January 24, 2020 – The Croatia water polo team met Spain in the semifinal of the European Championship on Friday at the Duna Arena in Budapest.
Before the semifinal match, the water polo federation organized a press conference at which coach Ivica Tucak, executive director Perica Bukic, and team members Marko Bijac and Ante Vukicevic spoke to the press.
“We came here to try to make a big difference. At this point, it means gold, because we know that only gold leads to Tokyo, which is our primary goal. If we do the analysis, a well-played tournament is behind us, but we can and must do even better. We are facing a tough match against an extremely strong opponent, but we are strong too, there is no dilemma there. We will strive to remain grounded both with faith in our capabilities and with the desire to achieve our goal,” Tucak said before the game.
Croatia won the first sprint for the first attack of the game, though Vukicevic was unlucky. Three minutes into the game, and neither team was able to score.
However, Marko Macan scored the first goal of the game for 0:1 Croatia with 4:45 to go.
Bijac was brilliant in goal to keep Croatia in the lead. The game ended at 0:1 for Croatia in the first quarter.
Spain finally equalized with seven minutes to go in the second quarter for 1:1.
Buslje scored a rocket with five minutes to go in the second quarter to put Croatia back in the lead for 1:2, though Spain equalized just seconds later for 2:2.
Spain took the lead for the first time in the game with 2:33 to go in the second quarter for 3:2. Bukic equalized with two minutes to go for 3:3.
Spain retook the lead with a minute to go for 4:3, though Loncar equalized with 10 seconds to go for 4:4.
Croatia won the sprint to start the third quarter. Spain led 5:4 with five minutes to go.
Milos equalized for 5:5 with 2:50 to go in the third quarter.
Bukic equalized for 6:6 with 1:43 to go in the third, which is how the third quarter ended.
Spain retook the lead with 7:13 to go in the final quarter (7:6).
Jokovic scored the equalizing goal for 7:7 with 5:49 to go, though Spain was up 8:7 with two minutes to go.
Vukicevic scored for 9:8 with 20 seconds to go, though it was not enough. Spain won 9:8 for a spot in the European Championship final.
Croatia will play for third place against either Hungary or Montenegro. Croatia will now have to qualify for the Olympics at the final qualifying tournament this spring.
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