World Championships – Men’s Water Polo Team Reaches the Final and Qualifies for the Olympics

The Hungarian men’s water polo team defeated the defending champions Spain 12-11 to reach the final of the Fukuoka World Aquatics Championships and qualify for next year’s Olympic Games in Paris. Zsolt Varga’s team will face the Greek team, who beat the Olympic champions Serbia, in the final on Saturday.

Hungary and Spain have faced each other in the last four for the third tournament in a row: last year at the European Championships in Split, Zsolt Varga’s side won 10-8, while a month ago in Los Angeles, Spain won by the same margin in the World Cup super-final. At the same time,

the Hungarians have been unbeaten against Spain in world competitions (World Championships, European Championships, Olympics) since 1998.

The first goal was scored by the Spanish, Hungarian player Gergő Zalánki was sent off on the rebound and easily scored. Hungary’s first goal came almost immediately after a pass from Zalánki, who scored six goals in the quarter-final against the Americans. Soon afterwards Spain took the lead again, taking advantage of a slight slip in the Hungarian defense. After a missed Spanish break – Hungarian goalkeeper Soma Vogel saved three shorthanded – Krisztián Manhercz equalized with a great shot from between the posts.

At the start of the second quarter there was only the sound of goalposts on both sides, then after four minutes Olympic champion Dénes Varga showed his class, curling a free-kick into the net. The rivals quickly equalized, with Alberto Munarriz scoring with a fine goal from a cross and Perrone scoring from a similar angle. At the other end, Hungary’s third lead was lost, but Perrone caught the thread and this time fired into the net from midfield.

Spain started the third quarter with a man advantage goal to increase the gap to three, but the Hungarian run of bad luck did not last long.

Toni Német “broke the water” in front of the goal and put the ball into the net at the best possible time, 12 seconds before the end of the quarter, but the Spaniards still had time to get a man advantage, though Vogel saved.

In the last minutes of the game the score was tied at 11-11, with Spain getting a man advantage with 36 seconds to go. Varga blocked the shot with 16 seconds left on the clock. In the attack, the ball fell into the hands of Manhercz at the last minute, who shot from a corner out of position and the ball slipped under the arm of Unai Aguirre. At the end, the video referee was needed for the decision, but the ball was clearly in and the dramatic battle ended with a Hungarian victory.

“I am very proud of my team, it was a fantastic performance. The key moment was when Spain were leading by three, and that was the moment when it was determined whether we were going to stay together or fall apart. Fortunately we got back into it and came back, making important saves and scoring important goals,” team manager Zsolt Varga said after the match, noting that when the team equalized, there was a feeling that they were going to win the game with only 16 seconds left on the clock.

Via MTI, Featured photo via MTI/Koszticsák Szilárd