Men’s Water Polo Team Leads the Group with a Surprise Win against Italy

The Hungarian men’s water polo team had a theoretical chance of winning their group at the European Championship in Croatia, but they had to beat the previously unbeaten Italians by at least five goals in the last round. Otherwise, they would have finished third and would have played in the last eight, writes Nemzeti Sport. The team put theory into practice, and in the biggest sensation of the tournament so far, beat the Italians 10-5 with a stunning performance.

A win by any margin would have been a magnificent achievement for the Hungarian national team, as they have not been doing well against Italy in recent years. The last time Hungarians beat them by five goals in a competitive match was in the group stage of the 2001 European Championship in Budapest.

Zsolt Varga had previously asked his players to use every minute of the game to improve, but was quick to add that this did not mean this match would not be a war. Accordingly, his players showed tremendous energy defensively. Their blocks were in place, Viktor Gyapjas defended superbly, and there was only one Italian power-play goal in the first eight minutes. However, the opponents also took the lead and defended tightly, to the extent that the Hungarian team did not find the net in the first quarter.

From a player advantage, Hungary finally stopped forcing the posts, first Vince Vigvári, then Gergely Burián from the other side cleared a cross, and in between, Gyapjas saved a five-meter shot. The team continued to show a high school of defense, and not quite four seconds before the end, Ádám Nagy scored the first action goal of the game. Hungary won this phase 3-0.

Italian coach Alessandro Campagna was not too worried, even after not having his other biggest star Francesco Di Fulvio in the match, besides the suspended Edoardo Di Somma. He made a planned goalkeeper change at half time, when Marco Del Lungo was replaced by Gianmarco Nicosia. He then scored two goals in 40 seconds. The Italians then scored two quick goals, but the Hungarian team had an answer for that too.

Finally, an Italian power-play goal gave Hungary a 7-4 lead going into the final phase.

Meanwhile, Italian goalkeeper Del Lungo was sent back in the game.

The last eight minutes started with a quick exchange of goals. But the next minutes were all about missed chances on both sides, capped by Fekete’s goal, and the Hungarians were one goal away from winning the group and qualifying for the last eight. The Hungarians had their last chance with half a minute to go and benefited from Tátrai scoring a crucial goal with 3.2 seconds to go.

Hungarian ecstasy, Italian shock, 10-5 victory, group win, and a place in the quarter-finals resulted.

“I am incredibly proud of my team. I think they played with tremendous heart, energy, and discipline throughout the game. I was confident that our game could improve step by step, but maybe that wasn’t in the cards. Today everyone made a huge step forward individually and as a team, the boys put in a fantastic performance. In the end, it took a bit of luck to get the ball where it needed to go,” the Hungarian coach told M4 Sport.

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Group results:

1. Hungary – 6 points

2. Italy – 6 points

3. Greece – 6 points

4. Georgia – 0 points.

(In case of equal scores, the teams are ranked according to the results of their matches against each other).

Via Nemzeti Sport, MTI; Featured image: MTI/Illyés Tibor