World Champions and now European Champions, the Netherlands, are the dominant force of these times in women’s water polo, taking gold at the 2024 European Championships in Eindhoven.
The Netherlands were coronated in front of thousands of delerious Dutch fans after defeating Spain 8-7 in an electrifying and enthralling contest.
It took a goal by Bente Rogge with six seconds to play to separate the two teams.
With their first European title since 2018, the Netherlands now stand alone as the most decorated European nation in women’s water polo, with 6 gold medals.
Despite a near flawless tournament themselves, the Spanish will rue this missed opportunity to etch their names alongside the elite nations – Netherlands, Italy, and Russia – who have secured gold at three consecutive European Championships. Still, this Spanish side is still one of the most consistent performing sides of the last decade, and will no doubt be back among the medals in Doha, and at the Paris Olympic Games.
After two consecutive Gold medals, Spain had to settle for Silver. Photo: Aniko Kovacs/LEN.
But the Netherlands, coach Eva Doudesis and his players, deservedly take the limelight for their performances over the last year. They won’t be afforded too much time to celebrate, with the Doha World Championships looming large in the next three weeks. Now, the only missing piece of this team’s triple crown awaits – the Olympic gold medal. The opportunity to claim this legendary status will present itself later this year in Paris.
Placement in Eindhoven is significant for qualification to other tournaments, such as February’s World Championships and the Paris Olympic games this summer. At the 2023 World Championships in Fukuoka, the Netherlands and Spain secured their places for the Paris Olympics by finishing 1st and 2nd, respectively. Typically, the winner of the European Championships would also qualify, but as the Netherlands and Spain had already secured spots, the qualification passed to the next highest finisher, which in this case was Greece. Turning our attention to the World Championships in Doha, the Netherlands, Spain, and Italy were already qualified due to their top-four finishes in Fukuoka. Although four spots were available in Eindhoven, since the top four teams again secured these positions, the additional berths for Doha were awarded to the teams finishing in places 4th, 5th, 6th, and 7th – namely, Greece, Hungary, France, and Great Britain.
Greece return to the Olympic games after a 16 year hiatus. Photo: Aniko Kovacs/LEN.
Greece have also now confirmed their ticket to the Paris Olympic Games, taking the Bronze medal with a tightly fought 7-6 win over Italy.
Hungary made no improvement on their European campaign of 2022, finishing 5th with a convincing 14-3 win over France, while Great Britain’s women’s team are well and truly back on the map, with a 7th-place finish at the European Championships (defeating Croatia 11-9) their best result in the tournament for 38 years – an outcome that qualifies Team GB for the Doha World Championships.
SEE THE STATS FROM ALL THE GAMES IN EINDHOVEN VIA TOTAL ARENA
2024 European Women’s Championships, Day 7
Final
The Netherlands added the European gold to accompany their World Championship title with a dramatic 8-7 win over Spain.
Bente Rogge’s goal just six seconds from the end was the difference between two incredible teams. Despite early pressure from Spain, the Netherlands established themselves throughout the middle two quarters. The match was more of a fierce battle of defenses than offenses, with the hosts triumphing in the end.
Sabrina Van der Sloot led her team with two scores. Kitty Joustra also netted twice, but her contribution, alongside Vivian Sevenich, was key at center-forward.
Spain couldn’t build on their impressive start to the match. Bea Ortiz led their offensive efforts with two scores, but they were beaten by a team buoyed by an electric home atmosphere that found the key score late in the match.
Total Player 2023 has added the European Championship winners medal to her collection. Photo: Aniko Kovacs/LEN.
There was no doubt that Spain started better; the away side looked calmer and more composed. Forca opened the evening with a quick break shot before Anni Espar fired a ball home past her Mataro teammate, Laura Aarts. The Dutch took time to link up with their centers, but the first time they did, Vivian Sevenich earned the penalty that Simone Van de Kraats put away coolly (2-1).
The Netherlands stamped their authority on the match in the second period. The center-forward was pivotal for the Netherlands, and it was their center Kitty Joustra who found two goals in the second period to turn the game around (3-2). While Bea Ortiz struck level for Spain, two unanswered goals from Van der Sloot and Sevenich for the Dutch gave the Oranges a 5-3 lead at the turnaround.
Martina Terre was immense for Spain. She saved a Van de Kraats penalty and finished with 7 saves. Photo: Aniko Kovacs/LEN.
The atmosphere turned early in the third quarter as Spain pulled level (6-6). The Dutch were pegged back by goals from Elena Ruiz and Bea Ortiz from the top, with Martina Terre stopping a Van de Kraats penalty in between. Just 36 seconds before the end, though, Lieke Rogge fired the ball past Martina Terre, via the woodwork, to vitally give the Netherlands the lead heading into the last period.
Having been kept fairly quiet for most of the final, Spain’s two center-forwards emerged in the last eight minutes with key scores. However, their Sabadell teammate – Sabrina Van der Sloot – made sure the Dutch didn’t fall behind.
The Netherlands centre-forwards had a big impact in the match. Photo: Aniko Kovacs/LEN.
It was a cruel way to end the match for Spain’s excellent young keeper, Martina Terre, but Bente Rogge’s shot, with 6 seconds left in the match, clipped the post and the back of her head to sneak over the line, handing the Netherlands a win they will never forget.
Bronze-Medal match
Greece shocked Italy in the bronze medal match, playing brilliantly in a hard-fought 7-6 win.
