Serbia ended their wait for men’s water polo gold after achieving a dominant victory over defending Olympic champions Croatia at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium in Rio de Janeiro.
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Water polo is among the most popular sports in the countries of the former Yugoslavia, and before the Olympics Serbia coach Dejan Savic had said the team was under tremendous pressure to bring home the gold, telling reporters “We have won everything else, now we want this”. No settling for bronze this time around. Branislav Mitrovic made 12 saves in Saturday’s final.
Despite a hat-trick from Sandro Sukno, Croatia’s record of seven goals from 30 shots told its own story.
The win breaks a streak of consecutive bronze medals in the 2012 and 2008 Olympics. “We tried everything we had against them but they were just too physical and strong. The result shows that”.
They were beaten 12-10 by Italy in a tightly contested tie. Stefano Tempesti led the way with 10 saves, and Christian Presciutti scored four times.
It’s the second straight Olympic medal for Italy, which lost to Croatia in the London final.
Filipovic said his team, known for both stellar defence and great shooting, was probably the best ever assembled in the sport: “Let’s say we wanted this from the beginning of our careers”.
After its men won the water polo, Serbia’s women’s volleyball will take on China in the gold medal match later on Saturday, following their upset of the United States.
The 37-year-old Tempesti had surgery on his right eye after he got hurt in the final match of the Italian championship in May.
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Filip Filipovic, the tournament MVP, finished with a brace as the European and world champions added an Olympic gold to their recent haul of titles. Serbia outscored Croatia 3-2 in the second quarter and 3-2 in the third to grown their lead to four goals heading into the fourth quarter. “If we did they would be here now”.
