The same four teams that played in the semifinals of the 2022 European Championships in Split reached the top four of this year’s edition of the continental male championships.
Reigning champion Croatia, world champion Hungary, Spain, and Italy will play in the semifinals in two days in Zagreb.
The first quarterfinal game was the most interesting and the only one where the teams fought a big battle from the beginning until the end. Hungary defeated Serbia in a penalty shootout – 15:14.
As expected, Spain didn’t have a demanding task in the day’s second game. The Spaniards demolished Romania 24:8.
Croatia beat Greece 13:8. The Greeks had a one-goal lead at the middle break, but Croatia held the Greeks goalless between the 16th and 30th minute, scoring eight goals for a comfortable lead.
Italy beat Montenegro 14:8. The winner in this match was decided before the final minutes, too.
It’s sure that the final standings of the top 4 teams won’t be the same as in Split, where Croatia won gold ahead of Hungary, Spain and Italy.
The semifinals in Zagreb will be rematches of the medal matches at the previous championships. Croatia will play against Hungary, and Spain will face Italy.
2024 European Men’s Championships (January 4 – 16), Day 9
Quarterfinals
Hungary – Serbia 15:14 (3:3,2:2, 4:3, 1:2, PSO 5:4)
Hungary: Vin.Vigvari 4, Tatrai 3, Fekete 2, Ven. Vigvari 1.
Serbia: Mandic 2, S.Rasovic 2, N.Jaksic 2, V.Rasovic 2, Vico 1, Ubovic 1.
Penalty shootout – Drasovic 0:1, Nagy 1:1, Radulovic dropped the ball, Pohl 2:1, S.Rasovic 2:2, Tatrai 3:2, N.Jaksic 3:3, Vin.Vigvari 4:3, Mandic 4:4, Fekete 5:4
Few believed that a rejuvenated Hungarian team, with only six world champions, could reach the semifinals in Zagreb. However, nothing is a surprise after a 10:5 win over Italy in the group phase.
The first quarterfinal was a big battle. Tiny details decided. Neither of the teams had a 2-goal advantage and there were a lot of twists and turns.
The Hungarians scored with an extra player in their first possession, but Serbia quickly responded with two goals and led 2:1 after two minutes. Until the end of the first period, the teams traded the goals. Serbia regained a lead at the beginning of the second period after Dusan Mandic found the net from a penalty shot (4:3). However, Hungary turned the score with two goals, leading 5:4. A minute before the end, Ubovic equalized for Serbia, and the teams entered the second half tied at 5:5.
Serbia’s defense stopped almost all of Hungary’s goal-getters except Vince Vigvari, who scored four of his team’s five goals in the second half. By the middle of the third quarter, he put Hungary in front twice – 6:5 (counterattack) and 7:6 (penalty shots). However, Serbia leveled quickly on both occasions with power-play goals from Nikola Jaksic and Viktor Rasovic. The latter gave Serbia an 8:7 lead, but the Hungarians closed this period with two goals and had a slim 9:8 advantage before the final quarter.
Vince Vigvari and Dusan Mandic Photo by Istvan Derencsenyi/European Aquatics
At the last break, Serbia’s head coach, Uros Stevanovic, switched goalkeepers. Branislav Mitrovic was replaced by Radoslav Filipovic, who posted a save in Hungary’s first possession in the final quarter and started a counter-attack which was finished by Strahinja Rasovic, who equalized – 9:9.
There were a lot of exclusions during the match. Still, Serbia consolidated its defense in the final quarter, keeping the Hungarians far from its goal. The Serbs committed only one penalty foul in the fourth quarter. The defense performed well, but the Serbs struggled in offense; they missed a few nice chances and finished a few attacks rashly. In the 31st minute, Nemanja Vico finally scored from a 6 on 5 and Serbia was closer to the semifinals. But, not for long. Hungary leveled at 10:10 in the next possession. The scorer was… Of course, it was Vince Vigvari. The Hungarians had the last attack, but Filipovic posted another save and the match entered the shootout.
There were no misses and saves in the shootout. However, Marko Radulovic didn’t find the net as the ball slipped out of his hand in the 2nd round, which, as it turned out, was decisive in the penalty drama.
Spain – Romania 24:7 (6:2, 4:2, 7:1, 7:2)
Spain: Granados 6, Sanahuja 4, Tahull 4, Munarriz 3, Larumbe 2, Cabanas 2, Biel 1, Perrone 1, Bustos 1.
Romania: Belenyesi 2, Tepelus 1, Neamtu 1, Colodrovschi 1, Georgescu 1, Vancsik 1.