The Greeks more than deserved the medal and, crucially, Olympic qualification – the first time they will participate in the world’s biggest sporting event since 2008.
In a throwback, low-scoring game, a potent start from Greece really unsettled the Italians. The early lead gave the Greek attack the confidence it needed, while outstanding defending from the Greeks made life difficult for Setterosa.
Apart from a brilliant team display, Alexia Kammenou’s center-forwards lit up the show. Eleni Xenaki was outstanding, and the decision to bring back Alexandra Asimaki has repaid itself spectacularly. The same can be said for Nicoleta Eleftheriadou, who scored the winning goal in the game.
Bianconi (2 goals) tried to inject some life into Italy’s game, but they simply couldn’t penetrate the outstanding Greek defense. Italy, and their most important players, were miles off their best today, especially in attack. They missed a penalty in the first quarter, but just six goals from 27 shots were a significant issue in such a low-scoring contest. Claudia Marletta sat in the stands serving her one-match ban; who knows, could she have made a difference?
An emotional victory for Greece; they’re going to the Paris Olymics. Photo: Aniko Kovacs/LEN.
The Greeks enjoyed a confident start, establishing a two-score lead, before Ioanna Stamatopoulou saved Roberta Bianconi’s 5m penalty. Picozzi opened the Italians’ account, but Alexandra Asimaki restored Greece’s two-score lead at the end of the first (3-1).
Xenaki added a fourth Greek goal to extend the Greek lead (4-1), before six minutes of really physical and rugged water polo. Both sides had chances, but neither could convert as Greece headed into halftime with a three-goal lead.
The Italian frustration continued into the third period, as they couldn’t bypass the fearless Greek blocks. Eventually, after a 15-minute goal drought, Roberta Bianconi at long last converted an Italian chance. But another veteran, Asimaki, rolled back the years with a tasty scoop shot to maintain the three-score lead (5-2).
The bronze medal match was incredibly physical. Photo: Aniko Kovacs/LEN.
Italy eventually began to find its feet in the fourth, clawing their way back to 6-6. Setterosa found four big goals to level the game (Galardi, Bianconi, Viacava, and Avegno). Still, Nikoleta Eleftheriadou had the last say in the match, rifling the ball home to snatch the winning goal.
Classification Games
Hungary was a convincing winner in the 5th-place match, comfortably defeating France 3-14.
The Magyars, who have now finished 5th in back-to-back European Championships, were never going to lose this game. Still, the Hungarians still turned up and applied themselves well with a stoic defensive performance. In the end, they outclassed the French.
Rita Keszthelyi was in no mood to mess about, scoring six times in the match. Boglarka Neszmelyi (FTC-Telekom) continues to impress in the number 13 hat, incidentally recording an impressive 13 saves (81%).
Even though Hungary were strong favourites, France were extremely disapointing.
Boglarka Neszmely was oustanding in goal for Hungary. Photo: Aniko Kovacs/LEN.
With a hat-trick from Rita Keszthelyi, Hungary was 5-0 up within the blink of an eye. The French pulled one back, but the game continued to be one-way traffic, with a 6-0 sequence for the Magyars through the next two quarters. Hungary’s brilliant defensive effort proved too strong for the French – who showed very little going forward.
France remains in a state of limbo – they are a class above the 7th-16th place teams but are a long way off the very elite. However, after five consecutive 7th-place finishes, a 6th place finish is progress, and they can be pleased with their best finish at this competition in 29 years.
Great Britain has secured qualification to the Doha World Championship, stunning Croatia late on to secure a 11-9 win in the 7th-place match.
Both sides, which have significantly developed their female national teams in the past few years, deserved to go to Doha. In the end, however, Croatia didn’t capitalize on their chances. GB were tenacious and held on, similarly to the Israel game, to produce another significant result for British water polo.
Iva Rozic (CRO) wrestles with Kathy Rogers (GBR). Photo: Aniko Kovacs/LEN.
Despite trailing twice in the match by two goals, the British dug in deep, finding two scores inside the final minute of what was an extremely physically intense match.
It took some time before the British attack clicked. Croatia dominated most of the chances in the first half but only led by two scores. A big momentum swing early in the third period gave Team GB the confidence they needed to outlast their opponents. With both teams dead-locked late on (9-9), Lily Turner effectively scored the winning goal with 40 seconds to go in the match. Toula Falvey’s finish with seven seconds from time sealed the deal, and signalled the beginning of euphoric British celebrations.
Team GB’s Lily Turner celebrates her winning goal. Photo: Aniko Kovacs/LEN.
Croatia finishes in a respectable eighth place (matching its best ever finish from 2012 & 2022), but they know they missed a big chance to appear at their first-ever World Championship competition.
Both teams were led by outstanding performances from their number fours; Lily Turner (Ethnikos) stepped up in the big moments to settle her side, scoring four times in the match, while young Jelena Butic (Jadran Split) led the charge for the Croats with four scores.
FINAL STANDINGS
- Netherlands
- Spain
- Greece (QOG)
- Italy (QWC)
- Hungary (QWC)
- France (QWC)
- Great Britain (QWC)
- Croatia
- Israel
- Serbia
- Germany
- Czechia
- Turkiye
- Romania
- Slovakia
- Bulgaria
QOG – Qualified for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris
QWC – Qualified for the 2024 World Championships in Doha
European Championships schedule and scores
More articles about the European Championships
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