SINGAPORE – They rallied from 2-6 down to lead 7-6, and a berth in the World Aquatics Championships (WCH) men’s water polo final was within sight. But the Greek fairy tale turned into tragedy when they conceded an equaliser in the final second of their semi-final before world No. 2 Spain went on to win the penalty shoot-out 4-2 on July 22.
While the vocal Greek fans were left in shock and tears, the Spaniards will go into the July 24 final against Hungary hoping to win a World Cup and WCH double in the same year, and give stalwart Felipe Perrone the perfect send-off.
The Brazil-born 39-year-old Perrone, who has six WCH medals with Spain, including gold in 2022, told The Straits Times: “It was a really emotional game. We really struggled… we scored six goals and we couldn’t score one more.
“Then we scored in the last second to draw and won on penalties. This is the beauty of the game, and people who watched this game saw how all the players, not just us but also the Greeks, gave our hearts and souls.
“Never in my best dreams did I think I would be in the world championships final in my last tournament. I’m 39 and it is not easy.
“These guys have a lot of energy, and I worked a lot and gave everything to be here. Before the tournament, I wasn’t even sure if I would come, but my kids told me to enjoy it, and I’m really enjoying it now.”
Spain led from the start as they did well to elicit exclusion fouls on the fourth-ranked Greece and score the first two goals.
While Greece bounced back to reduce the deficit to 3-2, Aristeidis Chalyvopoulos incurred a four-minute exclusion after he punched an opponent underwater just two minutes into the second quarter.
Spain took advantage of their extra number to score three without reply for the 6-2 lead.
Then came the astonishing Greek fightback, after Alvaro Granados was red-carded in the third quarter.
While the attendance at the 3,000-seater OCBC Aquatic Centre remained in the hundreds, the decibel was raised with every Greek goal and save, with their staunch supporters singing, whistling, cheering and jeering relentlessly.
Amid the ruckus, Nikolaos Gkillas put Greece in the lead for the first time at 7-6 with less than two minutes remaining.
A desperate Spain saw two shots saved and Perrone hit the post, and had just three seconds in the last possession which Alberto Munarriz made the most of by piercing the defence at the death to silence the crowd.
In the shoot-out, Spain’s Perrone, Bernat Sanahuja, Munarriz and Marc Larumbe converted all their penalties, whereas Dimitrios Skoumpakis and Konstantinos Kakaris saw their shots saved by Unai Aguirre.
A crestfallen Greece captain Konstantinos Genidounias said: “We had the ball and we had only one job to throw it as far as we can and come back to defence. Unfortunately, the ball didn’t go far away, we gave them an opportunity to shoot and that’s the worst part.
“I’m feeling empty, really. That’s water polo, that’s sports, that’s life. One second you have something, the other second you don’t. I think it’s one of the worst ways to lose a game.”
The other semi-final was a goal fest, but similarly tight as the third-ranked Hungary edged out Olympic champions and world No. 5 Serbia 19-18 in the chase for their own historic double, as they are also in the women’s final where they take on World Cup winners Greece on July 23.
Hungary coach Zsolt Varga said the win served as a motivation for the team after their poor results at major tournaments.
“This win is so, so important because last year, we had a few issues. We were fourth in the European championship, seventh in the world championships and then fourth in the Olympics,” he said.
“It’s important for us that we can prove that there is a Hungarian team who can fight till the end. No matter what happens, we will fight to the end.”
Serbian star Dusan Mandic rued their poor defending against the Hungarians.
“We’re very disappointed. We didn’t play like we wanted to play. We (conceded) 19 goals. This is too much.”
In front of hundreds of flag-waving fans, Hungary burst out of the blocks and raced to a 6-3 lead, only for Serbia to show their resilience by leading 8-7 before going into half-time at 8-8.
Pumping themselves up by celebrating every goal with a roar and clenched fists, the Hungarians were persistent and precise in their attacks as they opened up an 18-13 gap.
Still, Serbia, who were led by Mandic, the best male water polo player of 2024, got back to within a goal, but another later equaliser did not materialise.
The men’s water polo drama had started earlier in the day. Following Canada’s 16-11 win over Brazil in the 11th-12th play-off, Romania bounced back from a 4-12 half-time deficit to draw 16-16 before Japan won 4-3 in the shoot-out of the 9th-10th play-off.
In the fifth-eighth semi-finals, Montenegro beat Italy 12-8 before the top-ranked Croatia beat United States 14-9.
