Montenegro, Hungary sink Greek water polo
The men’s national water polo team could not build on the easy win against Slovenia on Friday and suffered two disappointing losses to Montenegro and Hungary over the weekend. These results effectively mean that coach Sandro Campagna’s men have a mountain to climb to advance from the group stage of the European Championship being held in Malaga, Spain. On Saturday evening Greece led 10-8 against Montenegro with three minutes to go but conceded three goals within a minute and a half. Even worse, Yiannis Thomakos missed from the penalty spot with just seconds to go on the clock, meaning Greece snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. Then yesterday afternoon, just 16 hours after the end of the grueling match with Montenegro, Greece played powerhouse Hungary, the world champion. The Greeks were obviously no match for the Hungarians and lost 8-3, despite ending the first half with a much more respectable 5-3 deficit. The barren second half, with a partial score of 3-0, highlighted the tiredness and disappointment of Campagna’s players. Tonight (10 p.m.) Greece faces Spain in a game in which anything other than a win effectively means that the team will bow out of the competition at this early stage. Yesterday the women’s national team lost to Italy 10-11, following their 15-2 thrashing of France on Saturday.
