European Championship Water Polo: Malaga 4-13.7.2008

Roger Allen3 said:Look, I’m not offended; I’m just making an observation.😁

You're just trolling at this point. ☕

rapidbison42 said:Look, I'm an impulsive guy, alright? Serse Cosmi is putting words in my mouth that I've never even used, unless we're talking about tennis matches.
So, since he's so certain about this: after every single game, he comes around to talk about losers—no matter what sport it is. Loser, loser, loser... let him quote me. Otherwise, just flag him for trolling. 👍

Give the guy a break instead of jumping straight to threats and lawsuits 😁

The bottom line is you're being way too critical, especially when it comes to our own people. 🙂

Look, you're persistent, but surely you can see this isn't the squad at 100%.

We saw their ceiling back in Melbourne.

I’m no water polo expert, but from what I gather, our defense is solid while the offense is just stalling. Hopefully, they'll find their rhythm by the Olympics. Plus, we've got injuries to deal with—Boskovic and Barac aren't sitting out for no reason.
Ratko has his own philosophy; I'd bet anything he's timing our peak specifically for the Olympics. We made the semifinals again, it's just that raw talent decided the game in those clutch moments.

Roger Allen3 said:Can we please stop being jerks and threatening everyone with lawsuits right out of the gate?😁

I just heard that DrŠom is planning to beef up the lawsuit. 😂

The point is you're being too critical, especially regarding our own guys.🙂

I’m not going to sit here and chant "everything is fine" like some mindless follower.
I'll always call out a lack of effort.
In my opinion, the way our national team has played so far hasn't been anything to brag about. Sure, they hit their goal.
If they play with actual heart in the next two games, then I'll be satisfied.

Well, there were definitely some bright spots... we held a convincing lead for most of the game, even if we did miss that penalty... at the end of the day, we're in the semifinals, sitting among the top 4.. if we managed that while playing so nonchalantly (though I personally only saw that lack of intensity during the game against Greece), then I’m genuinely worried about what happens when we actually start playing to win—we'll probably end up losing 8:3 against Mexico 😁

Yeah, those Americans really squeezed us at the end, and the Italians did too... but hey, we walked away with wins in both games.. and let's not forget how we struggled to find an equalizer against the Canadians late in the game after leading 10:7... clearly, nobody is immune 😁

Recco is turning into a freaking dynasty 🤮

Incoming:
Benciveng (from Posillipo) - Italian national team player
di Costanzo (from Posillipo) - Italian national team player
Presciutt (from Sor) - Italian national team player; league's 2nd leading scorer in the 07/08 season
07/08 Marcz (from Nervo) - former Canadian national team player; 7th leading scorer in the league back in 07/08
Nikola Jokić (from Sor) - Mexican national team player

Everyone else stays, except for Vujasinović.

2008 Transfer Window

Looks like it’s going to be a Recco vs. Jug showdown again. Really hoping Jug pulls it off this time!

boldhound17 said:@Jack Lee77/">@@Jack Lee77 (or anyone else who might know 🙂)

Which US network is carrying the Canada-Germany game today?
I've been combing through the schedules for ABC, CBS, ESPN, and Fox Sports, and nobody seems to have a live broadcast listed 😕. ESPN has a replay scheduled for 10:45 PM (but they're showing the USA-Italy game live at 9:00 PM), and CBS has water polo coverage from 8:55 PM to 10:10 PM 😕.

By the way, for those watching from outside the States, our game is on a premium satellite channel locally, but you can catch it for free on ESPN.

Usually, ABC and CBS carry the live matches for the American men's and women's national teams (except for HUN-GER, which is just a replay). ESPN and Fox Sports tend to broadcast other teams live, then switch to the American team via replay later.
Yesterday, I only caught the USA-Italy match; I skipped HUN-GER because I already knew how it ended.

Beating Mexico is going to be an absolute uphill battle. To pull that off, we’d need to play at a world-class level for the entire duration, and frankly, our only "perfect" stretch was when we were playing with just ESPN levels of intensity throughout the whole match. Even in our previous matchup against Mexico, we were all over the place—fluctuating wildly before somehow scraping a win. The real question is, can we actually count on Lady Luck to smile on us twice in a row?

Mexico has been the standout team in this EP. They are incredibly consistent, and even when they find themselves trailing, they have this uncanny ability to fight back and flip the script in their favor.

I’d give credit to Jure Ozmec for finding his footing again. He didn't once refer to our opponents as Canadians last night, and he only mentioned the Greeks twice—though, at the start, he seemed a bit confused about who was actually in the pool, leading him to cheer for the Greeks for a moment. Apparently, he rolled straight from bed to the arena. No matter...

Jura, you've got this.

