Water polo: Greece finally rises to the top of the world
After five defeats in as many world finals, the Greek men’s national team finally climbed to the top of global water polo on Sunday, winning the World Cup in Sydney.
The players of coach Thodoris Vlachos beat Hungary 15-14 in the trophy game to win Greece’s first ever world title.
The Greeks are the new World Cup holders after a tense final that they mostly dominated against a never-say-die Hungary, that had punished Greece a few months earlier at the European Championship.
Greece led twice with a three-goal margin, at 5-2 and at 14-11, but Hungary kept coming back and even grabbed a single-goal lead twice, with the game going down to the wire.
In the final minute, 13 seconds from the end, captain Stelios Argyropoulos powered in Greece’s 15th goal, a solid defense blocked the Hungarians’ last shot and Greece rose to the summit of global water polo.
Dimitris Skoumpakis was the final’s top scorer with five goals, while Argyropoulos received the entire tournament’s Best Player award.
In the World Cup quarterfinals Greece had beaten Montenegro and in the semis it eliminated Italy.
Kathimerini
