Serbia and Hungary will battle for the gold medal n tomorrow’s final at the 5th FINA Youth World Championships in Belgrade.
These two teams were considered the biggest favorites before the tournament. They arrived at the final with perfect records (5-0).
Both semifinals were close contests most of the time, but the matches differ from each other significantly.
Hungary was almost always in front in the match against Spain and recorded a 10:7 victory.
Serbia produced a big comeback in the match against the excellent team of the Netherlands. The Dutch shocked the Serbs with an opening 4:0 lead. However, the hosts were able to come back from four goals down and beat the Dutch by four goals (11:7)
The final will be played tomorrow at 20:30 (CET). The bronze-medal match Spain- Netherlands, begins at 18:30 .
Greece and Montenegro will face off in the 7th-place match (12:00). Croatia and Italy will play in the game for 5th position (13:30). The reports of the other today’s games – HERE
2022 World Men’s U18 Championships, Day 8, evening session
Semifinals
Hungary – Spain 10:7 (1:0, 1:1, 5:2, 3:4)
Hungary: Gyapjas, Szepfalvi, Nagy 1, Balogh, Gaszt 4, Biros, Ionescu 1, Leinweber, Bede 1, Varga 1, Szecsi 1, Szalai Csite. Head coach: Kovacs-Csatlos.
Spain: Teclas, Villamayor, Gil 1, Ivaylov Patchaliev 1, Frigola, Castro 2, Lopez 2, Ibanez, Peret, De La Cruy, Otero, Gomila 1, Garcia. Head coach: Sanchez-Toril.
Hungary: Gyapas, Szepfalvi, Nagy 1, Balogh, Gaszt 4, Biros, Ionescu 1, Leinweber, Bede 1, Varga 1, Szecsi 1, Szalai Csite. Head coach: Kovacs-Csatlos.
Spain: Teclas, Villamayor, Gil 1, Ivaylov Patchaliev 1, Frigola, Castro 2, Lopez 2, Ibanez, Peret, De La Cruy, Otero, Gomila 1, Garcia. Head coach: Sanchez-Toril.
Hungary and Spain fought a hard defensive battle in the first half. The teams weren’t harmless in the attack, they made a lot of chances, but both defenses worked well. Petar Szalai broke the deadlock from a 6 on 5 counter-attack (a Spanish was excluded in front of Hungary’s goal) in the 5th minute. Next goal came seven minutes later when Nagy converted a man-up.
Spain got on the scoreboard in the 12th minute- Castro scored from a penalty. Early in the third, the same player leveled at 2:2 from another shot from the 5m line. But, the Hungarians built a 2-goal advantage shortly after (4:2). Lopez woke the Spain’s last hope in the 22nd minute, again from a penalty – 4:3. But, the Hungarians broke the rival scoring three goals in the last two minutes of the third period. They went to 7:3 and Spain couldn’t come back. The Spaniards didn’t surrender, but the difference was never smaller than three goals in the final quarter.
All photos by Slobodan Sandic/Water Polo Federation of Serbia
The defense was a key to Hungary’s success. Goalkeeper Viktor Gyapjas, who was voted the MVP of the match, said that all players contributed to the win:
“Yes, defense was awesome in crucial moments. But, this victory is a result of a team effort. We played like a team and everybody contributed to the win. Spain is an excellent team, but we analyzed them very well, and prepared for the game properly and that was decisive. We are looking forward to the final, and we want to win each game.
“This was a game of high intensity. But, we made too many istakes, unlike Hungary”, Spain’s Javier Otero.
Serbia – Netherlands 11:7 (3:4, 0:0, 5:2, 3:1)
Serbia: Pajkovic, Maras, Dimitrijevic 1, Gajic 1, Kojic 5, Gavrilovic, Bozovic, Kovacevic 2, Brescanski, Stanic 2, Bodiroga, Virijevic. Head coach: Stevanovic.
Netherlands: Stevens, Bakker, Wijgers 2, Van de Bovenkamp, Wouters 1, Harreman, Ten Broek 3, Voorvelt, Groenendijk, Snel 1, Reijchard, Van de Dobbelsteen, Steenbrink. Head coach: Mitrovic.
The opening of the game Serbia – Netherlands was almost similar to the match Serbia – Croatia in the quarterfinals. Yesterday, the Croats opened the game with a 3:0 lead. Today, the Dutch started excellently. They, led by Lars Josh Ten Broek, rushed to a 3:0 lead by the middle of the first period. In the 7th minute, Wijgers converted a man-up for 4:0. Serbia struggled in the attack for a long, but the hosts netted three goals in the last 82 seconds of the first period (Kojic 2 and Kovacevic) and quickly cut the deficit to 3:4.
Both defenses were excellent in the second quarter. Goalkeepers Virijevic and Stevens posted one save after another.
Serbia, finally, caught up with the Dutch in the first possession in the third period. Nikola Kojic won the swim off and scored an action goal for4:4. Shortly after Gajic converted a man-up, Kojic scored his 4th action goal and Serbia went to 6:4. But, the Dutch didn’t say their last word. They netted two goals within 40 seconds (Wijgers from a man-up and Wouters from a counter), and the teams were at the new beginning – 6:6.
Nikola Kojic (right), the man of the match
Both teams had great support from the stands. But, of course, most of the spectators cheered the home team. With the help of the fans,the Serbs started taking control. By the end of the quarter, they went to 8:6.But. Nothing was over yet. But, in the middle of the quarter Serbia scored two quick goals (Kojic and Kovacevic), the hosts doubled an advantage. The Netherlands couldn’t recover from that 0:4 blast
Uros Stevanovic, Serbia’s head coach,
“It was a strange game. After 0:4, we made a 10:2 series and secured the win. Congratulations to the Netherlands. They started excellently and did their best. We were far from our best. We have to rest until the final and prepare for a big game. Hungary and Serbia know each other very well. There are no secrets, these two generations of Serbian and Hungarian water polo have played against each other since 2018. Just before the tournament in Belgrade, we have joint preparations.
Branko Mitrovic, the Netherlands’ coach:
“After a great start, we made a few mistakes, let Serbia score two easy goals from counterattacks. The game entered the rhythm which suited the Serbs, with a lot of swimming and duels. We couldn’t answer their style. Besides, our man-up conversion wasn’t good (1/5 – Ed). Serbia proved that it was better and deserved the win.
As for statistics, Serbia scored five goals with a man-up (5/10), four more than the Netherlands. The difference in score is the same – four goals.
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