Game 1, Bracket A
Yugoslavia vs. Russia
Yugoslavia, Russia tie: Yugoslavia threatened to break open its game against Russia in the third quarter but Russia staged a furious fourth quarter comeback as the two teams ended in a 9-9 tie. The tie was the second of the tournament (Ukraine and Romania tied at 6 on 20 July), which is in just its second day of preliminary round competition.
Both teams traded goals in the first half and entered the intermission tied at four. Yugoslavia then rattled off three goals to begin the third quarter. Vladimir VUJASINOVIC scored his first goal of the game and fourth of the tournament within a minute of the start of the third and Aleksandar SAPIC fired in two shots into the net within a 60 second span to give Yugoslavia a 7-4 lead, its largest spread of the game.
Russia then staged its comeback, outscoring Yugoslavia 5-1. Russia team captain, Dmitrii GORCHOV scored his second goal of the game with 2:51 in the third to ignite the Russian offense. He then scored two goals fewer than two minutes apart to give his team its first lead (9-8) since leading 1-0.
Following GORCHOV'S fourth goal, Yugoslavia's Viktor JELINIC fired in the game-tying tally with just 21 seconds remaining in the game.
GORCHOV lead the Russian team with four goals and SAPIC, JELINIC and VUJASINOVIC all had two goals for Yugoslavia.
Yugoslavia (1-0-1) will play Spain (1-0 prior to today's 16:40 game vs. the Netherlands) at 12:40, Sunday, 22 July. Russia (0-1-1) and Germany (0-2) will face-off at 11:00 on Sunday, 22 July.
Final Score: Yugoslavia 9, Russia 9
Viktor JELENIC (YUG) on the match: "We should have won this game. We were leading by three and eventually we let the game get out of our hands. It is good to get the tie like we did."
Germany vs. Hungary
Tamas KASAS leads Hungary to second win of tournament: For the second time in as many games, Tamas KASAS led Hungary to its second straight victory of the water polo tournament at the 1996 Olympic Games. Hungary defeated Germany, 9-8.
KASAS, who scored the game winning goal in yesterday's 8-7 victory over Russia, scored the game winner in today's contest with 2:48 remaining in the game.
Hungary relinquished its 4-2 lead towards the end of the second quarter when Germany's Davor ERJAVEC scored his first of three goals with 1:15 remaining in the half. Hungary regained the lead just five seconds later as Tamas DALA scored his second goal of the contest and KASAS gave his team a two goal margin (6-4) at the intermission with just 16.4 seconds left.
Germany popped in two shots for scores - one each by Peter BUKOWSKI and ERJAVEC - midway through the third quarter to tie the game at six. The two teams would trade two goals before TAMAS' heroics in the final minutes of the game.
KASAS (HUN) and ERJAVEC (GER) were the game's leading scorers with three goals each.
Hungary (2-0) will play the Netherlands (0-1) prior to today's 16:40 game vs. Spain at 16:40, Sunday, 22 July. Germany's (0-2) next game is Russia (0-1-1), at 11:00 on Sunday, 22 July.
Final Score: Hungary 9, Germany 8
Romania vs. Croatia
BUKIC leads Croatia to 11-6 victory Three-time Olympian and team captain Perica BUKIC fired in three goals to lead Croatia to an 11-6 triumph over Romania in Olympic water polo action at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center during day two of the preliminary action.
The 11 goals matched the highest offensive output during the preliminaries thus far. Yugoslavia tallied 11 goals yesterday en route to an 11-7 preliminary win over the Netherlands.
Croatia jumped out to a quick 5-2 lead after one quarter, mainly due to BUKIC'S three goal effort. Zdeslav VRDOLJAK put the Croats on top 32 seconds into the game and Renato VRBICIC rounded out Croatia's first quarter scoring.
Romania fought back into the contest during the second quarter, chipping Croatia's lead to two goals as Vlad HAGIU scored his second goal of the game with 1:14 left in the half, followed by a score by Nicolae FULGEANU with 25 seconds left.
Croatia went up by four goals by the conclusion of the third quarter after VRBICIC scored his second goal of the game and fourth of the tournament.
Both team captains, BUKIC (CRO) and HUGIU (ROM) led their respective teams with three goals.
