Unusually strong beginning
MELBOURNE – It almost didn’t look right – early into the third quarter of play in its opening game at the FINA World Championships yesterday, the national men’s water polo team led Russia with a 9-3 score. It made us wonder whether this was the same Greek team that struggles with anxiety in opening games at major tournaments. What followed was not as impressive. The Russians narrowed the deficit to 9-6, but Greece, a bronze medalist at the previous worlds in Montreal two years ago, was still the comfortable winner, 10-7 (3-1, 4-1, 2-3, 1-2). Greece’s victory can be attributed to the early shock treatment served to the Russians, the national team’s excellent defensive play when up against extra-man play, and Russia’s errors and effective play when there was an additional man in the pool. These factors all contributed to the breakaway 9-3 score. The extra-man play’s final statistics – 6/17 for Greece and 5/11 for Russia – don’t reveal the full truth. At one point in the game, the national team had registered a 50 percent (5/10) record, as opposed to Russia’s poor 16.66 percent (1/6). By then, or before Russia began recovering, the game’s outcome had already been determined. Greece coach Sandro Campagna remained subdued despite his team’s winning start to the tournament. «I’m not satisfied, despite the victory. When the conditions were easy, we played well. But when things got tougher, we didn’t maintain our level of play,» Campagna remarked. «When the Russians began applying pressure, we made mistakes, especially during extra-man play. We slackened from a certain point onward. At this level of competition, you’ve got to give 100 percent from beginning to end. The players, of course, had the intention, but it doesn’t always work out. I’m happy that we won, but we could have played better.» In his post-match remarks, Giorgos Afroudakis, one of Greece’s top performers, admitted that the team discussed its previous poor starts at tournaments. «We went into this game strongly and applied our play’s rhythm. We didn’t let the Russians take advantage of their strength – scoring on the counterattack,» said Afroudakis. «We did well in extra-man play for part of the game, but did even better with a man less. Then we flopped, played passively, and weren’t as focused as we were at the beginning. Maybe we respected the Russians more than we should have,» he added. Nikos Deligiannis, another of Greece’s leading performers, noted that Greece would take the tournament step by step, with a medal as the objective. «We need to prove our worth,» said Deligiannis. «I think we can prove that we’re still a team that can win a medal.» Greece plays China tomorrow and completes its first stage of group play against Spain on Saturday.
