In an extraordinary survival exercise, Spain has finally broken its jinx in the European Water Polo Championships with the first gold medal in its history with an epic 10-11 victory against the host Croatia with a spectacular comeback.
When everything seemed lost with 10-8 with four minutes left, the defense was close to perfection and fueled the desire and confidence of a team that tied with a goal from Bernat Sanahuja so that Álvaro Granados scored first the tying goal and then the winning goal. The defense took care of the rest in the last action of the final.
Therefore, historic night for water polo and for Spanish sport, since in addition to their first European gold, David Martín’s team got the precious ticket for the Paris Games, where Miki Oca’s women’s team will also be there.
Between the spectacular atmosphere in Zagreb with 2,000 people packing the facility and the nerves because of how much was at stake, the truth is that David Marín’s men were very doubtful in a defense that has worked perfectly in this Croatian event.
In his fight to win the only major title he lacks, Spain took the lead for the first time with a goal from Alberto Munárriz (2-4, min. 4:03), but from then on the Balkans imposed their law led by the power of Luka Bukic’s launch.
The fact is that a 3-0 run allowed the hosts to close the first quarter with a two-goal lead (5-3) and even extend that lead with the Bukic’s third goal at the beginning of the second quarter (6-3). From there, the improvement in defensive intensity made it possible for Unai Aguirre to begin to appear in goal.
From the defense, the Spanish team was doing a great job to recover ground with a partial 1-3 thanks to the goals of Munárriz, Larumbe and Bustos to reach the intermission with 7-6.
The game had changed completely and on these occasions it is key to complete the comeback. Sanahuja signed the tie (7-7) and, but the first attempt to turn the score around ended with a foul in attack and the second ended with a save by Marko Bijac.
A goal on the horn by Loren Fatovic (son of the At. Barceloneta coach) brought the game to 10-8 at the end of the third quarter while Spain could not feel comfortable in attack and there was a block in superiority and a save by Bijac against Tahull the situation is very complicated. Two goals away with 4:00 left.
When things were at their worst, Spain pressed its defense and exposed the weaknesses of the naturalized Russian Croatian Kharkov. Sanahuja brought the ‘miracle’ closer, but the tying shot went off the crossbar. Munárriz tried twice and couldn’t beat Bijac. And there Álvaro Granados appeared to make it 10-10 with 1:37 left!
Granados took responsibility with an historic goal in the last minute to make it 10-11 and the defense took care of the rest. Very intense and stony, The Spanish prevented the tie and celebrated everything. Gold and the ticket to Pariss.