Greece’s men’s water polo team has cruised their way into the semi-finals with a dominant 17-11 victory over Italy at the World Water Polo Championship in Singapore.
The men’s team dominated in their match with the 2024 runner-up, taking advantage of Matteo Iocchi Gratta’s send-off in the first period to win the quarter-final and book a ticket against Spain in the semi-finals on Tuesday 22 July.
The win marked an historic moment as both Greece’s men’s and women’s teams reached the semi-finals of the same competition for the first time in the history of the World Aquatic Championships (of which the water polo events are part of).
The men’s team started well, with Kakaris and Nikolaidis winning two penalties in the first few minutes (one of which was converted, and the other seeing Argyropoulos send the ball against the post) and Panagiotis Tzortzatos making consecutive saves.
The Greek team led 3-1 and, at 1.50 minutes before the end of the first quarter, Iocchi Gratta hit Argyropoulos in the head out of phase and the referees, after consulting the video, sent him off.
Playing for four minutes with a numerical advantage, the Greeks had a great opportunity and did not let it go to waste, surging into a 7-1 lead.
The numerical balance was restored, but the Italians seemed helpless to react.
The Greek defence was strong, with Tzortzatos especially standing out with a remarkable 16 saves, and the difference increased even more, with Nikolaidis putting them 9-1 ahead with an impressive 2-meter rebound.
The Italians made a desperate effort to get back into the game, reducing the deficit on various occasions (9-3 and 11-5), but despite the consecutive expulsions and the loss of players with three penalties, the Greek team managed the match well enough without ever being at risk of loss.
The eight minutes (with the typical home team Italy first): 1-6, 1-3, 4-4, 5-4
