Hungary Leads the Pack into FINA Semifinals, Followed by Greece, Serbia and Croatia

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Stefano Tempesti in quaterfinal action vs. Croatia. Photo Courtesy: SIPA USA

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BUDAPEST, Hungary. On a night when Hungary, the sentimental favorite in the 2017 FINA World Men’s Water Polo Championship, dominated Russia 14-5 in an evening quarterfinal match at a packed Alfred Hajos Arena, a giant of international water polo likely had the final match of his illustrious career marred by a 12-9 loss to Croatia.

Stefano Tempesti, literally a giant both in stature (6-9) and success—five consecutive Olympics appearances for Italy from 2000 and 2016 including silver (2012) and bronze (2016) medals—was in goal for the first half of Italy’s stirring match against Group D winner Croatia. In a back-and forth affair, the favored Croats, behind four goals by Javier Garcia, outscored the Italians 7-3 in the second half, erasing the one-goal lead that Tempesti handed over to Goran Volarevic.

With the win, Croatia advances to a semifinal meeting on Thursday with arch-rival Serbia, which dominated outmatched Australia 15-5 in an afternoon match. The Serbians were led by three goals on three shots by Filip Filipovic and a defensive effort that limited the Aussies to five goals on 24 shots.

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Italy’s Andrea Fondelli and Ante Vukicevic of Croatia. Photo Courtesy: SIPA USA

Croatia head coach Ivica Tucak was relieved that his team weathered an Italian comeback that saw a three-goal lead in the fourth period narrowed to one with two minutes remaining. Garcia came up big on both ends of the pool, making a crucial field block with Italy a man up and seeking the equalizer, and then scoring Croatia’s final goal with less than forty seconds left to seal the outcome.

“We had a hard moment during the end of the game but we didn’t lose the lead,” said Tucak immediately following the match.

Asked about the prospect of facing a Serbian squad that is on an impressive winning string (10) in major tournaments and looking to become the first team to win a World Championship following an Olympic gold (2016 Rio Games), Tucak expressed confidence in his team’s chances.

“Serbia is a very strong team who has won everything the last two – three years,” he said, then added: “I think we can beat them.”

In other quarterfinal action, Greece, behind four goals by Ioannis Fountoulis and 12 saves from goalie Konstantinos Flegkas, knocked out Group A winner Montenegro by a score of 12-7.

The schedule for the men’s semifinals is now complete: Greece will face Hungary on Thursday at 2:30 p.m. EST / 11:30 a.m. PST while Serbia will follow with a match against Croatia at 4 p.m. EST / 1 p.m. PST

USA Finishes FINA World Championship play on a Three-Game Win Streak, Good for 13th

The USA Men’s National Team closed out play at the 2017 FINA World Championships in Budapest with an 11-8 win over France to claim 13th place. Luca Cupido scored three goals to lead the offense with McQuin Baron adding 11 saves in net. Team USA finishes the tourney at 3-2 with three straight victories over Russia, South Africa and France. They opened played with consecutive losses to Croatia and Japan.

With reporting by USA Water Polo

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