The Greek men’s water polo team managed to bounce back from their shocking defeat by Serbia in the Olympic quarterfinals, securing a solid 15-9 victory over Australia, ensuring a top-six finish in the tournament.

The national team will compete for fifth place in the rankings on Sunday morning (Greece time) against Spain, who are also disappointed after their elimination.

Notably, coach Theodoros Vlachos opted to start Panagiotis Tzortzatos as goalkeeper instead of Manos Zerdevas, and Angelos Vlachopoulos did not play at all.

The Greek team started with a strong defense, conceding just one goal in the first period, without Tzortzatos needing to make a single save. Greece led 3-1, and although the Australians found some opportunities in power plays and counterattacks, Greece maintained a two-goal lead until the end of the half (5-3). In just a minute and a half at the beginning of the third period, the Greek team scored three goals, extending their lead to 8-4, eventually reaching a five-goal advantage (10-5) just before the end of the third quarter, effectively sealing their victory.

Score by Quarters: 3-1, 2-2, 5-3, 5-3

Scoring Progression:
1-0 Kakaris (perimeter), 1-1 Lampi (power play), 2-1 Nikolaidis (power play), 3-1 Gillas (power play), 3-2 Byrnes (power play), 4-2 Kakaris (center forward), 4-3 Power (counterattack), 5-3 Gillas (drive), 6-3 Argyropoulos (penalty), 6-4 Maksimovic (center forward), 7-4 Skoumbakis (perimeter), 8-4 Fountoulis (power play), 8-5 Maksimovic (perimeter), 9-5 Kakaris (power play), 10-5 Genidounias (perimeter), 10-6 Mercep (power play), 11-6 Skoumbakis (power play), 11-7 Byrnes (penalty), 12-7 Kakaris (center forward), 12-8 Pavillard (power play), 13-8 Skoumbakis (perimeter), 13-9 Power (center forward), 14-9 Fountoulis (penalty), 15-9 Argyropoulos (perimeter).

Greece had 5/8 on power plays, 2/2 on penalties, 5 goals from the perimeter, 2 from center forwards, and 1 from a drive.
Australia had 4/9 on power plays, 1/1 on penalties, 1 goal from the perimeter, 2 from center forwards, and 1 on a counterattack.

Pavillard was ejected with three exclusions, 1:32 before the end of the game.

Referees: Kovacs-Tsatos (Hungary), Franulovic (Croatia)

Team Lineups:

GREECE (Theodoros Vlachos): Zerdevas, Genidounias 1, Skoumbakis 3, Kalogeropoulos, Fountoulis 2, Papanastasiou, Gillas 2, Argyropoulos 2, Papanikolaou, Kakaris 4, Nikolaidis 1, Vlachopoulos, Tzortzatos
AUSTRALIA (Tim Hamill): Porter, Lampi 1, Maksimovic 2, Negus, Power 2, L. Edwards, Pavillard 1, Mercep 1, Byrnes 2, Berehulak, Putt, B. Edwards, Hedges

*With AMNA