Romania goes to World Championships; Greece makes no mistake

Greece and Romania are the last two teams qualified for the quarterfinals of the 36th Men’s European Championships in Croatia.

The last two games of the crossover round were played in  Zagreb this evening. Greece beat the Netherlands 15:10, while Romania completely outplayed Georgia – 18:11. Everything in the second match was decided in the first two quarters when Romania scored ten and conceded only four goals.

Romania is among the best eight teams of the continent for the first time after ten years and the 2014 European Championships in Budapest (when 12 teams participated).  But, a more important fact is that Romania qualified for the upcoming World Championships in Doha, by reaching the top 8 in Croatia. The Romanians haven’t played at the World Water Polo Championships since 2013 and 13th place in Barcelona.

Greece will play against Croatia in the quarterfinals. Spain will be Romania’s next challenge.

Meanwhile, the series of classification matches for 9th – 16th places started in Dubrovnik. Slovakia and Slovenia advanced to the 13th-place game.

2024 European Men’s Championships (January 4 – 16), Day 8

Crossover matches

Greece – Netherlands 15:10 (5:3, 4:2, 3:3, 3:2)

Greece: Genidounias 5, Skoumpakis 2, Vlachopoulos 2, Fountoulis 1, Papanastasiou 1, Dervisis 1, Argyropoulos 1, Alafragkis 1, Kakaris 1.
Netherlands: Te Riele 4, Ten Broek 2, Gbadamassi 1, Van der Weijden 1, Nispeling 1, De Weerd 1.

The Greeks didn’t shine in the games in the group, and their showing against the Netherlands wasn’t exceptional either. Despite this, they managed to secure a routine victory.

The Dutch scored the first goal in the match. The Greeks turned the tide shortly after. The Netherlands managed to level the score at 3:3. Then, Greece produced a 3:0 run and jumped to 6:3. Late into the second period, the favorite had a 9:4 lead. The runner-up at the previous World Championships and Olympic Games slowed after the middle break. The Dutch attempted to catch up with Greece, but they just reduced the gap to three in the middle of the 3rd quarter (8:11). Greece responded with a new 3:0 series, rebuilt a five-goal lead (13:8) and maintained the difference until the end.

The Netherlands couldn’t stop Greece’s centre-forwards, Konstantinos Kakaris and Dimitrios Nikolaidis. The two forced many exclusions and Greece made the most of it. The Greek team had a very good conversion of man-up shots (9/12) and scored three goals from penalty shots (3/3). The Dutch scored six powerplay goals and one from the 5m line.

However, one exclusion was painful for Greece. Four minutes before the end, when everything was decided, Giorgios Dervisis was red-carded (an exclusion with substitution). , impacting the team’s roster for the upcoming game against Croatia. Head coach Vlachos must compose the team without one of their key players since the exclusion brings an automatic one-game suspension.

Georgia – Romania 11:18 (1:5, 3:5, 2:3, 5:5)

Georgia: Vasic 3, Akhlediani 2, Shushiashvili 2, Magrakvelidze 2, Dadvani 1, Bitadze 1.
Romania: Georgescu 5, Colodrovschi 4, Neamtu 3, Belenyesi 2, Vancsik 2, Fulea 1, Iudean 1

The last match in the crossover round had significant implications as it was a triple-qualification game. Teams were vying for a spot in the quarterfinals in Zagreb, a place in Division 1 at the upcoming European Championships, and a ticket to the World Championships in Doha this year.

During the European Championships, three World Championships berths were up for grabs. Croatia and Montenegro were the only two teams that had reached the quarterfinals in the previous days without having qualified earlier. Consequently, it was clear that either Georgia or Romania would join the seven European powerhouses in Doha, making the stakes high in this crucial match.

Many expected an exciting match. But, Romania killed all suspense before the middle break. Georgia was maybe pressured with the importance of the game. Romania flew the field and quickly earned a 4:0 lead. The Romanians did a great job in defense, too. The Georgians got on the scoreboard only in the 7th minute, from a penalty shot, but Vlad Georgescu replied immediately with a man-up.

Early in the second period, the Georgians showed some signs of life. They narrowed the gap to three (3:6), but Romania re-found its great rhythm from the beginning of the game and scored four goals in a row once again for 10:3. Romania controlled the match and dictated the pace until the end.

The Romanians scored 18 goals with 56% of shots. Only Italy scored more goals in the game against Georgia at the 2024 Europeans (22:5).

The most important games for Romania at the Championships were against the Netherlands in the group and today’s clash with Georgia. The Romanians showed their best when it was the most important. They were up to the task both in defense and attack against the Dutch. Today, they played even better.

Road to the medals

(all games will be played in Zagreb, all times are CET)

Crossover round
France – Serbia 10:14
Montenegro – Germany 10:5
Georgia – Romania 11:18
Greece – Netherlands 15:10

Quarterfinals (January 12)
Hungary– Serbia (15:00)
Spain – Romania (16:30)
Croatia – Greece (18:30)
Italy – Montenegro (20:15)

Semifinals (January 14)
Hungary/Serbia – Croatia/Greece (16.30)
Spain/Romania – Italy/Montenegro (20:15)

Final day (January 16)

Bronze-medal match (16:30)
Final (20:15)

Classification matches

13th – 16th place semifinals

Slovakia – Israel 15:9 (4:2, 1:3, 4:0, 6:4)

Slovakia was the favorite. Still, Israel kept up with the Slovaks until the middle break. Moreover, the teams were tied at 5:5 in the 20^th minute. Then, Slovakia scored five goals in a row for a big 10:5 lead. Adam Furman led the Slovaks with six goals.

 Slovenia – Malta 10:8 (2:2, 4:3, 2:1, 2:2)

Slovenia recorded its first win at the European Championships after 2003 when it was the host. The Slovenians participated in the Championships in 2006 and 2022 but didn’t record a win.

Today, Malta led 5:4 at the finish of the second quarter. Slovenia, encouraged by the saves of its goalkeeper Jure Beton (16 saves today) scored twice in the last 93 seconds of the first half, and continued the series with two more goals to earn a 8:5 lead. The Slovenians had a four-goal advantage (10:6),.The two late goals from the Maltese could change nothing.

Slovenia took revenge for a 9:13 defeat to Malta in Split in 2022 in the same competition phase. On Saturday, it will try to avenge a loss to Slovakia in the group phase in Dubrovnik. Malta will play against Israel, the team it narrowly beat in the group in Zagreb

The semifinals of the 9th-12th classifications (Georgia – Germany and France – Netherlands) will be played on Saturday.

European Championships schedule and scores

More articles about the European Championships