In a water polo final marked by determined play in front of both goals, Serbia showed superiority in finishing chances.
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Marko Bijac, who was voted the tournament’s top goaltender and played a key role in Croatia’s run to the final, made five saves before he was replaced by Josip Pavic after Filipovic scored to make it 8-4 with 2:14 left in the third. The team which had been under enormous pressure to bring home the gold achieved its aim when it finally proved its dominance on the most prestigious stage.
But Serbia eventually found its way and closed with five consecutive victories by a combined score of 53-38.
“Let’s say we want this from the whole beginning of our careers”.
This was Serbia’s eighth successive tournament title, including European championships.
Croatia has now gone almost six years since defeating Serbia in a men’s water polo tournament, a streak dating back to September 2010 in the semifinals of the European Championships. “We trained so hard, and so much we suffered”, he told reporters.
“It’s a great moment for (the) Italian water polo team”, Tempesti said.
Sporting rivalries have always been fierce between Serbia and Croatia, neighboring countries that fought a war against each other in the 1990s.
Serbia wasn’t quite as dominant throughout, starting the Games 0-1-2 and on the verge of missing the quarterfinals. “They are waiting to cut the head off from our team if we don’t win the gold”. Right now we have a very young team. Its men’s basketball team take tournament favorites the United States in Sunday’s gold medal match.
Despite a hat-trick from Sandro Sukno, Croatia’s record of seven goals from 30 shots told its own story.
The most recent clash between Croatia and Serbia in a competitive match was on 10 January 2016, when Serbia beat Croatia 13-6 at the European championship in the group stage.
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The Serbian victory came as the country’s athletes also compete for gold in women’s volleyball and men’s basketball finals. He finished with 51 saves in his fifth Olympics.
