Olympic champion Serbia defeated European champion Hungary in the friendly match, played in Szeged today.
Serbia recorded a 13:10 win after a big comeback.
The two powerhouses have been training together since Wednesday evening. Today’s official encounter was an inauguration of a new pool in Szeged, which has been built recently.
Both teams played without a few of their key players (Denes Varga, Viktor Nagy, Norbert Hosnyanszky, Dusan Mandic, Nikola Jaksic… missed the match). But, many of the Hungarian and Serbian superstars entered the pool today.
Friendly match, Szeged
Hungary – Serbia 10:13 (6:4, 2:2, 1:3, 1:4)
Hungary: Manhercz 3, Gyarfas 3, Zalanki 1, Mezei 1, Santa 1, Burian 1.
Serbia: Prlainovic 3, Cuk 2, Drasovic 2, Dedovic 1, Randjelovic 1, Pijetlovic 1, FIlipovic 1, S. Mitrovic 1, Vucinic 1.
Hungary dictated the pace during the first half of the match. After a high-scoring first quarter, the hosts earned a 3-goal lead twice in the second period (7:4, 8:5).
In the middle of the third period, the home side had a 9:7 advantage, and after that, the Serbs, led by Andrija Prlainovic, started climbing back. The visitors scored six goals in a row. By the end of the third quarter, they equalized. They added four unanswered goals after the last break. Djordje Vucinic closed the series with an action goal for 13:9 with 59 seconds to go. Six seconds before the final buzzer Krisztian Manhercz found the net for the final score and ended Hungary’s goalless phase that lasted almost 13 minutes.
Two players debuted for Hungary today – Gergely Burian and Daniel Santa. There were no debutants in the national team of Serbia.