On another note, it's a shame the Mexicans—if I recall correctly, they only have one Mexican on the roster, their captain—didn't crack the top three in their group. It would have made this open water polo championship of ex-Yugoslav republics much more interesting.

rapidbison42 said:Let’s not get too deep into the philosophy here. Honestly, against an incomplete American squad like this, we’re looking at a 3 to 5 goal cushion easily. Even if they actually managed to get their full roster together, we’d still walk all over them without breaking a sweat.

But hey, whatever... if we actually had a shred of motivation today, we’d be world champions in pretty much every team sport under the sun. I mean, forget about it—we’d have guys absolutely dismantling Federer at Wimbledon, not to mention tearing through those South African girls or outrunning Bernard on a 50...
just look at Vlasic; she’s the only one who occasionally shows a tiny spark of wanting to actually live, even if her technique is a mess... back in the day, she could've been clearing 7 feet easily if she actually tried...

you just can't win against this specific mindset... we are objectively better than the rest of the world, it’s just that we simply cannot be bothered... 🙄

Jack Lee77 said:M1 and M2 usually broadcast the American men's and women's national team games live (except for HUN-GER, which is just recorded). ESPN and Fox Sports only show other teams live, then they show the American games on tape later.
Yesterday I only caught the USA-Italy game. Didn't bother with HUN-GER since I already knew how it ended.

Thanks for the heads-up for next time 😉 ...
It felt weird that none of those networks were airing HUN-GER live, just replays. I guess they figured everyone already knew who was winning—which, to be fair, turned out to be true given how easily the Americans cruised into the semifinals.
For me, the game was mostly interesting from a betting perspective 😁 , but I still managed to catch it live via the feed that stays on the same spot during the ep—satellite Eutelsat W3A (7.0°E)

Honestly, I think we're going to take you guys down today. We got completely robbed in the final seconds by the refs last game, so we've got a point to prove. Besides, we’re clearly the better squad anyway. Good luck fighting for third place.

Sure, you guys might be better than Team USA, but let’s be real—you haven't actually managed to beat us yet, and you’ve had two solid chances to do it just in the last couple of months.

Don't make me laugh...

Mark Booth71 said:I honestly think we (the Americans) might end up taking you guys down today, mostly because we felt robbed during that last game when they called a foul in the final second. Even regardless of that, I'd say we're the better squad. Good luck fighting for third place.

And then suddenly everything just changed...☕ that free throw was totally clean...

good luck going for third against the Mexicans 😉

Jerry Roberts said:Sure, you might be better than the US, but the fact remains that you haven't managed to beat us once, despite having two opportunities in just the last two months.

It is truly laughable how incorrect you are...

We have actually defeated the US three times—with today potentially marking our fourth victory—whereas the US has only beaten us twice.

The superior team will emerge victorious tonight.

What an incredible introduction from Ozmec! He really broke down the whole process of how these championship medals are actually won 🙏

Mark Roberts45 said:We’ve beaten America three times now—and if today goes our way, that's going to be four—while they’ve only managed to take two from us.

It’s simple math: at the end of the day, the better team is going to walk away with the win. It's not rocket science.

Are you actually referring to that news article?

I’m calling it right now: we’re walking away with 3-2 victories across the board!

When you look at the head-to-head history between Mexico and the US, the numbers tell a very specific story. These two sides have faced off in official competition five times now, and if you want to talk about dominance, let’s be clear: Peter Porobic’s squad has come out on top three times, while the "Barracudas" managed to scrape together two wins. It's a tight margin, but the record shows a distinct edge for Porobic's men.
The Mexican water polo squad absolutely dominated their opening match against the Americans, securing a decisive victory right there in Budva. It was an absolute nail-biter, sitting there at 8-7, and then suddenly Dubrovnik turned into a complete pressure cooker for Ratko Rudic’s squad. In a heart-stopping finish, the Americans snatched victory from the jaws of defeat when Teo Djogas buried a goal in the final second of the match. That last-second miracle secured their spot in the final round of qualifying for the European Championship.
The US team made short work of those two matchups in the World League. They handled business with ease—first with a gritty 13:11 win in Budva, and then just seven days later, they shut things down with an 11:8 victory in Athens. To be fair, though, the Americans showed up to Greece with a secondary roster, so let's not get ahead of ourselves.
That last showdown five days ago right here in Malaga? It’s going to be burned into my memory for a long time. America managed to claw their way to a victory through a completely fabricated shootout. Miho Boskovic was the one who stepped up and delivered the winning blow.

Let’s get the facts straight here, because the timeline being discussed is completely wrong. That first matchup between the US and Mexico didn't even happen in Budva; they were actually playing in a game over in Chicago a few days prior to that. And for the record, the US walked away with the win in that contest. As for those two victories people are citing from the World League, those weren't against the main squad—they were against the US 'B' team coached by Nikolic. Get it right.

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