In an anti-climactic finish in what has been a tournament filled with drama and upsets, Italy captured its first men’s World Water Polo Championship since 2011, silencing the Cinderella-run of Spain with a 10-5 win in the finals of the 2019 FINA World Aquatics Championships.
The Spaniards, who shocked the water polo establishment by beating Serbia and Croatia in successive matches, may have been hard luck losers, but there’s a brilliant consolation prize. By virtue of advancing to the finals both Italy and Spain have now qualified for the 2020 Olympic Games, to be held next July in Tokyo.
[Spain, Italy to Meet in 2019 FINA Men’s Water Polo Championship Final]
Following a competitive first quarter that ended with the teams tied at two, Italy jumped on the Spanish defense and goalie Daniel Lopez for three scores in the first four minutes of the second period, part of a six to one offensive burst over the next period and a half that put the Italians ahead 8-3 and effectively sealed the match. The Italian goal surge was fueled by a pair of scores from Vincenzo Dolce and single goals from Pietro Figlioli, Matteo Aicardi, Francesco Di Fulvio, and Gonzalo Echenique.
Italy’s Francesco Di Fulvio—Tournament MVP. Photo Courtesy: FINA
The Spaniards were done in by their anemic offense, especially when on the man advantage. After hitting on more than 60% of their power-play opportunities in six previous matches, Head Coach David Martin’s squad was a paltry three of ten with the extra man, dooming their title hopes.
Throw in a spectacular performance by Italian goalie Marco Del Lungo and an impressive run by Spain’s men—reflected by the Spanish women, who also advanced to the FINA final— came to an abrupt end. Absent from the 2017 FINA World Championships due to a fluke case of measles, Del Lungo made 14 saves, stonewalling Blai Mallarach Guell, Alvaro Granados Ortega and Roger Tahull among others.
Felipe Rocha Perrone scored twice for Spain, while Alberto Munarriz Egana, Ortega and Mallarach each scored once. The win by Alessandro Campagna’s side ended a four-match streak by Matin’s team which included back to back wins over Serbia—12-9 in the quarterfinals—and Croatia, the defending world champions, by a score of 6-5 in the semifinals.
In the bronze medal match, Croatia, rebounding from that devastating semifinal loss to Spain, beat Hungary 10-7.
A pall was cast over the men’s final as news reports confirmed the deaths of two South Koreans and injuries to 14 others, including a handful of USA water polo athletes, due to the collapse of a balcony at a Gwangju night club. Kaleigh Gilchrist of the gold medal-winning U.S. women’s polo side was hospitalized with injuries that required surgery, while American male polo athletes Ben Hallock, Johnny Hooper and women’s player Paige Hauschild were treated and released.
The tragic news came on the heels of a spectacular run of success by the U.S. women, who on Friday won their third-straight FINA World Championship, and the sixth in program history. Water polo athletes from many nations had gathered in the Coyote Ugly nightclub, adjacent to the athlete village, to celebrate Team USA’s out-sized success.
The U.S. men’s and women’s teams will need to quickly regroup; they travel to Lima, Peru for the Pan American games early next month. As for the Italians and Spaniards, they now get to take a victory lap after a tournament well-played.
Roberto Prestinoni congratulation!
Tamas Fekete Niko Martikainen säger att det är bara för att Finland inte var med! ????