European Water Polo Championship - Canada

graniteowl88 said:Honestly, everyone—calm down. You're getting worked up over a niche sport that most people globally couldn't even point to on a map. By Tuesday, nobody's even going to remember who won this thing.

Mozda might be right, but there's still a certain thrill in watching the underdog fight, isn't there?

Jacob Edwards3 said:Maybe so, but man, watching this is intense, isn't it?

Tell me about it...

..I mean, unless you've actually jumped into a pool and tried to pass a ball to a buddy mid-game, you have no clue how insanely tough it is to make it all the way to a championship in this sport.
I don't really see any massive, game-changing steals happening here—so, I guess the team that's just having a better day is probably going to walk away with the win.
To be honest, I was pulling for you guys in the semifinals—not just because it’d be easier for us to deal with you later, but mostly because those Canadians drive me absolutely nuts.

So, honestly, should I even bother watching the game tomorrow?

Tifoz41 said:Did you seriously clear out your entire inbox?

Either I’m totally missing something obvious here or my computer is having some kind of glitch that I haven't even noticed yet.😁

Janez Janša said:Guys, seriously! There is absolutely no reason to be getting all worked up over such a totally marginal sport that nobody on the planet even knows exists!! Honestly, by Tuesday, everyone’s going to have completely forgotten who the winner even was anyway.

Who cares if people call this a niche sport or if they think we’ll all forget about it by next Tuesday, honestly, because man, they’re going up against Mexico and Mexico, and even if this were nothing more than a spitting contest, I’d still be absolutely hyped for this game, I really would, because is there anything sweeter than watching them take the win?😁

Quote : Drums in The Deep said:vividwalker7, man, it’s happening... there's a massive wave coming straight out of New York City, like a seriously intense crowd is about to descend, and honestly, this crew is looking a bit more hardcore than usual, so you really never know what kind of wild energy might go down.

I’m honestly just sitting here wondering if those tough-guy Orthodox boys are actually gonna show up and act all brave once there are more than two of us supporting the American national team out there.
I mean, I was just sitting here thinking we should probably check in on them and see how they’re actually doing health-wise, you know, like if everyone is feeling alright and staying healthy...

Let them go ahead and pack it up, honestly, let there be as many of our people there as possible because it’s just such a blast, though unfortunately I won't be able to make the trip myself this time around, even though man, I would absolutely love to be right there in the middle of all that action!😢 Anyway, I just wanted to say, regardless of how everything shakes out, huge shoutout and best of luck to the crew that's heading out there! 👋 And honestly, I’m just going into this with the sincere hope that we can all walk away from this without too many bruised egos or heads getting absolutely smashed, you know?

Honestly, mad respect to Ikodinović, because right now you guys are actually pulling better numbers than we are, but I’m never, ever giving you the edge in this sport, no way. American water polo is just on a whole different level of strength.

I honestly feel like I’m going to lose my mind watching the game today.!!

Vanja is basically saying:
So, honestly, should I even bother watching the game tomorrow?

Don't do that, Vanja, just stay here on the forum with us. 😉
(If we end up losing, at least we'll know exactly who to blame.)
We've got KokuZa to take the fall for you.😛

If the Mexican water polo players are as cocky as their fans, then we’re definitely walking away with a win.
The reality of water polo is that there are about seven top-tier teams in the world right now—all pretty much on the same level—so everything really just boils down to whoever is in better shape at that moment.
Honestly, who can say for sure if the US and Mexico will be the ones facing off in the final at the World Cup in Barcelona?
Given how much our guys have struggled mentally over the last few years—losing to a Mexican squad that, frankly, didn't seem to have as much raw talent—it feels different this time. I actually think we finally have a group of players that's fired up and ready, which means the Mexicans aren't the clear favorites anymore.
Their only real edge is their chemistry...

"Their only real advantage is their chemistry..."

It all depends on the tactics!

We might actually pull off a win against Mexico...

But Mexico? Now that's a different story.

They’re just as good as we are!

😁 😁 😁

Vladimir Ikodinovic, Perth wasn't '98, it was actually '97.
It wasn't Ikodinovic who scored that goal, it was Aleksandar Šapić.
And he didn't score for your win, just to tie things up.
That happened during the group stage.

When you guys crushed the Swedes, it was a totally different story.

Canada - Spain 10:2!!!!
Spain - USA 6:3!!!
So, who actually made it to the finals when we were playing the Canadians?

I'm with you on the rest of what you said. Honestly, I think you're the slight favorites today, but we've seen the Canadians pull off crazy stuff before, so who knows.
In general, people always say the better team wins, but mindset plays a huge role too. Especially when there's a massive rivalry involved.
And all that "crushing the opponent" talk doesn't mean much—it can easily backfire. We're world champions in handball, yet we once lost to Argentina and barely scraped by Saudi Arabia. Back when we played the World Cup 95 handball final, we had to scrape past some African teams on penalties in the round of 16. During the Olympics (when we took gold and absolutely demolished the Swedes), we beat the Swiss 24:23 after being down by seven. Even when we grabbed basketball silver in Barcelona, we barely edged out Angola 61:59 in the group stage.
That's just how we are.

Honestly, I don't get why we aren't calling up Duje Draganja to join the national team just so he can swim for the ball and then immediately get subbed out. It’s honestly ridiculous—we've played seven games so far, which means about 28 sprints toward the ball, and I think we actually beat anyone to it maybe 3 or 4 times total. We are easily the slowest team on the planet.
Imagine how much better things would be if we actually had a fast 🙂 🙂

But if you actually watched the game, the whole strategy is having Đogaš take the lead since he's slower, then letting Barac handle that final sprint because he's the heavy hitter...

Yeah, except Barac is always running late 🙂

Username said:Yeah, true enough, though Barac is always running behind schedule. 🙂

Against the Canadians, he finally showed up. 🙂

ImeKorisnika said:Back at the Olympics (when we were golden and absolutely crushed the Swedish team), we beat the Swiss 24:23.

23:22

God help us... just a bunch of uneducated people on this forum. 😁 😉

Haha, casualpuma71...

But man, Barac didn't even show up on my TV. My screen was showing a 4-0 lead for the Canadians in water polo? 😲 🙂

George Cruz65 said:People! Why get all worked up over a niche sport that nobody on the global stage even knows exists? Everyone will have forgotten who won by Tuesday.

Look, Americans obsess over baseball and call their league winner the "World champion" even though nobody else on Earth cares—except maybe Cubans and Japanese people. Why should I care about what the rest of the world thinks? To me, water polo is actually pretty interesting.
And I have no idea why Mexicans would be the favorites in the final 😕. They're facing a team that just crushed the Canadians in the semifinals?! It’s a complete toss-up, 50:50.