Montenegro beats USA in thriller to complete nice day for Europeans in Doha

Seven out of eight matches played on Day 1 of the World Men’s Championships in Doha were encounters between the European and non-European teams. The Europeans celebrated seven wins in these games, including the big match of the day.

The derby of the tournament’s first day was the duel Montenegro – USA in Group C. Montenegro recorded a victory, but the USA didn’t leave the pool empty-handed. Montenegro beat the Americans after a penalty shootout (16:15).

The outcomes of the other matches were as expected.

Serbia defeated Japan 17:10 in the first game in Group C.

European champion Spain trashed South Africa (21:5), while Croatia beat Australia (13:8) in Group B.

Greece opened the play in Group B with a 24:6 victory over Greece, and France beat Brazil 16:11.

Italy recorded the biggest win of the day. It ran over Kazakhstan (33:3) in Group D. The day was closed by a clash between the European teams in Group D. Hungary made no mistake and won by seven goals (15:8).

21st World Men’s Championship (Doha, February 5 – 17), Day 1

Group A

South Africa – Spain 5:21 (1:6, 0:7, 0:4, 4:4)

South Africa: Van Zyl 3, Swanepoel 2.
Spain: Granados 4, Biel 4, De Toro 3, Perrone 2, Mallarach 2, Valera 1, Sanahuja 1, Larumbe 1, Cabanas 1.

The first match at the tournament was a morning training session for the European champions. Spain rushed to a 5:0 lead before South Africa got on the scoreboard in the 7th minute from a penalty shot. The Africans couldn’t find the net in the following 22 minutes, while Spain scored 14 and went to 19:1. South Africa scored four consolation goals in the last 03:30 minutes.

Croatia – Australia 13:8 (5:1, 4:2, 2:2, 2:3)

Croatia: Buric 2, Fatovic 2, Loncar 2, Lazic 2, Zuvela 2, Marinic Kragic 2, Krzic 1.
Australia: Pavillard 2, Berehulak 2, Mercep 1, Maksimovic 1, Poot 1, Edwards 1.

Six months ago, Croatia beat Australia 17:10 in the ninth-place match at the World Championships in Fukuoka. Meanwhile, Australia didn’t play an official game, while Croatia won silver at the European Championships.

Even though Croatia was the favorite, few could expect the match to turn into a one-sided contest quickly. The Croats had almost a perfect conversion of the shots after personal fouls in the first half and a quarter (power-play shots 5/7 and penalty shots 1/1). They jumped to 7:1 in the first ten minutes, which was crucial for the outcome. Then, Australia consolidated its defense and tried to come back into the match, but it was unsuccessful. Marko Zuvela closed the first half with a power-play goal for 9:3.

The second half of the match was a more balanced battle. After earning a big advantage in the first half, Croatia started saving energy for a derby game against Spain. While Croatia’s attacks weren’t as dangerous as in the first half, Australia’s goalkeeper, Nic Porter, deserves credit for posting several nice saves in the third and fourth periods. Croatia maintained a 6-goal advantage for a long time and Franko Lazic scored a goal 76 seconds before the end of the game, giving Croatia a 7-goal lead of 13:6. However, Australia scored two goals in the final 50 seconds, avoiding a big defeat that seemed inevitable after the first ten minutes of the match.

Group B

China – Greece 6:24 (1:4, 0:6, 3:7, 2:7)

China: Xie 2, Chu 1, R.Chen 1, C.Zhang 1, J.Zhang 1.
Greece: Genidounias 5, Gkiouvetsis 4, Argyropoulos 3, Nikolaidis 3, Vlachopoulos 3, Skoumpakis 2, Papanastasiou 1, Gkillas 1, Kakaris 1, Kalogeropoulos 1.

Greece was too strong for China. After a 10:1 first half, the Greeks, led by Konstantinos Genidounias, continued their series of goals and went to 13:1. China’s offensive play was better than in the first 16 minutes, but Greece dominated. The Europeans even had a 20-goal lead (24:4), but China scored two goals in the last minute.

