Croatia reaches final of Olympic water polo tournament

(Photo: HVS/Giorgio Scala/DBM)

9 August 2024 – Croatia has secured a place in the final of the Olympic water polo tournament in Paris.

Croatia will meet Serbia in the final after beating Hungary in a tense semi-finals on Friday.

Despite a slow start and some early mistakes, which allowed Hungary to take an early lead, Croatia were again impressive tonight.

Croatia managed to claw back Hungary’s early advantage and they would end the opening quarter tied at 3-3.

Croatia had a strong second quarter and they stamped their authority on the match and would go into the halftime break with a 7-5 lead.

In the third quarter both teams would trade goals and would find it hard to find opportunities. Croatia maintained their two-goal lead and it would finish 9-7.

Photo credit HVS / Andrea Staccioli (DBM)

The team’s defence was particularly impressive again today, with goalkeeper Marko Bijač again making several crucial saves to keep Hungary at bay.

Hungary had chances to tie the match in the final minutes but it was Bijač again who would deny them a number of times and Croatia would hang on for the win 9-8.

Croatia, who beat favourites Spain in the quarter finals, will now face rivals Serbia for the gold medal. The match will be played on Sunday 11 August at 2pm local time.

“We gave it our, all our hearts, against a giant of the sport. Congratulations to the guys and all the staff who have made the Olympic final. These guys are unbelievable, they had made three finals in a year. My dream is to win an Olympic gold medal, maybe it wont happen here but I believe we have the strength to go all the way,” said coach Ivica Tucak after the match.

Croatia reached the quarter-finals at the last Olympics in Japan in 2021 and won silver in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. Their last gold medal came in London in 2012.