December 18, 2021 - Jug AO and Jadran Split will play in Sunday's Croatian Water Polo Cup final. In the first semifinal match, Jadran defeated Solaris 12:6 (4:1, 2:1, 4:1, 2:3), and in the second match, Jug defeated Mladost Zagreb 14:7 (3:1, 5:2, 3:3, 3:1).
This will be the 26th Croatian Cup final for Jug, and for the second time since 2017, Dubrovnik and Split will play in the final. Jadran, on the other hand, has qualified for the Croatian Cup final for the third time in history. They lost in the final in 2003 and 2017, reports HRT.
The best for Jadran in the first semifinal match were Bukić and Kharkov with three goals each, while Čagalj added two. Goreta, Pelicarić, Penava, Koprčina, Šparada and Kadmenović scored one goal each for Šibenik.
"I am really satisfied. I am most pleased with our good game in the defense. We played great defense for three quarters. This was good for us because we are realistically expecting Jug in the final tomorrow, and this was a preparation for us, because Jug plays similarly to Solaris, with a lot of swimming. Everything was fine, this is the crown of our half-season, we have neglected some things because of the Cup, we will see if it will pay off for us," said Jadran coach Mile Smodlaka.
"Jadran settled the match in the middle of the third quarter. The result was expected, although we could and should have done much better. The qualitative difference is big, but we knew how to offer them much better resistance," said Solaris coach said Jure Marelja.
Later, Jug confirmed their role as the favorite and defeated Mladost, the host of this Final Four, 14:7 (3:1, 5:2, 3:3, 3:1). As a result, Dubrovnik decided the game at halftime when they had a five-goal advantage (8:3).
Jug then slowed down and maintained the advantage until the end for a spot in the final. Loren Fatović and Alexandros Papanstasiou were the top scorers with three goals. Two goals were added by Argyropoulos. Marin Dašić and Dario Rakovac scored two goals for Mladost.
"We played a relatively good game, I am satisfied with the victory, but also about most of our game. In order to be competitive, Jadran needs to play a little better than today. We haven't played with Jadran yet this year, we didn't touch each other in the pool, and we can only see things there. They have more rotation, but we’ll see. It is nice that the match is on national television, the final will be a fight between the two best teams in Croatia. The quality is not in question, the match should be uncertain, the defense and swimming readiness could decide," commented Jug coach Vjekoslav Kobešćak.
"We were thin in rotation and we couldn't keep up with the pace. We saw a lot of personal mistakes early on and that handicapped us further. We were not great at realizing the extra man, we should have played better, but I congratulate Jug and wish them luck in the final. Jug has a slight advantage because it has a winning mentality, Jadran will be under a lot of pressure," said Zoran Bajić, Mladost coach.
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