Brazil – France 11:16 (1:3, 4:5, 3:4, 3:4)

Brazil: R. Real 5, Guimaraes 3, P.Real 1, Freitas 1, Silva 1.
France: Vernoux 6,Crousillat 4, Bouet 2, Marion Vernoux 1, Bjorch 1, Zivkovic 1, Bodegas 1.

Brazil, the runner-up at the Pan American Games, played well. Still, it wasn’t enough to surprise the 9th-placed team at the recently held European Championships.

The French quickly earned a 3:0 lead. Rafael Real Vergara netted the first goal for the South Americans just two seconds before the first break, by firing the ball from eight meters. Brazil attempted to catch up with the French and closed the gap to one thrice in the second period (2:3, 3:4, 4:5). Still, France rebuilt a 3-goal lead before the end of the first half. Roman Marion Vernoux beat the buzzer with a goal from a distance for 8:5. In the second half, the difference was never smaller than three goals. In the 22nd minute, France stretched the margin to five for the first time after Ugo Crousillat’s close-range shot for 12:7.

Brazil didn’t surrender. It managed to narrow the distance to three (10:13). The South Americans couldn’t come closer.
France’s center-forward Thomas Vernoux, who had a perfect percentage of shots (6/6), was the best scorer and the player of the match. Rafael Real scored five for Brazil.

Group C

Japan – Serbia 10:17 (3:4, 4:4, 1:5, 2:4)

Japan: Takata 2, Inaba 2, Okawa 2, Vatanabe 1, Inoue 1, Date 1, Araki 1.
Serbia: N.Jaksic 4, Mandic 3, S.Rasovic 3, Randjelovic 2, Ubovic 2, Lazic 1, Lukic 1, V.Rasovic 1

The game produced a similar storyline to the one that had an encounter between the same rivals at the 2023 World Championships (Serbia beat Japan 16:10 in the crossover round in Fukuoka last year).

Serbia broke Japan’s resistance in the third quarter. After all, in the last few years, Japan has kept pace with its European rivals in almost all games at major competitions. Still, it has rarely had energy for the entire match.

The Japanese took a 2:0 and 3:1 lead in the first two minutes. However, Serbia had a slim 4:3 advantage at the first break, as Nikola Lukic beat the buzzer and converted a man-up in the very last second of the first period. Serbia’s captain, Nikola Jaksic, opened the second quarter with two quick goals for 6:3. Still, Japan wasn’t out of the race. The Asians chased the Serbs, who rebuilt a 3-goal lead (8:5), but couldn’t keep it for a long. Japan’s ace Yusuke Inaba scored an equalizer (8:8) in his team’s first possession in the second half. Serbia responded with two goals within less than a minute (Randjelovic from a distance and again Jaksic, who handled excellently in front of the rival’s goal) for 10:8. Serbia started dominating, it kept Japan far from its goal. The attack worked well. The Serbs produced a 7:0 run until the middle of the fourth quarter for a 15:8 advantage and secured a comfortable win.

Montenegro – USA 16:15 (3:1, 2:3, 4:3, 2:4, PSO 5:4)

Montenegro: Perkovic 2, Ukropina 2, Matkovic 2, Brguljan 1, Popadic 1, Va.Radovic 1, Mrsic 1, Vujovic 1.
USA:Bowen 5, Daube 2, R.Dodd 2, Cupido 1, Hallock 1.

Penalty shootout – Montenegro: Vidovic, Popadic, Brguljan, Ukropina (Ukropina missed in 1st round, Perkovic missed in the 3rd round) USA: Irving, Hallock, Bowen (Tesanovic saved shots from Bowen – Round 1, Dodd – 4th round and Irving – 7th round).

Montenegro earned a hard-fought win over the USA primarily because of an excellent performance by its goalkeeper and captain, Petar Tesanovic, who saved five penalty shots (two in regular time and three in a shootout).

