BUDAPEST, Hungary. After a positively unbelievable, uplifting and frankly exhausting evening of water polo at the Alfréd Hajós Swimming Complex, it seemed ideal to start piecing together some of the pieces of what is both an intricate puzzle as well as a concrete reality: Croatia has beaten its arch-rival in one of the bigger matches in the long history of competition between the two former Yugoslav states.
Throw in a semifinal game between host Hungary and Greece that was watched by 7,000 (or more) rabid water polo fans, and it made for an amazing evening of semifinal action Thursday night at the 2107 FINA World Championships.
Following are some of the quotes compiled from various key participants in both game.
First up is Croatia coach Ivica Tucak. These quotes were translated from Tucak’s native Croatian.
On win over Serbia:
Why were people were thinking that we cannot win? We have a great team, we were psychologically and physically ready.
We prepared hard for this and we won.
The difference between games in the past and today’s is that we were better.
[Our] man-up was great [Croatia went 8 of 9 with the man advantage], we been playing the man-ups true the whole time. We have that dose of aggressiveness, doing the right things.
Serbian team made some good things from the left side, we closed the right side well, it was a great game.
We have some strong players on [Dusan] Mandic, we tried to stop Filipovic, everything was super!
Serbian Coach Dejan Savic. Photo Courtesy: DeepBlueMedia
Asked was this the most important win for you as the coach of the national team?
Not the most important, the most important will be two days from today.
On the FINA Finals Saturday night versus Hungary:
Hungary is very strong team. It’s going to be very hard. Both teams are great,
When asked if [Thursday’s] today’s level of play will be enough to win:
Today’s game is today’s game. We’ll forget about today’s game.
It’s going to be very difficult. There are a great team, they have great individuals, they are very strong.
They have some holes in their game. I believe in our team and I think that we’ll take the gold medal!
On what Serbian Coach Dejan Savic told him after the game:
He congratulated me like a real sportsman. We are good friends and we’ll share a bottle of Plavac wine. After the finals, of course.
Serbia’s Filip Filipovic was quite gracious in defeat—and very comfortable in English:
It was obviously a quite difficult and stressful game. Unfortunately, we didn’t make it to the same end. I would like first to congratulate our opponent, the team of Croatia. They deserved this victory. They tried to break our rhythm and they succeed in certain moments.
The team of Croatia is a group of excellent individuals and they improved their game since the Olympics. The only thing left for me is to congratulate them for the final.
On the double exclusion he and Croatia’s Andro Buslje received with three seconds left in the match:
I would not like to comment on this end of the game but this is the sport. Sometimes the referee is on your side, sometimes on the other. Today it was on the other. But that is the sport. We have to accept this.
Croatian backup goalie Ivan Marcelic on the game:
Incredibly hard physically and mentally. Of course they are Olympic Champions, European Champions, World Champions. We showed great resilience today.
On the multiple lead changes (11) in the game:
There’s where you really see the mental strength of the team.
Tamas Marcz of Hungary is not so comfortable in English but he kindly said a few words immediately after what is certainly the most important win of his coaching career.
Hungarian coach Tamas Marcz. Photo Courtesy: SIPA USA
It was a very difficult game because Greece is a wonderful team [and] they play very well. [It’s] not easy to win against them. We were not [a] favorite for the final but we have just arrived.
It’s not the end of the tournament for us and we have to prepare for the opposite team [in the final] we don’t know who in this moment.
Our players did their best, they were very focused.
I’m so happy.
The Hungarian Water Polo Federation release this statement in English from Coach Marcz:
It’s good news for us that the final will take place in the Alfréd Hajós Swimming Complex, we are really happy about it. The team wanted to play here. Now it’s like it’s supposed to be.
The Greek national team played a precise and really concentrated game, but we are stronger when it comes to these factors. They made us concentrate. It didn’t matter to us whether we would win with one or more goals, the only thing that mattered was victory. We succeeded!
We were really happy, maybe a lot of people have been surprised by us getting through to the final. I sat down and talked with my players before the World Championship. I saw on their faces that nothing’s impossible. The team has improved a lot during this tournament, we proceeded match by match. We still have one to play.
One person who was NOT happy was the Theodoros Vlachos, but he patiently answered questions in English after what was a difficult loss.
General comment:
We missed some important shots, maybe unlucky, sometimes good saves from the goalkeeper, but we lost one game. We will try and do something now in the last game against whoever will come.
On playing Hungary in the Alfréd Hajós Swimming Complex:
I believe that atmosphere gave the Hungarian players 50% more confidence in their game. They were playing more aggressive. Hungary is a very good team, especially on the attack. We tried to keep them in a low-scoring [match] that was good enough for us but our attack missed some important shots in the third and fourth period. And that was the difference.
Greece’s Alexandros Gounas. Photo Courtesy: SIPA USA
In the second half Greece peppered Hungary’s Nagy with many shots, a number of which clanked off the post:
Nagy is one of the best goalkeepers in the world. Very often some shots go to the post but three shots we had they were much more on goal than post. In these three cases we were unlucky.
Finally, there is my favorite: speaking with Balazs Erdelyi—a two-time Peter J. Cutino Award winner who played for Pacific University from 2009-13 and whose college team almost upset USC in the 2013 NCAA championship.
On his experience in playing for his country in front of his countrymen:
You can’t really explain how it feels to play in front of 8 – 9,000 people [Hajós Arena officially holds 6,700]. This is amazing. I can’t compare this to anything. This is probably one of the best experiences of my life.
The EuroCup here four years ago, it was about the same [but] this is world cup, [an] even bigger event. It’s unbelievable.
Hungary’s Victor Nagy. Photo Courtesy: SIPA USA
On scoring the first goal of the match for Hungary:
It’s always important to start a game off very [aggressively] and that’s what we’ve been doing the entire tournament. We got up by one then two and we had to keep the lead—that was key to the game.
On the luck of the Hungarians that night:
Yeah, that’s true. The gods were with us tonight I guess. In addition Victor Nagy in the cage, he was unbelievably good. [The Greeks} were unable to score on him. They scored one or two goals in the beginning but the rest were really good shots and he saved them.
It’s a good start for us for the next game.