to level at 1:35, the last goal of the third period, scored on extra-man attack. This set a wonderful possibility for effective play in the last, but Italy was wilting and had just gone more than 12 minutes without a goal. At 5:53, Simone van de Kraats took the lead back for the Dutch from deep right on extra-man attack. At 1:39, the match was virtually sewn up with Nina Ten Broek converting extra from the other side of the pool for 6-4. The full stop on the match came when Brigitte Sleeking blasted in from the top for 4:70 just inside the final minute. When Claudia Marletta scored her second for 7-5 at 0:31, it was a sad end for Italy who was hoping to reignite the glory years with victory at this level in 2001. The last medal was bronze in 2015. For the Dutch, it turned the tables on their sixth-seventh-place clash in Gwangju and was the first medal since silver in Kazan 2015.

Match heroes
Laura Aarts had a grand day in the Dutch goal and was name player of the match. She made eight saves at 64 per cent and probably shots that counted. Italian goalie Caterina Banchelli made 11 at 61 per cent. Sofia Giustini topped Italy’s scoring with 17 and Netherlands’ Simone van de Kraats finished with 18, one ahead of Lola Moolhuijzen.

Turning point
Italy’s four-goal haul by midway through the second quarter and Netherlands’ 14-minute drought. Then there was Italy’s near 20-minute hiatus when Netherlands plundered six goals.

Stats don’t lie
Both teams struggled on the extra play with Italy making three from eight and Netherlands four from 10. Netherlands had two more shots, so the margins were fine.

Bottom line
Netherlands took a lead over Italy on total world championship medals, claiming the title in 2001 and winning four silvers before today. This completes the set for six medals. Italy has two gold, one silver and two bronze.

What they said
Evangelos Doudesis (NED) — Head Coach
“We went missing during the first one and a half periods; we gave them the opportunity to swim a lot; we were too passive against pressing. But we were very good from a tactical point as later on we invested more time in defence to remain stable, but the biggest thing was our character. It was not a bad tournament for us; we played some good games. I can’t say, of course, that all of them were great. I am satisfied with our level, today we showed that we can win a game like this; our mental sources are in the right condition.”
Sabrina van der Sloot (NED) — Goal Scorer
“I feel relieved; I think we deserved it. We were playing badly in the beginning, and later we said to ourselves: stop playing bad water polo. After that we kept working really hard to win the game. It's amazing to win the medal here, in Hungary. I have a lot of good memories and loved to play here.”
Carlo Silipo (ITA) — Head Coach
“We changed our approach in the game… We had a good start, especially in defence, but our offence was not good enough and it didn’t work well during the whole tournament; we had a lot of problems to create real scoring chances. I am still satisfied with my team, my players worked well, they have a good mentality, but we have to work better for getting a medal. The European Championship can be a good opportunity to further develop our team.”
Caterina Banchelli (ITA) — Goalkeeper
“It was hard after the semifinal defeat, but we jumped into the pool with full focus. Maybe we have to work more and more for the next competition. After the good start, maybe we simply lost focus on our play. This fourth place is just the beginning.”

 

Classification 7-8 — Budapest

FRANCE 7 GREECE 16

Greece, one of the teams expecting to be standing on the medal dais before the competition started, had to settle for seventh ranking with a workmanlike 16-7 margin over France. It was a big difference from their 10-10 group match  on the second day's play. The host for Paris 2024 was in the picture for the first six minutes of the match, opening the scoring and sitting at 2-2, two minutes until the first break. However, Greece sent in three more for the 5-2 margin. This became 8-3 at halftime and 13-5 by the third break. It was to France’s credit that the goals came in the final 10 minutes, squaring the encounter 4-4 before finishing at 16-7. Greece did what it had to do and should be a little happy that seventh is one place better than 2019 and equal to 2017. Greece has stood only the one time on the dais — gold in 2011. For France, we have to go back to 2015 when it last competed, finishing 15th. This result — in the top eight in the world — is the right sort of boost ahead of the upcoming Olympic Games.

Match heroes
French goalkeeper Anne Collas made eight saves and probably the best two were penalty blocks in the second and third quarters. Ten Greeks scored with Maria Myriokefalitaki nabbing five for best in pool.

Turning point
When Greece went from 2-2 to 6-2 and then 12-3. Big turns, indeed.

Stats don’t lie
The fast counter-attacking nature of the match meant extra-man plays were not as important, although France scored three from nine, a bit behind Greece’s three from seven. Both Greek goalkeepers stopped four shots. For Greece, Eleni Xenaki goes home with the most goals with 15 and France’s Louise Millot, who scored three today, leaves with nine and Ema Vernoux 11.

Bottom line
Greece is the better team, but still building and has not achieved a high ranking at world or Olympics for many years. Perhaps its time is coming. And, go the French, with two years to the Olympics. Make your country proud.

What they said
Alexia Anna Kammenou (GRE) — Head Coach
“It was the last game of the tournament. I think we played well in all matches, except the most critical one. We are a very young team, with a very low age average and we worked hard. Also, we need to prepare more for the critical games at the European and world championships.”
Eleni Xenaki (GRE) — Goal Scorer
“I think the two games against France in this tournament were easy for us. The first one was more passionate, because the first place of the group was at stake, and now we just wanted to end this championship the best we could. I think we were the better team; we are on another level and we have to prepare ourselves now for the European Championship.”
Emilien Bugeaud (FRA) — Head Coach
“We played against Greece three times in the last two months. If we saw all the games, I think we have improved. The result is fair, Greece deserved to win. We tried to do some experiments and I think we did well and most important was the improvement. I’ve seen a strong mentality until the last game, and that’s good.”
Anne Collas (FRA) — Goalkeeper, Two Penalty Saves
“Greece is a good competitor and we were tired because of the last games. It was hard. We knew that before the game and, unfortunately, we lost. Before the tournament we could accept the eighth place because it is the first time in the history that we reached this stage, but, of course, it is always hard to lose.”