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FINA WC Day 10 - Men's Water Polo Match 35 & 36

Jul 22, 2003

Match 35, Men 15:30, 22.07.03
HUNGARY 13 SLOVAKIA 5
Quarter-final
Quarters: 5-0, 1-1, 2-1, 5-3

Referees: Vladimir Golikov (RUS), Zoran Tomic (CRO)

HUNGARY: Zoltan Szecsi, Tamas Varga (1), Norbert Madaras (1), Zsolt Varga, Tamas Kasas (2), Attila Vari (2), Gergely Kiss (2), Tibor Benedek (1), Rajmund Fodor (1), Istvan Gergely, Barnabas Steinmetz, Tamas Molnar (1), Peter Biros (2)
Coach: Denes Kemeny

SLOVAKIA: Michal Gogola, Peter Nizny, Juraj Zatovic, Jozef Hrosik (1), Peter Veszelits, Robert Kaid, Karol Baco (3), Milan Cipov, Martin Mravik (1), Michal Gergely, Tomas Bruder, Gejza Gyurcsy, Michal Hruska
Coach: Ondrej Gajdac

Hungary sped into the semifinals with an awesome display of raw power and skill. It didn't come for a friendly throw-around. It made its intentions clear with a shock and awe burst in the opening quarter, completely outfoxing Slovakia. Norbert Madaras wasted no time on extra in the first half-minute. Attila Vari, Tibor Benedek on the biggest break of the championship, Tamas Varga through a sea of arms and Gergely Kiss added to the charge. With the margin set, Hungary settled into a rhythm and Slovakia fought back through Karol Baco on extra. Peter Biros drove down the left and scored the narrowest goal for 6-1 just before halftime. Josef Hrosik added another for Slovakia on deep right-hand catch. Then Hungary scored twice on extra with quick one-two passes for 8-2 after three quarters. A 5-3 final quarter saw Karol Baco score twice for Slovakia as Hungary replied with quick passing, superb counters and excellent systems.


Match 36, Men 16:45, 22.07.03
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 2 GREECE 4
Quarter-final
Quarters: 1-0, 0-1, 0-1, 1-2

Referees: Joaquin Fernandez Escola (ESP), Mario Brguljan (YUG)

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Brandon Brooks, Wolf Wigo, Omar Amr, Jeff Powers, Adam Wright, Chris Segesman, Layne Beaubien, Tony Azevedo (1), Dan Klatt, Brett Ormsby, Jesse Smith, Genai Kerr, Ryan Bailey (1)
Coach: Ratko Rudic

GREECE: Georgios Reppas, Anastasios Schizas (1), Dimitrios Mazis, Konstantinos Loudis, Theodoros Chatzitheodorou (1), Argyrios Theodoropoulos (2), Christos Afroudakis, Theodoros Kalakonas, Georgios Afroudakis, Petre Stefanos Santa, Antonios Vlontakis, Nikolaos Deligiannis, Ioannis Thomakos
Coach: Alessandro Campagna

Greece progressed to the semifinals for the first time in history, going at least two places better than Fukuoka two years ago. Both teams played aggressive defence but Greece had the better of the statistics. The USA scored just twice from 22 shots, which proved its downfall. In the first quarter, cut and thrust and top-notch defence shut out both sides with the sole exception being Ryan Bailey's goal from the post on extra. The same happened in the second period where the only goal went to Greece on extra, scored by Argyrios Theodoropoulos. Jesse Smith (USA) and Antonios Vlontakis (GRE) were excluded for an altercation. Theodoropoulos scored his second from right-hand catch for 2-1 at 4:05. The USA took a timeout but had the shot blocked on extra. Next time in Greece's zone, the USA scored but the goal was disallowed. USA coach Ratko Rudic protested and was given a yellow card during the start of the break. Theodoros Chatzitheodorou scored from nine metres, at 5:09 and it wasn't until nearly four minutes later that Tony Azevedo broke the USA's drought with a shot from outside. At 1:19, it wasn't too late to come back. At the other end Anastasios Schizas drove down the right and snapped in the goal from an acute angle to win the game.