Olympiakos to the Euro four
Olympiakos advanced to European water polo’s Final Four tournament with an impressive 11-9 away victory last night against Hungarian club Honved, one of the Continent’s most respected and successful. The Piraeus team went into last night’s second leg of this home-and-away quarterfinal encounter having defeated Honved by the same score in Piraeus. Defeat by a one-goal margin or better would have sufficed to secure Olympiakos its Final Four place. Olympiakos trailed by a one-goal margin, 9-8, at the end of the third quarter, but kept a clean sheet in the final term and scored three times to ensure victory and its Final Four place. The Piraeus club had won the European title in 2002 after upsetting Honved in the final of a Final Four tournament in Budapest. To date, the achievement remains the Greek team’s only Champions League title. Olympiakos took on Honved, a traditional powerhouse in European water polo, just days after triumphing in the Greek Cup with an 11-5 win over regional Piraeus rival Ethnikos. With the exception of Olympiakos’s match-winning surge in the final quarter, last night’s contest remained an open contest. The Final Four candidates were tied, 3-3, at the end of first quarter. The Hungarians led 7-5 at half time and 9-8 at the end of the third term.
