We continue presenting the votes of members of our Media Jury, with Dejan Stevović, an experienced journalist of the Serbian sports newspaper “Sportski Zurnal”.
He has been a journalist since 1980, while he started to write about water polo ten years later. He reported from the Olympic Games 5 times, from 11 European Championships, 12 World Championships, 15 World League Super Finals, 5 World Cups…
He has been reporting about the Serbian national team for years. Stevovic wrote two books about water polo.
Dejan Stevovic’s Total Male 5 for 2019
1st – Denes Varga
Hungarian National Player | Club: Ferencvarosi TC | Position: Driver
“The best player this year, after he took a break during the summer season in 2018. He led Hungary towards the gold medal in the Europa Cup, and also he led Ferencvaros to all trophies. It’s a real pity that he was injured during the World Championships.”
2nd – Francesco Di Fulvio
Italian National Player | Club: Pro Recco | Position: Driver
“Without any doubt, Italy’s best player. Italy hadn’t got such a quality player for a long time. He was the best individual of the World Championships.”
3rd – Dusan Mandic
Serbian National Player | Club: Pro Recco | Position: Wing
“Mandic had a very tiring season. He was one of the heroes of Serbia’s win over Croatia in the final and the earning the Olympic berth. After that, he led Serbia at the World Championships and he managed to secure himself a spot in the All-star team of the Championships.”
4th – Maro Jokovic
Croatian National Player | Club: Jug/Olympiacos | Position: Wing
“As he is getting older he is becoming better, more peaceful and rational. He had the strength to lift Croatia after losing to Spain in the semifinals of the World Championships and was one of the key players in winning all three medals last season.”
5th – Alberto Munarriz
Spanish National Player | Club: Barceloneta | Position: Defender
“He had a very good season. He was one of the best players of his national team, which reached the 2nd place at the World Championships.”
Dejan Stevovic’s Total Female 5 of 2019
1st – Roser Tarrago
Spanish National Player | Club: Mediterrani | Position: Driver
“Spain didn’t manage to halt the Americans’ domination, but Tarrago’s excellent performance marked the whole World Championships.”
2nd – Maddie Musselman
USA National Player | Club: CDM Aquatics | Position: Attacker
“ I could single out a few players from the Team USA, but the MVP award at the World League Final tournament gives an advantage to this player.”
3rd – Rita Keszthelyi
Hungarian National Player | Club: UVSE Budapest | Position: Driver/Wing
“An excellent Hungarian player was the best scorer at two major tournaments in the year, which was enough to enter the list of Top 5 players for 2019.”
4th – Maud Megens
Dutch National Player | Club: USC | Position: Field player
“She played very well this season, especially at the World League Super Final. She led the Netherlands at the World Championships, where she was chosen for the All-star team.”
5th – Aria Fischer
USA National Player | Club: Stanford | Position: Center forward
“She plays the most demanding position in the team – center forward – and she was one of the heroes of the World Championships.”
Check out the other votes so far and cast your own on the official Total Waterpolo Player 2019 page.
