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Olympic Water Polo Recaps: 20 July - Day 1


YUG vs. NED

Yugoslavia tops the Netherlands in Opening Round Game: Three Yugoslavian players fired in three goals each to lead Yugoslavia to an 11-7 victory over the Netherlands in the first water polo matchup of the Olympic Games.

Vladimir VUJASINOVIC scored two of his three goals in the first quarter which ignited Yugoslavia to a 3-2 advantage after one period.

Petar TRBOJEVIC tallied two of his three goals in the second quarter as Yugoslavia increased its lead to 6-4 at the intermission.

Mirko VICEVIC was the other triple goal scorer for Yugoslavia.

The Netherlands' Harry VAN DER MEER led all scorers in the game with five goals, including two in the third quarter. Final Score: Yugoslavia 11, Netherlands 7


Day 1, Game 2, Bracket A

HUN vs. RUS

KASAS Scores Winning Goal with 8.1 Seconds: Tamas KASAS fired in the winning goal with 8.1 seconds remaining on the clock to lead Hungary to an 8-7 victory over the Russian Federation during the first day of water polo competition.

Russia jumped out to a 5-2 halftime advantage as Dmitrii GORCHKOV, the team's captain, fired in two goals in the second quarter. During that stretch, Russia scored three unanswered goals.

The second half belonged to Hungary, the 1995 World Cup champion. Hungary outscored Russia 4-1 in the third quarter. Frank TOTH knotted up the game for the first time since the beginning of the second quarter (when the score was 2-2) with a goal with 1:05 remaining in the quarter. Zsolt VARGA gave his country a 7-6 lead, its first of the game, with 6:28 in the game.

Alexei PANFILI scored his second goal of the game to give Russia back the lead with 3:02 remaining. Final Score: HUN 11, RUS 7


Game 3, Group B

CRO vs. GRE

Croatia Drives to Victory: Dubravko SIMENC fired in three goals, two of which came in the first quarter, to lead Croatia to an 8-5 victory over Greece. Croatia, after jumping to a 3-1 lead in the first quarter, never looked back. Renato VRBICIC was also a key in igniting the Croatian team's drive to victory as he pitched in with a pair of goals.

Croatia built up its largest lead, 8-4, in the fourth quarter. Igor HINIC and VRBICIC scored goals to put the Croats up by the four-goal margin.

Filippos KAIAFAS was the leading scorer for Greece with two goals. Konstantinos LOUDIS scored a goal for Greece with 2:26 remaining in the contest, thus the final difference.

Croatia will face Romania at 15:00 and Greece will play the United States at 22:00 on Sunday, 21 July. Final Score: CRO 8 GRE 5


Game 4, Group A

ESP vs. GER

Spain Routs Germany in Preliminary Pool Play: Six different Spanish players scored single goals en route to a 9-3 rout of Germany in Olympic water polo during first round action at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center.

Spain jumped out to a 4-0 lead with 6:15 remaining in the second quarter before goalkeeper Jesus ROLLAN allowed his first goal of the game.

Spain outscored the German team 5-1 in the second half, which included a two-goal game-high by Salvador GOMEZ. Miguel OCA also scored a pair of goals in the game.

Captain of the Spanish team, Manuel ESTIARTE, scored a goal with 5:34 to ignite the offense to three goals in the final stanza. Pedro GARCIA and GOMEZ wrapped up the scoring.

Germany received single goals from Raul DE LA PENA, Torsten DRESEL and Jorg DRESEL.

Germany will challenge Hungary at 12:40 and Spain will take on the Netherlands at 16:40 on Sunday, 21 July, in second round action. Final Score: ESP 9: GER 3


Day 1, Game 5, Group B

Ukraine vs. Romania

Ukraine and Romania played to the first tie game (6-6) of the water polo tournament at the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games. The last time Ukraine and Romania played each other was the first round of the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Berlin last September and that game ended with the same 6-6 outcome.

Ukraine had trailed Romania by as many as three goals with just over three minutes to play in the contest. Captain Igor HORBACH scored the first of three goals in the final minutes of the game and Andriy KOVALENKO fired in two goals, including the game-tying goal with just 16 seconds remaining in the contest.

Ukraine trailed 1-0 after the first period but answered with two goals in the second stanza to Romania's one to enter the intermission knotted at two.

Romania (0-0-1) will play Croatia (1-0) at 15:00 and Ukraine (0-0-1) will play Italy (1-0) at 18:20 Sunday, 21 July. Final Score: Ukraine 6, Romania 6

Ukrainian Coach Yuriy DROZIN on Andriy KOVALENKO'S game tying goal:

"It was the best thing in life, very memorable."


Day 1, Game 6, Group B

Italy vs. United States

In the final match of the opening day of competition at the water polo venue, 1992 Olympic Games gold medalist, Italy, topped the United States, 10-7.

The game proved to be every bit as thrilling as its billing. Both teams traded goals in the early going of the game but before the first quarter was finished, the United States trailed, 3-1. A goal by Alessandro CALCATERRA (ITA) 14 seconds into the second quarter gave Italy a three goal margin.

The United States received a wake up call in the second quarter and rallied off three straight goals in less than two minutes. Mike EVANS started the scoring rally, followed by goals by Chris OEDIING and Wolf WIGO.

Amedeo POMILIO (ITA), who scored his second goal of the game with 5:30 remaining in the third quarter, began another 3-0 run by Italy. The Italian team outscored the United States 6-3 in the second half. The United States team managed to cut Italy's lead to two at 8-6 with 4:27 remaining in the game on a goal by Rick McNair but a pair of goals by Italy's Roberto CALCATERRA in a 90 second stretch put the game out of reach.

Italy (1-0) will play Ukraine (0-0-1) at 18:20 and the United States will take on Greece (0-1) at 22:00 on Sunday, 21 July.

The standings after the first day of competition follow. Two points are awarded for a win, one point for a tie, and zero points for a loss.

Bracket A Bracket B

Yugoslavia: 2 Croatia: 2

Hungary: 2 Italy: 2

Spain: 2 Ukraine: 1

Netherlands: 0 Romania: 1

Russia: 0 Greece: 0

Germany 0 United States 0 Final Score: Italy 6, United States 7


This is an official publication of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games Sports Publications Department.


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