The Croatia water polo team failed to defend the Europa Cup title after losing to Hungary in the final in Zagreb 8:10 (2:2, 1:3, 2:3, 3:2), reports HRT on April 7, 2019. 

However, most important for coach Ivica Tucak is that Croatia’s semi-final victory over Spain secured the team placement in the final tournament of the World League, which will be held from June 18 to 23 in Belgrade. The winner of that tournament in Belgrade automatically qualifies for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The “Baraccudas” played a solid game, though there were visible flaws. Hungary opened the match with a 0:2 lead, but Croatia came back to make it 3:2 with Joković’s goal at the start of the second quarter. Unfortunately, Manhercz equalized at 3:3, and when Croatia failed to utilize having an extra player in the pool, Hungary scored again for the 3:4 lead. At the half-time, Hungary was up 3:5, and in the third minute of the third quarter, Kovacs scored for 3:6.

Joković was able to reduce Hungary’s lead (4:6), though nothing could help Croatia come back, and Hungary convincingly managed to hold onto an advantage of two or three goals until the end, which ultimately gave them the 8:10 victory and the Europa Cup title.

Loren Fatović was one of the most effective in the Croatian ranks with three goals, while Maro Joković scored two, and Andro Bušlje, Ivan Buljubašić and Josip Vrlić scored one.

Peter Manhercz was the best for Hungary with three goals.

In the match for third place, Spain was better than Italy 9:7 (3:1, 0:2, 5:3, 1:1), while Montenegro defeated Serbia in the match for fifth place 16:14.

Prime Minister Andrej Plenković also attended the final match in Zagreb. 

In other Croatia water polo news, the national team has been grouped with Australia, the USA, and Kazakhstan for the World Championships, to be held from July 14 to 27 in South Korea. The draw for the tournament was held on Sunday at the Westin hotel in Zagreb. 

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

The Croatia water polo team won the Europa Cup in Rijeka last year, and now, they have an opportunity to defend the title against Hungary in Zagreb on Sunday.

The Croatia water polo team defeated Greece 13:11 (1:2, 5:4, 4:1, 3:4) in the Europa Cup quarterfinals, which was held in Zagreb on Friday, reports HRT on April 5, 2019. 

Croatia nervously entered the duel and did not take advantage of their first five situations with an extra player in the pool, giving Greece a constant advantage during the first two quarters. However, Croatia resolved the match in the third quarter. In that period, Croatia had three consecutive goals and did not allow Greece to get above a two-goal difference until the end. Greece scored their first goal of the second half seven minutes into the half, and Croatia ended the third quarter with a goal by Fatović for an impressed lead of  11:7. Greece could no longer return.

Loren Fatović scored three goals for Croatia, with Maro Joković, Josip Vrlić, Anđelo Šetka and Javier Garcia each scoring two, and Luka Lončar and Ivan Buljubašić scoring one. Ioannis Fontoulis led Greece with three goals, and Alexandros Gounas and Angelos Vlachopoulos added two.

“We did not expect an easy win. However, when we settled the defense and led by three points, we were able to keep the advantage,” said Loren Fatović.

Fatović also announced the upcoming game against Spain.

“It will be a tough match; they broke Serbia in three quarters.”

In the semi-final on Saturday, Croatia will play against Spain (20:15), who beat Serbia on Friday in the quarters 13:12 (5:4, 3:1, 3:4, 2:3), while Hungary and Italy will play in the other semi-final at 18:30. Hungary defeated Montenegro 11:9 (4:2, 2:3, 1:1, 4:1) , while Italy was better than Russia with 11:9 (3:3, 3:2, 1:3, 4:1).

The Croatian water polo team is defending the title won last year in Rijeka. The top three teams of this tournament will compete in the World League finals, hosted by Belgrade from June 18 to 23. Despite losing to Spain, Serbia automatically qualifies in the World League finals as they are the host of the tournament. The winner of the World League finals will advance to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Of the European teams, Serbia will join the Europa Cup finalists and the winner of the third place in the tournament in Belgrade.

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

The Croatia water polo team secured a win in the final round of the Europa Cup Group D. Coach Ivica Tucak's side defeated and dominated their eternal rival, Serbia, with a result of 12:9 (1-0, 4-4, 5-2, 2-3). Croatia has thus won first place in its group in front of Serbia and Romania, and advances to the final tournament of Europa Cua, which will be played in Zagreb in April, reports Dnevno.hr on March 12, 2019. 

If the Croatian “Barracudas” are among the top four teams in the tournament, they will place in the finals of the World League in Belgrade this June. The World League winner will secure placement in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, while other routes to the Olympics will be available through the Water Polo World Championships in Guangzhou in July.

Otherwise, Croatia played a great match and held the lead from the very beginning, while their breakthrough of the game was the third quarter when they led 5:2.

The most effective player of the Croatian national team was Maro Joković, who scored four goals, while Marko Macan and Ante Vukičević added two, and Andro Bušlje, Lovre Miloš, Josip Vrlić, and Xavi Garcia each scored one. Dušan Mandić, Andrija Prlainović, Stefan Mitrović, and Filip Filipović each scored one goal for Serbia. 

Although the result of this game had almost no significance, considering both teams had already advanced to the finals of the tournament, it was imperative to see that Croatia is stable and in good form before the finals in Zagreb from April 5 to 7, 2019. 

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

The Croatian national water polo team played an excellent game in Split on Saturday and in a large turn around defeated Serbia with 9:7 (2:3,3:1,3:1,1:2) in the 4th round of the Europa Cup.