Italy and Montenegro opened the Four-nation „Sardinia Cup“ in Cagliari with wins.
Besides the two European powerhouses, Australia and France play in the tournament in Sardinia. Montenegro beat Australia 8:6, and Italy defeated France convincingly 13:6.
2023 “Sardinia Cup”, Cagliari, Day 1
Italy secured a 13:6 victory over France thanks to a stunning 6:0 series. The hosts led 2:0 and 3:1 in the opening minutes. In the middle of the 13th minute, France leveled at 3:3, but the hosts responded with a 6:0 run. In the middle of the third period, Italy was 9:3 up, and the contest was over.
Francesco Di Fulvio was the best scorer. However, this game was special for him, but not because of four goals.
Before the tournament in Cagliari, Italy’s head coach, Alessandro Campagna, decided to change the team’s captain. From now on, it is Francesco Di Fulvio. He replaced Marco Del Lungo, the captain between 2021 and 2023. The experienced goalie didn’t play today, but he is among the candidates for the European Championships roster. As Campagna explained in an interview with the Italian Swimming Federation, he had decided to change the captain to give greater responsibility to Di Fulvio.
Michael Bodegas, who won Olympic silver and the world title playing for Italy, returned to the French national team. Today, Bodegas, who didn’t play for “Settebello “after the Tokyo Olympics, played his first game for France after seven years. He didn’t celebrate a win in his comeback game but scored two goals as a consolation.
Australia and Montenegro were in a neck-and-neck race in the first two quarters. The Montenegrins opened the second half with two back-to-back goals. Vidovic netted an action goal, Popadic converted a man-up, and the Europeans earned a 2-goal lead for the first time (6:4). Early in the fourth period, Vidovic added two goals to make it 8:5, which was crucial for the Montenegrins’ win.
One of the things that made the difference was Australia’s two missed penalty shots. The “Sharks “failed to convert one penalty in the first quarter (Tesanovic saved a shot from Pavillard) and the other in the fourth quarter (Edwards’ shot went too high).
A four-time Olympian, Drasko Brguljan, was on Montenegro’s roster for the first time after more than two years (Last week, Montenegro beat the Netherlands 12:11 in a friendly game in Utrecht, but Brguljan missed that game).
Australia – Montenegro 6:8 (1:1, 2:2, 2:3, 1:2)
Australia: Power 2, Mercep 1, Pavillard 1, Poot 1, Edwards 1.
Montenegro: Vidovic 3, Popadic 2, Matkovic 2, Djurdjic 1.
Italy – France 13:6 (2:0, 3:3, 5:2, 3:1)
Italy: Di Fulvio 4, Cannella 3, Echenique 2, Iocchi Gratta 2, Fondelli 1, Dolce 1.
France:Bodegas 2, Bouet 1, Khasz 1, Canonne 1, Vanpeperstraete 1.
