Unlike many European water polo powerhouses, Croatia hasn’t played in the preparation tournaments this week.
However, the host of the upcoming European Championships had very good tests. It played two matches against Team USA in Zagreb.
The Croats won both games, and the results were almost identical. On Tuesday, Croatia recorded a 15:12 win. This evening, two goals separated the rivals at the end of the match – 15:13.
The American national teams took the lead only once in the first game (1:2). Croatia turned the score and increased its lead to four goals at the start of the third period (11:7). Although the Americans managed to narrow the gap (10:11) at the beginning of the last quarter, Croatia quickly built a 3-goal lead (13:10) and maintained it until the end (15:12).
In the second game (played in the pool that will be the venue of the 2024 Europeans), the visitors were unable to take the lead. The Americans managed to equalize twice in the first half (1:1 and 3:3), but after their third, Croatia scored four consecutive goals, leading to a score of 7:3. At halftime, it stood 8:4. In the early stage of the third quarter, the hosts extended their lead to six with goals from Vukicevic and Bukic, who made it 10:4. The Croats didn’t keep their pace for the rest of the game and started slowing down. Team USA started to recover, but could only manage to reduce the gap to two goals.
Next week, Croatia will have joint training with Serbia in Belgrade. The neighbors will play one official friendly match,
Game 1
Croatia – USA 15:12 (4:3, 5:4, 2:2, 4:3)
Croatia:Marinic Kragic 5, Fatovic 4, Buric 2, Butic 1, Vukicevic 1, Biljaka 1, Loncar 1.
USA: Irving 4, Bowen 2, Cupido 2, Abramson 1, R. Dodd 1, Hooper 1, Q.Woodhead 1
Game 2
Croatia – USA 15:13 (3:2, 5:2, 4:5, 3:4)
Croatia: Bukic 5, Marinic Kragic 3, Butic 3, Vukicevic 1, Vrlic 1, Buric 1, Biljaka 1.
USA: Bowen 3, R.Dodd 3, Irving 3, Q.Woodhead 1, Obert 1, Abramson 1, Hallock 1.