Alex Bowen gave the USA a 1:0 lead in the 3rd minute, but it was the Americans’ only lead in the match. Montenegro’s defense was up to the task in the first quarter, which encouraged them in the attack. Hence, the Europeans had a two-goal advantage (3:1) at the first break.

The Americans reduced the gap in the second quarter and had a chance to level the score early in the third period. They earned a penalty in their first possession, but Tesanovic saved a shot from Bowen. Team USA got a man-up after that save but failed to convert it, and a punishment came quickly. Mrsic scored from a 6 on 5 for 6:4. Still, the Americans managed to level the score (6:6), but Montenegro regained a 2-goal lead (8:6 and 9:7) before the final quarter.The USA opened the fourth period with two action goals (R.Dodd and Bowen) and leveled at 9:9. In the rest of the match, the teams traded the goals. Popadic made it 10:9 from a penalty shot. Ryder Dodd equalized at 10:10, but Ukropina responded quickly with a power-play goal for 11:10. In the next possession, the Montenegrins committed a penalty foul, but Tesanovic was able to make another save (this time, Irving failed to convert a penalty shot). Still, Bowen leveled at 11:11 with 61 seconds from the end. Nobody scored in the last minute, and a penalty shootout determined the winner.

Two Montenegrin players hit the posts in the shootout, but Tesanovic blocked three shots, and Montenegro emerged victorious after a big thriller and seven rounds of shots.

Group D

Italy – Kazakhstan 33:3 (6:1, 10:1, 8:1, 9:0)

Italy: Fondelli 7, Cannella 7, Di Somma 4, Iocchi Gratta 3 Di Fulvio 2, Damonte 2, Marziali 2, Renzuto Iodice 2, Bruni 2, Echenique 1, Presciutti 1.
Kazakhstan:Beloussov 1, Akhmetov 1, Shonzhigitov 1.

Italy managed to score more than one goal per minute in a game in which it didn’t slow until the end. The difference in the number of shots says all. The Italians found the net in almost each of their attacks (33 goals from 49 shots). Kazakhstan scored three goals from 24 shots.

Romania – Hungary 8:15 (2:5, 2:5, 3:2, 1:3)

Romania: Fulea 2, Georgescu 2, Lutescu 1, Prioteasa 1, Colodrovschi 1, Neamtu 1.
Hungary: Zalanki 3, Manhercz 2, Vamos 2, Nagy 2, Fekete 2, Jansik 2,Angyal 1, Nemet 1

Hungary’s head coach, Zsolt Varga, fielded the team without Denes Varga. Still, all other aces who missed the European Championships returned in order to rest for the Doha tournament played against Romania.

The Romanians, who didn’t play at the Worlds between 2013 and 2024, kept with the world champions in the first 10-12 minutes. Romania led 2:1 in the third minute, but Hungary responded with a 4:0 run and headed into the second quarter with a 5:2 advantage. Shortly after the first break, Romania cut the deficit to one goal (4:5). After Romania’s fourth goal, Krisztian Manhercz converted a penalty shot and opened Hungary’s 5:0 series. At halftime, the favorite was 10:4 up.

Midway through the third period, the Hungarians widened the gap to seven (12:5), but that didn’t demotivate the Romanian players, who did their best to prove they belonged to the top 8 European nations. They couldn’t come back, but they shouldn’t be unsatisfied with their performance and the final score, even though Hungary didn’t do its best in the second half.

Romania trailed for five goals in the middle of the fourth period (8:13). Still, at the finish, Hungary restored a 7-goal difference. Captain Szilard Jansik set the final score in Hungary’s last attack.

Action-packed Wednesday

The second competition day will be packed with action. Three big derbies will be played on Wednesday. Montenegro and Serbia will meet in Group C. The second round in Group A brings a rematch of the European Championships final, Spain – Croatia. The day will be closed with the encounter between Italy and Hungary.

For the full schedule and the results, visit Total Waterpolo’s 2024 Doha page.

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