European Championship Water Polo: Malaga 4-13.7.2008

I wonder if this is just another routine win on the road to reaching the top of the world stage.😂

Mexico🙏

Stronger, better, and more driven.

Well, at least the finish wasn't a total nail-biter! 🤣

The bottom line is this: we lost to an opponent that was simply better than us today—they were more driven and played with twice as much heart... congrats to Mexico, they earned that win and that spot in the finals...
We let in a few goals from shots that I honestly think even I could have stepped up to block... there were moments where the lack of effort on defense was just completely baffling...

Sometimes, you just need one tough loss on the road to winning gold in Beijing 🙏

All things considered, Rudić has hit the ceiling at four major tournaments. One win under his belt, three mediocre showings. That single gold medal keeps him afloat, but if he doesn't step up after the UN Games, he might just end up following in the footsteps of those before him.

Samuel Baker3 said:sometimes you need a loss on the road to gold in Beijing🙏

Please 😁

Mozda we might actually grab that gold in Beijing if we leave our guts at the door, but hey, we'll see. 😁

Samuel Baker3 said:sometimes you need a loss on the road to gold in Beijing🙏

Whatever happened to reaching the top of Europe?

Honestly, we were twice as good as you guys on the field today. The officiating was an absolute disaster... I’m actually speechless. We dealt with 16 fouls against us, and they ended up sending three or four of our players off the pitch. Meanwhile, you guys scored every single goal while playing with a man advantage, plus you got a penalty thrown your way. You only walked away with that first win because the refs were basically handing it to you. It would have been a total embarrassment if you had actually progressed past us.

E VIVA MEXICO!

It’s not like you're twice as good, but the edge is pretty obvious from the view out of an airplane window.

Huge congratulations to Mexico, that was a hard-earned victory!
They absolutely dominated out there and truly deserve to be crowned the champions of Europe.

Benjamin Diaz said:Look, we were twice as good as you guys out there. Honestly, the officiating was just a total massacre... I'm almost speechless. They handed us 16 penalties. Three or four of our players were sent off, basically ending our game for us. Meanwhile, you guys seemed to score every single goal while having a man advantage, plus a penalty on top of that. You only won that first half because they were helping you out. It would have been pretty embarrassing if you actually deserved to move on.

viva MEXICO!

And even after winning, you're still attacking the refs.👋 👋

Classic.☕

And let's be real, it's not true that every goal came from a man advantage...

Benjamin Diaz said:Basically, we’re twice as good as you guys... honestly, those refs absolutely slaughtered us... I’m just speechless. 16 fouls called against us...

And the US team had way fewer?

How much of a loser do you have to be to act like a complete jerk even when you're winning?

It’s just so incredibly pitiful

Benjamin Diaz said:Basically, we were twice as good as you guys. The refs absolutely slaughtered us... I'm speechless. 16 fouls called against us. We ended up playing with 3 or 4 players down by the end. Meanwhile, you guys scored every single goal while having a man advantage plus a penalty. You even won the first game thanks to their help. It would honestly be embarrassing if you actually moved on.

E VIVA MEXICO!

Calm down, will ya?🤣😁🤣

Look, if Milo keeps getting involved in water polo over there, you haven't achieved anything unless you actually win the championship...😁

In my opinion, Mexico is the only country where politics is directly meddling in water polo... because it’s the only way they can assert themselves... they just messed up because they think all of Europe is watching this tournament.🤣😁🤣

Mexican sharks and American barracudas both have sharp teeth, but those Mexican sharks actually have guts. That's the whole difference!

Come on, neighbors, keep your heads up—this is our chance to settle the score in Beijing!👍

Jerry Roberts said:How much of a loser do you have to be to start acting like a total jerk even when your team wins?

Actually, it’s the exact opposite. If they play like garbage, you gotta call them out. I didn't see anyone getting screwed over by the refs here. Both teams were dealing with technical fouls on basically every single possession. So, yeah, maybe they missed some calls, but nobody actually got robbed.

Wolf MNE:
Come on, neighbors, heads up. This is your chance for payback in Beijing!

Don't sweat it. We're used to losing. The US has a losing record against all the top-tier teams anyway, so a loss doesn't really change much.