Water polo European Championship: Croatia is the gold medalist, the Hungarians got silver – news from Debrecen, news from Debrecen | Debrecen and Hajdú-Bihar county news
Water polo European Championships: Croatia won the gold medal, the Hungarians got silver
Split – In an exciting match, the host defeated the defending champion Hungarian national team by one goal.
The defending champion Hungarian men’s water polo team finished as silver medalists at the European Championship in Split, after losing 10-9 to the host Croatian team in the final of the tournament on Saturday night.
Photo: MTI/Tibor Illyés
The thoroughly rejuvenated team of national team captain Zsolt Varga led 2-1 for the last time, but held on well the whole time, the scoreboard still showed 8-8 three minutes before the end. In the first half, the Croatians trailed 10-8, and the Hungarian team could not recover from there.
The Croatians triumphed for the second time after the 2010 European Championships, which were also organized in Hungary, while the record-breaking Hungarians, with their 13 firsts, finished as silver medalists for the seventh time.
The final:
Croatia – Hungary 10-9 (3-3, 1-0, 4-4, 2-2)
Hungarian scorers: Molnár, Jansik 2-2, Zalánki, Német, Manhercz, Konarik, Vigvári 1-1
Zsolt Varga voted no confidence in his usual 13 players, i.e. György Ágh and Viktor Vadovics out of the match squad. The manager, who was appointed in July, made his debut at the head of the national team in a warm-up match against the Croatians. At the beginning of August, the home team won 10-9 in Sibenik. However, the Hungarians won the last match played against each other in the world tournament in the quarter-finals of the Tokyo Olympics, led by the then seven-goal Krisztián Manhercz, who has since been the leader of the rejuvenated Romanian team, because he lacked three goals to catch up with Tudósísát’s goal in the continental competition. Andrei Fulea.
The match began in an excellent atmosphere in the packed Spaladium Arena, capable of accommodating 9,000 spectators, in which the home team brought the ball to the ball, but the first shot was blocked by Manhercz – as is typical of the Hungarian defense. The Hungarian team had a man advantage in the middle of a huge whistle, but did not take advantage of the opportunity, so the Croatians took the lead for the first time, but Zalánki converted the second chance into a goal. The Hungarians were also characterized by fantastic defense throughout the European Championship in the final, as they ended the second team deficit without a goal, and even Molnár scored from a corner. The third and fourth Hungarian exhibitions were already punished by the Croatian team, which could not be happy for long, because the 19-year-old Molnár unexpectedly scored a goal off the post from the right wing.
The second act was led by Vogel’s bravura saves, but the problem was that three Hungarian players – Nagy, Angyal and Fekete – already had two personal fouls, and in addition, the Croatians took the lead again from their sixth goal. On the other side, however, two man-advantage situations were missed, because first Zalánki’s shot and then Konarik’s close shot were saved by the Croatian goalkeeper. As neither guard was able to threaten from action, no more goals were scored until the break, so Zsolt Varga’s wish before the match that his team stay with the home team in the first two quarters was fulfilled.
However, after the turn, the Croatians scored immediately from the man advantage, so a two-goal difference was created for the first time, but the Hungarians, who had missed four goals in a row, immediately came back with a German center goal. Of the consecutive Hungarian penalties – Fekete scored – two were repeated by the Croatian team, and between the two, the Hungarians also scored from an advantage. After a long time, the first action scored a goal due to Vigvári’s long-range bomb, but another Hungarian exhibition brought another Croatian goal, so the last eight minutes started with an 8-7 Croatian lead.
The Hungarians overtook their rivals for the third time in a row, even at 8-8, because the team captain Jansik pulled Zalánki’s excellent pass into the Croatian goal, standing waist-high out of the water. After a long time, the Hungarian team could have taken the lead, but Vigvári hit the post with a volley and was sent off, but the opponent’s shot also hit the crossbar. The referee then awarded an offensive error and another Hungarian suspension – Erik Molnár was also sent off for good – but then Vogel made a great save. However, less than three minutes before the end, even he could not help with his rival’s goal. On the other side, however, Manhercz missed the penalty, and the Croatians got another five-meter shot from the escape, and two minutes before the end they scored 10-8. After that, the missed Hungarian advantage actually finally decided the final, which became somewhat tense at the end. Jansik still scored from five meters, but the Croatians blocked the ball for the remaining 32 seconds, so a huge celebration began in the arena.
For 3rd place: Spain – Italy 7-6 (3-1, 0-2, 3-1, 1-2)
For 5th place: Greece – France 10-8 (3-2, 4-1, 2-2, 1-3)
For 7th place: Montenegro – Georgia 14-11 (6-4, 2-1, 4-3, 2-3)