The semi-finals lacked the usual drama as Spain trounced Montenegro and Croatia routed Italy in the penultimate day at the Men’s U20 European Water Polo Championships Division Elite tournament in Varna. Both sides stormed an early four-goal lead and never looked back.
Semi-finals
Spain v Montenegro 15-10
Spain showed no mercy against the Montenegrins and landed another huge win after beating Hungary by six goals in the quarter-finals. The Montenegrins paid the price for being entangled in a dogfight against Malta – they came back strong next day to beat Greece in an epic match which saw 18 goals apiece in regular time and 24 more penalties before they emerged as victors. However, that took its toll against Spain which, besides enjoying a day off as group-winners, saw off Hungary in a game which did not really require to touch their power reserves.
They were sharper and a lot more composed right from the beginning and didn’t need four minutes to storm to a 4-0 lead which prompted a time-out from the Montenegrin bench before the halfway mark in the first period. This served as a temporary relief as at least their defence tightened but though they still could not prevent Tomas Perrone to hit another action goal – while the Montenegrin’s first arrived 53 seconds from time, from a man-up.
Being 5-1 down and worn out by the previous battles, the Montenegrins faced a mountain to climb. They started showing signs of life by scoring twice after 6-1, but the Spaniards always found the way to respond. What’s more, after denying their rivals in a couple of man-downs, they added two in the last 28 seconds to make it 9-4.
The third kicked off with a killed man-down and another action goal from the Spaniards, by Carlos Nunez so they were up by six. Here their concentration level, understandably, dropped a bit as the Montenegrins also went all-in and taking some risks paid off as they could score four goals to halve the deficit with a buzzer-beater for 11-8.
But however determined they came back for the fourth, again, they couldn’t do much against the pinpoint perimeter shots. Unai Lema and Oriol Vinas were on target within 43 seconds, which “sank back” the Montenegrins to five goals down.
They had desperate attempts, netted two more, but this time a fine man-up play, finished by Biel Gomila practically ended the contest with 2:30 on the clock, at 14-10. Ivan Prada added one more from action, in total Spain netted 10 goals at equal strength and that sent them to the final
Croatia v Italy 19-11
If someone expected a more balanced game in the second semi, one had to see in a bit of disappointment as the Croats demolish the Italians in eight minutes. They hit three connecting goals in 82 seconds after 1-1 and then added two more inside the last minute to jump to a 6-2 lead in eight minutes.
They were clinical in finishes and precise in organising their offence and defence as well. Italy managed to break through a couple of times, but they were unable to get any closer as the Croatian offence never stopped delivering in six-on-fives. Their third goal from an extra alone in this quarter gave them a 10-5 halftime lead and no major change was in sight for the second half.
It never came, indeed. Despite Italy managed to score from back-to-back possessions – though still conceded one between the two –, soon the Croats sailed away by staging another 3-0 run, shutting out the Italians in the last 4:40 minutes of this period.
The job was done in three periods as Croatia led 14-7, this gave way to a brief scoring feast in the fourth with nine goals, still, even here the Croats bettered their rivals to stop at 19. Maro Susic led the charge with 6 goals, while Viktor Toncinic was 4/4 in making his shots – they were paramount in the win which sent Croatia to the final. The team may complete a unique treble in the men’s age group majors this summer as the U16 and U18 sides were crowned world champions recently.
For places 5-8th
Both matches were a replay of an encounter from the group stage, and both saw the same winner at the end. The clash of Hungary and Greece differed though, as the Magyars won a shootout on the opening day, while this time they staged a 6-0 rout in the third period which practically decided the game before the fourth period even started.
When they scored three in 91 seconds early in the third, that broke Greeks who were visibly worn out in all senses after their bitter shootout loss to Montenegro late in the previous evening. Conceding three more in the last three minutes before the last break killed all excitements for the remaining eight minutes.
The Serbs didn’t leave the decision late, stormed to a 9-2 lead in eight minutes, netting goals from almost each possession. The rest turned into a scoring feast, defences barely functioned as the Germans fought themselves back to 17-15 with 3:56 to go. They even had a 6 on 4 but missed it and the Serbs managed to add three more to secure a showdown with Hungary for the 5th place.
Classification matches
Malta were on fire again. After almost upsetting Montenegro and clinching a coming from behind win over Turkiye, they brought down the Netherlands in style to finish 9th. It was a great game with Malta netting five goals both in the third and fourth period to earn a great victory.
Turkiye, blowing a three-goal advantage against Malta a day earlier, were unable to bounce back for their last match. France did a splendid job as they gradually dismantled their rivals and finished off the game really strong, with a 6-1 blast to claim the 11th place.
Men’s U20 European Water Polo Championships, Division Elite, Varna
Semi-finals
- Spain v Montenegro 15-10
- Croatia v Italy 19-11
For places 5-8th
- Hungary v Greece 17-10
- Serbia v Germany 20-15
For the 9th place
- Malta v Netherlands 15-12
For the 11th place
- Turkiye v France 9-18
For detailed results:
For Division One results, check out the results on this link:
Watch each game from both divisions live on www.euroaquaticstv.com