Sergi Cabanas blocks a shot Photo by Istvan Derencsenyi/European Aquatics
Spain showed no mercy to Romania. Yesterday’s match against Georgia was the final for Romania. After securing a ticket for the World Championships in Doha, Romania couldn’t offer strong resistance to the Spaniards in the match that started less than 20 hours after the end of the crossover game.
The Spaniards demonstrated their power already in the first half. In the 15th minute, they had a 10:3 lead. In the middle of the third period, they reached the double-digit margin (14:4) but didn’t stop until the end.
Croatia – Greece 13:8 (3:3, 2:3, 4:0, 4:2)
Croatia: Marinic Kragic 4, Fatovic 3, Vukicevic 2, Loncar 2, Buric 1, Kharkov 1.
Greece: Papanastasiou 2, Argyropoulos 2, Genidounias 1, Fountoulis 1, Kalogeropoulos 1, Kakaris 1.
Croatia booked the ticket for the semifinals thanks to a fantastic 8:0 run in the second half. An outstanding defense was an encouragement for the attacks.
The first two quarters were very balanced, and it seemed that Greece, which had a lot of ups and downs in the previous four games, reached good shape. However, they had energy only for the first half. Maybe an absence of suspended Georgios Dervisis and the fact that Greece played its crossover game yesterday affected their today’s performance. But, Croatia played really well in front of the packed stands of the “Mladost Pool” in Zagreb.
Croatia took the lead only twice in the first half – 1:0 and 5:4. The Greeks had a furious finish in the second quarter. Argyropoulos leveled at 5:5 from the 5m line. Croatia lost the ball in its following possession, Greece started a counter-attack. Papanastasiou ended it with a goal for 6:5.
Jerko Marinic Kragic in front of Greece’s defense Photo by Istvan Derencsenyi/European Aquatics
The first half indicated that the match would be exciting until the very end. However, the game became a lopsided contest after the middle break. The Croats dominated. Luka Loncar leveled at 6:6 after 23 seconds of play in the third quarter. By the end of this period, the Croats added three goals – all three after personal fouls. Vukicevic and Marinic Kragic converted 6 on 5 situations and Kragic scored once from a penalty shot. The Greeks’ attack was harmless; they couldn’t find a good solution to send the ball behind Bijac’s back.
The fourth period began like the previous one – Luka Loncar scored, this time with a man-up. Fatovic scored two goals for 12:6. Buric made it 13:6. Alexandros Papanastasiou ended Greece’s goalless phase, which lasted almost 14 minutes. Argyropoulos set the final score.
Italy – Montenegro 14:8 (3:4, 5:0, 3:1, 3:3)
Italy: Di Somma 4, Di Fulvio 2, Fondelli 2, Velotto 2, Echenique 2, Marziali 1, Bruni 1.
Montenegro: Dj. Radovic 2, Vujovic 1, Mrsic 1, Vidovic 1, Ukropina 1, Spaic 1, Matkovic 1
Water polo fans enjoyed an interesting first quarter in the last quarterfinal. Montenegro was an equal opponent to the Italians. They forced several exclusions and made the most of it. Thanks to an excellent percentage of the power play shots (4/5), Montenegro earned a 4:3 lead in the first eight minutes.
But Montenegro’s attack fell apart in the second half. Marco Del Lungo, who didn’t have a single save in the first quarter, discouraged the rival with seven blocked shots in the second period. Besides, Montenegro made too many mistakes in the attack. A bad offense affected the defense. The Italians gained the momentum and, led by Edoardo Di Somma, turned around a 1-goal deficit to a huge 8:4 lead at halftime.
Francesco Di Fulvio Photo by Istvan Derencsenyi/European Aquatics
Italy continued dictating the pace in the third period. Montenegro reduced the gap to three with a goal from Djuro Radovic from a penalty shot in the 17th minute (5:8). Still, Italy didn’t let the Montenegrins come back. Immediately after Radovic’s goal, Di Fulvio responded from a 6 on 6. There were no goals for a while. Montenegro’s hopes were still alive because it consolidated the defense. However, the attack didn’t work well. Italy went to 11:5 in the last 84 seconds of the third period and sealed the win.
Road to the medals (Zagreb)
(all times are CET)
Crossover round
France – Serbia 10:14
Montenegro – Germany 10:5
Georgia – Romania 11:18
Greece – Netherlands 15:10
Quarterfinals
Hungary– Serbia 15:14 (PSO)
Spain – Romania 24:7
Croatia – Greece 13:8
Italy – Montenegro 14:8
Semifinals (January 14)
Hungary – Croatia (16.30, TBC)
Spain – Italy (20:15, TBC)
Final day (January 16)
Bronze-medal match (16:30)
Final (20:15)
5-8th place semifinals (January 14): Serbia – Greece (15:00, TBC), Romania – Montenegro (18:30, TBC)
European Championships schedule and scores
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