Greece secured a fascinating victory against Italy in the Water Polo Men’s Preliminary Round of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris on Monday afternoon.
The match between the two Mediterranean teams was held at the stunning Aquatics Centre of the French capital. There, Greece managed to overcome the formidable Italian team with a final score of 9-8.
This helps Greece solidify its position in the tournament and advance to the quarterfinals scheduled to begin on Wednesday.
The first half of Monday’s match was a tactical showdown on behalf of both teams. The Italians and the Greeks showed their ability to defend effectively when the opponent was trying to score, whilst at the same time, finding gaps in the other team’s ranks to utilize them to their advantage.
The first period concluded in a draw, 2-2.
For Greece, the scorers were Stylianos Argyropoulos Kanakakis and Alexandros Papanastasiou. On behalf of the Italian team, the first two goals were scored by Francesco Condemi and Gonzalo Echenique.
During the second period, Greece managed to score an additional three goals, bringing its total to six, with the Italians coming close. The final score of the first half was 6-5 in favor of Greece.
Greece seized the moment during water polo second half
The second half began with Italy dominating possession. However, Greece’s defense, primarily due to its goalkeeper Emmanuel Zervedas, was great. This allowed the team to breathe after multiple attempts from the Italians to score were unsuccessful. One of these attempts was, however, successful—that of Lorenzo Bruni. The Italian athlete managed to bring the score to 6-6, which was the final result at the end of the period, too, since no other player managed to score during that time.
The fourth and final period was the one to determine the final result of this Olympics water polo game.
Genidounias, Argyropoulos, and Fountoulis scored three valuable goals for Greece, whilst Condemi and Iocchi-Gratta scored two goals for Italy, bringing the final score to 9-8 in favor of Greece.
With this important victory against Italy, Greece sent a clear message to the other teams in the tournament that the Greeks are still here and aiming high this time.
As the men’s Greek water polo team prepares for the knockout stages of the quarterfinals, it will continue building on this momentum to advance in its Olympic journey as far as possible.
Now, Greece will be waiting for the result of the game between Croatia and the United States. If the US wins, Greece will finish first in its round. However, if Croatia wins tonight, the Greeks will finish second. In any case, their participation in the quarterfinals is guaranteed, as the first four teams to finish in Greece’s group get the ticket to the next stage.
There, Greece is expected to face either Hungary or Serbia depending on tonight’s results of the remaining matches in Paris.
