By Michael Randazzo, Swimming World Contributor
BUDAPEST, Hungary. Passion is a fickle mistress. Sometimes the thing that one loves the most becomes that which disappoints greatly. So it is with sports fans, and, because of their teams great success—no country in history has won more water polo medals—it’s no a stretch to call the Hungarians the most passionate and perhaps most demanding of water polo fans.
Wednesday at the Alfred Hajos Pool, the affection that the Hungarian fans feel for their national sport was on full display, and—unlike on Monday, when head coach Attila Biro’s team simply could not find a way to beat an upstart Canadian team—the Maygar fans inspired their beloved team to an impressive 10-9 win over Greece in a classification match at the 2017 FINA World Championships.
With the win, Hungary will play Italy for fifth place on Friday afternoon.
What made the victory more impressive is that the Hungarians came out flat to start the match, allowing the Greeks to jump out to a 4-2 first period lead. The home team’s deficit ballooned to three at the end of the second period, but the 6,000 fans in attendance—the majority clad in red, white and green—refused to despair.
A city mad for water polo. Photo Courtesy: M. Randazzo
“The fans could see all the beauty of women’s water polo,” Coach Biro said of the game’s ebbs and flows. “Three goals down, three goals up. In the end you could win or lose; fortunately we could win because mentally this team was much higher than two days ago.”
Of course the 6-4 quarterfinal loss to Canada still stings; after winning their group and capturing the nation’s imagination, perhaps a let-down was inevitable. Their coach, who has led the Hungarian women’s program the past two years, made it clear that ups and downs are part of his team’s maturation.
“The first three days we didn’t feel this pressure, because that was a big support for us—6 – 7,000 people,” Biro said. “We had this bad game two days ago. It was a mental problem.”
Calling the Hajos Pool the “temple of water polo,” Biro made clear there was no choice but to find a way to win for the fans in attendance.
“We couldn’t give up this game after the second quarter,” he said.
Hungary struck first with a goal less than a minute in by Barbara Bujka, but Greece got the next three as Alexandra Asimaki, Christina Tsoukala, and Eleni Xenaki scored. Bujka connected again for Hungary but back-to-back goals by Tsoukala made it 5-2 midway through the second period.
Captain Rita Keszthelyi collected the first of her three goals with a power play score at 3:41, but Xenaki’s second goal of the half made it 6-3 at the break.
Given the disappointment of Monday, could anyone be faulted for feeling a nagging sense of deja vú?
Keszthelyi said that it was the fans who inspired the comeback against Greece that was missing against Canada.
“I think the spectators were amazing,” she said following the match. “We are really grateful for them.”
Explaining that they she and her teammates didn’t get discouraged facing a three-goal deficit, Keszthelyi said: ”We were not broken because Greece was leading 6-3. We keep going on and that was the key to our winning.”
But there was again a reference to the past. “That was the problem against Canada. We didn’t believe that we could win. We shot [a lot] but our shots were bad. We didn’t believe enough in our shooting but today there was nothing that happened that we couldn’t overcome.”
Wednesday Hungary’s shooting success was much improved; 10 of 30 as compared to a dismal 4 of 35 against Canada.
Orsolya Takacs jump-started Hungary’s offensive burst in the third, scoring with the man advantage one minute in. Dorottya Szilagyi connected a minute later, also on the powerplay, then Keszthelyi tied the match on a penalty shot.
When Greta Gurisatti gave Hungary the lead for good at the two-minute mark the crowd erupted.
A 5-0 third quarter allowed the home team to hang on for a thrilling win—and perhaps discover the mental toughness that will someday make them a championship squad.
According to Keszthelyi, winning despite adversity was a revelation.
“We found our true self,” she said.
And, let’s hope, have buried the past.