August 31, 2021 - The Croatia U17 women's water polo team took 7th place at the European Championships in Šibenik after beating Israel 11: 6 in a direct match for 7th place.
The applause that erupted from the beautifully filled stands of the swimming pool in Crnica, long after the end of the match for 7th place, is perhaps the most valuable and impressive image of Croatia's performance over the last 10 days in Šibenik.
"Truly a wonderful result, to be 7th at such a strong European Championship in which 19 national teams participated, more than ever. There are usually about 16. We managed to get past an excellent France, a solid Germany, a quality Israel, Serbia, Slovakia. We are sorry about the match with Spain, which ended at 9:7. Step by step, the girls proved that they could play with everyone, including Greece, which finished the tournament in second place. We played equally with them almost until the end of the game. It is a huge step forward in Croatian women's water polo. All this was crowned by Latica's title of the best goalkeeper of the championship, which she really was. She had almost 30 saves more than the second-best goalkeeper of the tournament; she had about 89 saves, which is sensational. Of course, the excellent defense of our national team made it possible for Latica. The girls will now rest, and then we start preparing for the World Cup, which is in Australia in a year, where we hope to be even better, more prepared, and more competitive," said Mia Šimunić, the national team coach.
Croatia also had one of the best players at the recently concluded U17 European Championship in Šibenik.
Latica Medvešek (16) from Zagreb, the goalkeeper of Mladost and the Croatia U17 team, was chosen as the best goalkeeper of the European Championship in Šibenik.
Latica, who was once known as a ‘miracle child’ because she defended the Mladost water polo team at 12, is only getting better with age.
Latica excelled in this tournament, often with a double-digit number of saves, which made it impossible for her to go unnoticed.
According to the Croatian Water Polo Federation, Croatia thus achieved the goal of entering the circle of the 8 best teams in Europe at the U17 European Championship in Šibenik.
Source: HRT
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