Croatia joined the European Water Polo Championship semi-final party yesterday in Budapest with perhaps the most convincing win in the four Quarter finals, as they beat Greeks 14:11. Our ‘Baracudas‘ will play against Spain in the semifinal this Friday.
In the game against Greece yesterday, Croats showed they could score from almost all distances and angles in the opening period while Greece missed many fine chances as the Croats took a 6-3 lead. In the second they could add two to go 8-3 up and from that point they just did a brilliant job in maintaining this gap. Croatia was led by Maro Joković (playing in Greece for Olympiakos in the club season) who managed to score whenever it was needed and Marko Bijač who contributed with 13 saves. Greece’s first goalie had to be substituted after the first half since Emmanouil Zerdevas had only 3 saves on 13 shots.
The Friday game that awaits ‘Baracudas’ will be a re-match with Spain after their memorable battle in the semifinals at the World Championship in Gwangju last summer. Among the four teams in the semis – Hungary, Montenegro, Croatia and Spain, only Spain has secured its place at the Olympics so the other three will have to make a hell of effort to grab the available quota. Good luck to our boys!
