Greece’s national team crushed Australia 20-5 and achieved its second victory in the second qualifying group of the men’s water polo World Cup, which is being held in Podgorica in Montenegro.
Despite their fatigue following their earlier battle against Serbia, Thodoris Vlachos’ team delivered lessons in modern water polo and proved the high standard of his team.
Sharks coach Tim Hamill conceded that Greece were a class above, with the Olympic silver medallists running away with the match 20-5.
“Greece completely outplayed us today in all facets of the game, and it’s a huge learning moment and opportunity for both coaches and also players in terms of the level we need to get to,” Hamill told Water Polo Australia.
The opening quarter put the Sharks on the back foot from the outset with Greece jumping out to a 7-0 quarter-time lead.
Australia were on the board midway through the second quarter courtesy of Blake Edwards, however Greece were able to extend their lead to 10-1 at half-time. Marcus Berehulak and Sam Angle scored in the final quarter however Greece matched their opening quarter effort with another seven goals to win by 15.
“Unfortunately tonight was our worst game in 12 months together,” said Hamill. “Whilst we’ve been happy over the last 12 months with some of the steps we’ve made as a group, tonight’s game showed how far we need to go to get to what we’ve spoken about achieving in the future leading towards Paris.”
Almost all the Greek players scored, except captain, Giannis Fountoulis who didn’t play much and missed a penalty, with Alexandros Papanastasiou the top scorer with five goals.
The Aussie Sharks next match will be on Monday 13 March at 3.30am AEDT against hosts Montenegro while Greece is matched up against Georgia at 6.30pm AEDT.
Watch the match here:
