Serbia won in sudden death penalty shootout in an action packed game that pleased the capacity crowd 14:13 (3:2, 0:0, 1:2, 2:2, 1:1, 0:0, 7:6).
Theatre and drama ruled in this fantastic testament to the game of water polo. The game was set alight by miracle men Vanya UDOVICIC and Xavier GARCIA. By the end of the first quarter they had scored the five goals as Serbia led 3-2.
The power shooting of both teams was matched by the excellent defence in the second quarter as no goal eventuated. One did come a nano-second after the buzzer at halftime, a rebound flicked in by the centre forward but no shift on the scoreboard.
The forest of arms was in action in the third quarter but Garcia scored his third on extra from deep right after a timeout play. FILIPOVIC stunned the Spanish defence with a lob just after exclusion time for a 4-3 lead for Serbia at 5:49. MOLINA scored off the drive down the left with a long slider under SORO’S left arm to level the game at 3:41. The capacity crowd was thrilled by massive shots but had to be impressed with the channelling of the shots and stoppages of the ball.
The fourth quarter promised much and delivered quickly with FILIPOVIC gaining his second from the top on action on the first Serbian attack. Serbia used a timeout and when the expulsion time was over the ball slipped into PIJETLOVIC at two metres on the hand and he sent it in with a reflex action. GARCIA proved why he is on the all-star team at these championships with a screamer from well outside into the top left corner for 6-5 at 2:51. The pool was electric and GARCIA was helping spark the fire. Serbia took a second timeout at 1:59 after gaining an ejection but the ball was stolen from the player’s hand on the third pass. Spain went to a timeout only 10 seconds into the counter.
The resulting shot bounced to halfway and the last minute had arrived. Spain eventually shot and regained the ball. Time was ticking and the ball twice made it to GARCIA’s steady hand. While heavily guarded, he shot off his left arm and tied the game with just 11 seconds remaining and to the thunderous roar of the appreciative crowd.
FILIPOVIC tried a lob just before full time but no score and the game went to extra time. PEREZ earned an extra man in the first period of extra time and MOLINA blasted past SORO at 2:16. RADJEN returned the favour for Serbia with a shot off the post on extra above the goalkeeper’s head for 7-7 at 0:59. MINGUELL missed a sitter on a two-on-one with the goalkeeper, hoping to get a penalty shot but he turned away from the goal.
The second period of extra time saw PRLAINOVIC score off a free throw but it was disallowed. Serbian coach UDOVICIC complained about his player not receiving a kickout when three players moved on the centre forward. It was worth a yellow card. When Serbia regained the ball soon after a timeout was called with q10 seconds left.
FILIPOVIC took the final shot of extra time but it careered over the crossbar, forcing the game into a penalty shootout. Spain won the toss and elected to shoot first. MOLINA missed the first shot for Spain and PRLAINOVIC, the third Serbian also had his shot blocked. MALLARACH then had his bounce up into the bar.
It came down to GOCIC to win the match for Serbia but he missed and the shooting went to sudden death. The rotation saw the first six shooters score and then MALLARACH had his shot blocked at 13-13. ALEKSIC stepped up and scored to give Serbia the title on the 18th shot in the shootout. The tournament’s best goalkeeper, SORO, had saved the day for Serbia.
SERBIA: Slobodan SORO, Marko AVRAMOVIC, Zivko GOCIC, Vanja UDOVICIC (5), Slavko GAK, Dusko PIJETLOVIC (1), Slobodan NIKIC, Milan ALEKSIC (2), Nikola RADJEN (1), Filip FILIPOVIC (4), Andriya PRLAINOVIC (1), Stefan MITROVIC, Gosko PIJETLOVIC Head Coach: Dejan UDOVICIC
SPAIN: Inaki AGUILAR, Mario GARCIA, David MARTIN, Blai MALLARACH, Guillermo MOLINA (3), Marc MINGUELL, Ivan GALLEGO, Albert ESPANOL (2), Xavier VALLES, Felipe PERRONE (1), Ivan PEREZ, Xavier GARCIA (7), Daniel LOPEZ Head Coach: Rafael AGUILAR
