The men’s national water polo team achieved a significant victory with a 9-8 win over Italy in the final match of Group A in the Olympic tournament in Paris.
With Stelios Argyropoulos (scoring four goals) and Manos Zerdevas (making 14 saves) leading the effort, the team secured at least third place in Group A. They now await the result of the Croatia-USA match. If Croatia wins, even on penalties, Greece will finish first in the group and face the title-holder Serbia in the quarterfinals.
Should Croatia win in regular time, the silver Olympic medalists will finish second and play against Hungary. There is also a scenario where Greece finishes third if Croatia wins on penalties, in which case their quarterfinal opponent on Wednesday (7/8) will be Australia.
As is often the case in matches between these two teams, the game was tightly contested, with many strong challenges and expulsions. The Greek team initially struggled with their power play but found solutions from the perimeter, while the Italians capitalized on their penalties but struggled in straight attacks. This created a delicate balance, with Greece leading 6-5 at halftime, thanks to three goals from Stelios Argyropoulos.
Bruni’s third personal goal tied the game at the start of the third period, and then both teams’ offenses went quiet. The players looked tired and out of ideas, Nicosia (who replaced Del Lungo at halftime) saved an Argyropoulos penalty, and soon after, the Italians won a penalty, but Di Fulvio missed. The Greek team remained “unbeatable” for the entire third period, which ended 6-6.
Thanks to a penalty won by Kakaris, Genidounias ended Greece’s ten-minute scoring drought. Kontemi quickly equalized, but Argyropoulos put Greece ahead again. Yoki Grata equalized, but Fundoulis scored on a power play with 2 minutes and 53 seconds left, making it 9-8. Italy won two exclusions afterward, but the blocks and Zerdevas’ saves maintained the lead. In the last attack, even Nicosia came forward, but Zerdevas stopped Di Fulvio, followed by Yoki Grata’s shot hitting the post.
Match Breakdown:
Eight-minute intervals: 2-2, 4-3, 0-1, 3-2
Scoring Evolution:
- 1-0 Argyropoulos (power play)
- 1-1 Kontemi (power play)
- 2-1 Papanastasiou (counterattack)
- 2-2 Etsenike (power play)
- 2-3 Bruni (power play)
- 3-3 Fundoulis (power play)
- 4-3 Argyropoulos (perimeter)
- 4-4 Bruni (power play)
- 5-4 Kalogeropoulos (perimeter)
- 5-5 Kontemi (perimeter)
- 6-5 Argyropoulos (power play)
- 6-6 Bruni (power play)
- 7-6 Genidounias (penalty)
- 7-7 Kontemi (perimeter)
- 8-7 Argyropoulos (power play)
- 8-8 Ioki Grata (perimeter)
- 9-8 Fundoulis (power play)
Power Play Efficiency:
- Greece: 5/12 with an extra player, 1/2 on penalties, 2 goals from the perimeter, 1 on the counterattack.
- Italy: 5/12 with an extra player, 0/1 on penalties, 3 goals from the perimeter.
Referees:
- Zwart (Netherlands)
- Zhang (China)
Team Rosters:
- GREECE (Thodoris Vlachos): Zerdevas, Genidounias 1, Skoubakis, Kalogeropoulos 1, Fundoulis 2, Papanastasiou 1, Gillas, Argyropoulos 4, Papanikolaou, Kakaris, Nikolaidis, Vlachopoulos, Tjortzatos
- ITALY (Sandro Campania): Del Lungo, Di Fulvio, Velotto, Giannazza, Fontelli, Contemi 3, Renzuto, Etzenike 1, Presuti, Bruni 3, Di Soma, Iochi Grata 1, Nicosia.