Romania (0-1-1) will challenge Greece (0-1) prior to Sunday's 22:00 game against the United States) at 15:40, Monday, 22 July. Croatia (2-0) plays defending Olympic Games champion, Italy, at 18:20 on Monday, 22 July.
Final Score: Croatia 11, Romania 6
Day 2, Game 4, Bracket A
Spain vs. Netherlands
Manuel ESTIARTE nets three goals as Spain escapes with an 8-7 victory over the Netherlands The Netherlands staged a hard fought come back in the fourth quarter but Spain was able to prevail at the final, 8-7.
Spain led 6-2 early in the second quarter before the Netherlands rallied with five goals in the final eight minutes of the contest. The Netherlands' Marco KUNZ scored his second goal of the game in that stretch, as did Harry VAN DER MEER.
Wyco DEVRIES scored the Netherlands' seventh goal with 11 seconds remaining but Spain's Jordi SANS scored his second, and what later proved to be a team insurance goal, at the 3:31 mark in the fourth quarter.
Spain was led by captain Manuel ESTIARTE who fired in hat trick while the Netherlands were led by VAN DER MEER and Marco KUNZ, who both had a pair of goals.
The Netherlands (0-2) faces Hungary (2-0) at 16:40 on Monday and Spain plays Yugoslavia (1-0-1) at 12:40 Monday.
Bracket A's standings after two rounds of preliminary action follow. The top four teams from each bracket will advance to the next round. Each team is awarded two points for a win and one point for a tie.
Bracket A
Hungary 4
Spain 4
Yugoslavia 3
Russia 1
Netherlands 0
Germany 0
Final Score: Spain 8, Netherlands 7
Italy vs. Ukraine
Italy tops Ukraine to remain undefeated: Italy,
the water polo gold medal favorite and defending Olympic Games
champion, won its second game of the preliminaries, defeating
Ukraine, 8-6, at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center on Sunday night.
Each team matched the other's scores throughout
the first half until Italy broke open the game to lead 6-3 at
the intermission. Carlo SILIPO and Fabio BENCIVENGA, who both
ended the game with two goals, ignited the Italian offense. BENCIVENGA
scored consecutive goals to lift Italy to a three goal advantage.
Luca GIUSTOLSI gave Italy a four point lead, 7-3,
in the third but Aleks POTULNTYSKY (UKR) matched the tally with
1:59 remaining in the quarter.
Ukrainian goals in the final stanza by POTULNTSKY
and Andriy KOVALENKO closed the gap to one point, 7-6, in favor
of the Italians. Both players ended the game with two goals each.
Francesco POSTLIGIONE clinched the victory for Italy
with his second goal of the game with 1:23 remaining.
Italy (2-0) will next face undefeated Croatia at
18:20 on Monday, 22 July, followed by the Ukraine versus the United
States (1-1) at 22:00. Final Score: Italy 8, Ukraine 6
Greece vs. United States
Chris HUMBERT leads United States to victory over
Greece: In the final water polo preliminary
game of the evening at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center, the United
States defeated Greece, 9-7. Chris HUMBERT ignited the offense
for the United States with four goals and Wolf WIGO pitched in
with three. Leading Greece were Filippos KAIAFAS, Theodoros LORANTOS
and Thomas CHATZIS, who all had two scores in the game.
After alternating the first two scores of the contest,
the United States strung together three goals, including two by
HUMBERT just 77 seconds apart, to take a 4-2 lead after the first
quarter.
The United States lead by as many as four points
(7-3 - halftime score) in the second when WIGO scored his second
goal of the game with 94 seconds to play in the half.
LORANTOS and CHATZIS chipped away at the United
States lead in the third, as Greece came to within two scores
(7-5) as they each scored their second goals of the game. WIGO
scored with 41 seconds in the quarter to give the United States
back a three goal margin.
KAIAFAS tallied twice in the final quarter but HUMBERT'S
fourth goal of the game put the game out of reach.
Greece's (0-2) next game is against Romania (0-1-1)
at 15:00 on Monday, 22 July and the United States (1-1) will take
on the Ukraine at 22:00 to wrap up the third day's competition.
Final Score: United States 9, Greece 7
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Closing Ceremony of the 1996 Games involved a crew of 2,100 who worked with more than 3,500 performers as well as thousands of athletes who celebrated on the field of Olympic Stadium.