Spain and Croatia battle for golden Olympic ticket

Croatia, the reigning European champion, and Spain, bronze medalist at the 2022 European and 2023 World Championships, will play in the final of the 36th European Championships.

The two teams will battle for a double award, as the winner will qualify for the Paris Olympic Games.

Spain defeated Italy 7:4 in the semifinals primarily because of an excellent defense. Before the final quarter, Spain led 5:1.

Croatia’s last hurdle on its way to the final was Hungary. The young Hungarians played very well and put up a good fight, but they couldn’t cause a new surprise. The Croats, supported from the packed stands in the “Mladost Pool”, recorded a 11:8 win and will have a chance to defend the trophy on Tuesday. Hungary was in the game until the fourth quarter.

Greece beat Serbia 12:10 in the first semifinal of the 5th-8th place classification, while Montenegro achieved a 18:11 victory over Romania.

2024 European Men’s Championships (January 4 – 16), Day 11

Semifinals

Spain – Italy 7:4 (2:1, 2:0, 1:0, 2:3)

Spain: Granados 2, Perrone 2, Mallarach 1, Bustos 1, Munarriz 1.
Italy: Condemi 2, Velotto 1, Di Somma 1.

Spain found all the weak spots in Italy’s attack that had come to the fore in the group match against Hungary. The Spaniards played excellently in defense and stopped Italy’s best scorers, who weren’t on the roster against Hungary – Francesco Di Fulvio didn’t find the net today, and Edoardo Di Somma scored only from a penalty.

The first quarter indicated that this would be a low-scoring encounter. Felipe Perrone scored an opener already after 54 seconds of play, but the defenses dominated in the following minutes. Munarriz doubled the Spaniards’ advantage in the 6th minute. Shortly after, Velotto put Italy on the scoreboard.

But, in the middle two periods, Spain dictated the pace. The Spaniards were highly focused on defense, commanded by Unai Aguirre. Spain went to 4:1 in the 14th minute and got a penalty shot 20 seconds before the end of the first half. A shot from Munarriz was saved by Del Lungo, who played a good game, but it wasn’t enough since Italy couldn’t find good solutions in the attack. Italy didn’t score a goal from a 6 on 6 today (three of the four were with a man-up and one from a penalty)

Spain earned a 4-goal lead in the 22nd minute. It was the first goal after eight minutes of silence. Bustos made it 5:1 after a nice assist from Granados and Spain was very close to the final.

Francesco Condemi, the young talent, put an end to Italy’s nearly 20-minute goalless phase with a goal (2:5). During the final period, Edoardo Di Somma brought Italy even closer by scoring from a penalty shot, making it 4:6. However, Spain thwarted Italy’s last attempt at a comeback. In the next possession, Felipe Perrone capitalized on a man-up opportunity with a shot from the deep left, extending Spain’s lead to 7:4. In the following minute and a half, Italy had two opportunities with a man-up advantage, but Aguirre made two crucial saves, resolving any uncertainties.

Hungary – Croatia 8:11 (2:2, 0:2, 4:3, 2:4)

Hungary: Vin.Vigvari 3, Nagy 3, Fekete 2.
Croatia: Marinic Kragic 3, Fatovic 2, Vrlic 1, Butic 1, Kharkov 1, Buric 1, Loncar 1, Vukicevic 1,

The first quarter saw the teams exchanging goals. Croatia took a 1:0 and 2:1 lead, but Hungary managed to level the score on both occasions. Croatia regained the lead 3:2 in the second period, with Jerko Marinic Kragic scoring from an extra player. Loren Fatovic extended the lead to 4:2, giving Croatia a two-goal advantage at halftime. However, Hungary wasn’t done yet.

Adam Nagy scored a man-up goal with an impressive distance shot, bringing Hungary to 3:4 in the opening possession of the second half. Following a period with no goals, the last 02:47 minutes of the third quarter saw a flurry of six goals. Jerko Marinic increased Croatia’s lead with a penalty shot, but Adam Nagy responded with another superb long-range goal (4:5). However, Nagy committed a penalty foul in the next defensive action, Marinic Kragic stepped up again, making it 6:4. Vince Vigvari narrowed the gap to 5:6, but Croatia quickly regained a two-goal lead.

