2011 World Aquatics Championships (Shanghai, July 16-31)

Nađa Higl finished 11th in the 200m breaststroke semifinals—not exactly the dominant performance you'd expect from a world champ, but hey, who knows? Maybe she can still pull off a miracle and sneak into the finals. Meanwhile, Miroslav Najdanovski came in 36th during the 100m freestyle qualifiers.

In about half an hour, things get real: USA vs. Canada
Look, our squad looked pretty convincing on paper against the Germans, but if you actually watched the game, was it really that impressive? They were only up by a single goal halfway through the third period. On the other hand, you’ve got the Canadians playing like they have something to prove; they haven't grabbed a trophy in ages, so they're going to be absolutely starving for a win. This is going to be tight... what's your take, Canadian? 😁

edit: end of the 1st, Canada leads 2-1

Absolute demolition, 6:2 for Canada—I mean, seriously, what kind of massive holes are they leaving in that defense? 🤦

The Mexicans are playing absolutely terrible right now.

Mexico - Canada 6:9 in the second quarter

The second quarter wrapped up 7-5 in favor of the Canadians, which is just insane because I remember when you’d see that many goals in an entire game, yet here we are seeing 12 scored in just the first quarter. I honestly can't wrap my head around how poorly the Mexicans are playing defense; they've conceded several goals now using the exact same pattern over and over again.

End of the second quarter, Canadians lead 7-5. Defense is killing it. 🙏 🙏

Currently 11-7, with 4 minutes left in the third. The announcer can't even remember the last time Mexico gave up this many goals in such a short span.

12:9, we're heading into the final stretch. It’s not impossible to pull this off, but man, it’s going to be an uphill battle.

Daniel Cooper40 said:12-9, we’re staring down the final quarter now. Is a comeback possible? Sure, but let's be real—it's going to be an uphill battle.

I just don't think our guys have the gas left in the tank, which explains those massive holes in the defense; they aren't moving with any real intensity, plain and simple. It looks like Mexico didn't exactly time their peak perfectly for this championship run.

Filipovic is sitting at negative one right now

Nicholas Morales48 said:I just don't think our guys have the stamina right now. That's why you see those massive gaps in the defense—they aren't moving well, period. It looks like the US didn't time their peak performance correctly for this tournament.

It's 1:13 PM and the US is still on the attack.

What's your take?

13:13, both sides missed two huge chances to take the lead. The Canadians just swapped out their goalie. Two minutes left.

Richard Patel21 said:1:13 PM and we're coming for Mexico

What do you think about that?

I definitely didn't see this coming; considering how we played during those first three quarters, this feels like a total rebirth
this game is absolutely top-tier 🙏 🙏 if we had more matches like this, maybe water polo wouldn't be such a niche sport in the States... oh wait, just one minute left on the clock, huh

37 seconds left, ball's ours

13:13

To be continued.

Unfinished business. After the 1:13 mark, our offense just completely fell apart.

Man, what a waste. This was honestly such a massive opportunity, just another case of a player squandering a chance they probably won't get again anytime soon.

Daniel Cooper40 said:Unfinished business. After the 13:13 mark, we couldn't find a single way to break through on offense.

It was a total goal fest at first, and then just absolutely nothing for the final four and a half minutes.

That’s exactly how it goes!!!!!!!!!!

14:13

15:14 for Mexico

Just 40 seconds left until the Canadians launch an attack

The Canadians have the man advantage here

THE FINALE 👋 👋 👋

15:14, Mexico made it to the finals.

Absolute disaster for the Canadians. They lead the whole game by 3 or 4 points and then just completely fall apart. And this one player was an absolute wreck toward the end; nobody even had the guts to step up and take charge.

Canadians 🤦