Rino Buric, who was one of the heroes of the wins (he drew both penalty fouls in the preceding minutes), scored from close range. Yet, Hungary cut the deficit again with a goal from Fekete at 00:40. Croatia missed a double man-up opportunity in the dying seconds of the quarter, entering the final period with a slim 7:6 advantage.

Shortly after the last break, Croatia established a three-goal lead for the first time. Loncar converted a man-up, and Fatovic added an excellent goal in a 5 on 5 situation (following a double exclusion) for 9:6. These two goals proved decisive as Croatia maintained control of the match. Although Hungary fought hard and deserves credit for their effort, they couldn’t come close. Adam Nagy scored his third goal in the middle of the fourth quarter (7:9), but Butic replied with a counter-attack goal. Hungary’s chances to equalize dwindled, and in the last minute, Vrlic extended the margin to four (11:7), sealing the victory. Vince Vigvari closed the scoring with an action goal.

Fans with tickets couldn’t enter the pool

Croatian website Index.hr has published that about 200 fans with paid tickets couldn’t enter the stands for the game Croatia – Hungary. The website published a video that it received from its reader, which shows a huge crowd at the entrance to the pool.

“200 people who purchased tickets for the semi-finals stayed in front of the pool because there was not enough space in the balloon. Great Organization”, an indignant reader who could not enter the stands wrote. By the way, during the entire duration of the European Championship in Croatia, there has been a huge interest in tickets for the matches of the Croatian national team, but there was obviously a big failure in the organization, Index.hr published.

5th-8th place semifinals

Serbia – Greece 10:12 (5:3, 2:4, 1:1, 2:4)

Serbia: Mandic 3, Lazic 2, Radulovic 2, Randjelovic 1,S.Rasovic 1, Lukic 1.
Greece: Genidounias 3, Fountoulis 3, Kakaris 2, Gkiouvetsis 1, Alafragkis 1, Nikolaidis 1. Vlachopoulos 1.

Greece practically secured the victory with three quick goals at the beginning of the last quarter, jumping from 8:8 to 11:8. Until then, the match had been a close contest, with the Serbian team often leading.

Serbia had a 2-goal lead twice (5:3 and 6:4), but Greece then took the lead with a 3:0 run, making it 7:6. Genidounias scored the seventh goal for Greece in a counter-attack 37 seconds before halftime. However, in the Serbs’ last possession, they earned a man-up opportunity that Mandic converted into an equalizer – 7:7.

The Serbian team struggled to capitalize on their man-up opportunities in the second half. They took an 8:7 lead early in the third. Greece leveled at 8:8 immediately. In the first three minutes of the fourth quarter, Greece scored three goals after fouls committed by Serbian water polo players (two with a man-up advantage and one from a penalty shot), gaining a crucial advantage at 11:8. Serbia just narrowed the gap to two in the rest of the match.

Romania – Montenegro 11:18 (3:4, 3:5, 2:4, 3:5)

Romania: Georgescu 3, Fulea 2, Prioteasa 2, Colodrovsschi 2, Vancsik 2.
Montenegro: Dj.Radovic 4, Perkovic 3, Averka 2, Popadic 2, Vidovic 2, Matkovic 2, V.Radovic 2, Popadic 1.

Romania stunned Montenegro, scoring three straight goals in the first two and a half minutes. However, the Montenegrins found their rhythm in time and turned a 3-goal deficit into a 4:3 lead at the middle break.

Vlad Georgescu gave Romania some hope with an equalizer for 4:4 in the 10^th minute. But Montenegro replied with a 4:0 run and went to 8:4. Early in the third period, Romania halved the distance – 7:9. Then came Montenegro’s final stroke – a 4:0 series within five minutes for a comfortable 13:7 advantage.

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 8:11
Spain – Italy 7:4

Final day (January 16)

Bronze-medal match: Italy – Hungary (16:30)
Final: Spain – Croatia (20:15)

5th-8th place classification

Semifinals (January 14): Serbia – Greece 10:12, Romania – Montenegro 11:18

Final day (January 16) – 7th-place match: Serbia – Romania (15:00), 5th-place match: Greece – Montenegro (18:30).

European Championships schedule and scores

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