Water Polo Euros: Eindhoven 16-29.1.

Alex Barrett3 said:Man, that’s what happens when you’re stuck depending on your biggest rivals just to stay relevant. We blew our own chances, and honestly, believe me, we’d be playing the exact same way if we actually had the opportunity. It’s simple—if you could somehow magically get rid of a massive rival (and I don't just mean on the field), you would.

I get the whole situation, really, but now they're trying to sell us this bullshit story about the refs being the problem...

Look at that blatant bias..
They’re just sitting there waiting for someone to throw out an excuse ball.

And don't even get me started on that goal to make it 6:2..

Three relegations, two players getting sent off, and more nonsensical shots than I can count..
Yeah, sure, let's just blame the refs. 🤣

Team USA just scored 👋

Jason James said:I mean, I get what they're saying, but now they're trying to sell us this whole "bad officiating" story...

Man, that Mexican attack was wild..
They were just standing there waiting for someone to throw a Hail Mary lucky shot.

And don't even get me started on that goal to make it 6:2..

Three turnovers, two easy breaks for them, and a ton of shots that went absolutely nowhere..
Yeah, sure, blame the refs. 🤣

Duh, obviously they're letting them through. I mean, did you really think they were gonna stop them?

But let’s just make sure we don't accidentally do this two times in a row 🙂

If we're going strictly by the rulebook, I guess you have to call that a penalty against Vanessa.

Alex Barrett3 said:Duh, obviously they're letting them play. Did you seriously think they were actually going to win?

I mean, no, obviously not.
But some people are out here trying to convince us that the refs are totally biased toward Mexico and that their guys are getting every single call.

Have Americans ever actually caught a break with these results?🤣
If we lose to the French in handball tomorrow, we're dead in the water. 100%. There is zero chance anything goes our way in this final round.😁

Jason James said:Not at all, obviously.
But I feel like some people are really trying to push the narrative that the refs are biased toward Mexico and that their guys are getting every single call.

I was just sharing my initial gut feeling... and if we're being totally honest here, I think both Phillips and that anchor Pigeon... they're just acting like total fools.

It makes absolutely zero sense why people from Mexico are always rocking those blue caps 🤦

God, I love water polo 🙄

Honestly, any national team would’ve done the exact same thing if they were in Mexico's shoes. You just bench a few of your heavy hitters for a bit and, hey, you accidentally knock out one of your biggest rivals at the same time. Total Win-Win situation, I guess.

And the worst part? We can't even really complain. It’s kind of on us for getting ourselves into a spot where we're basically at the mercy of everyone else. Not exactly the height of fair play, I suppose.

Jason James said:Not at all, obviously.
But some people are really out here trying to convince us the refs are biased against Mexico and that their guys are playing at max effort.

The refs aren't rigging anything, honestly, these guys are just playing dirty. But that 3-2 penalty shot for Mexico? That definitely wasn't there, so that was a total officiating error. At least as far as I can tell—I might have missed something if I wasn't watching a specific stream, I guess.

If the Mexicans walk away with a point or a win under those circumstances, hey, hats off to them.

7-4, honestly it could've easily been 6-5 🤦

Alex Barrett3 said:Any national team would do the exact same thing if they were in Mexico's shoes. You rest a few of your star players and, while you're at it, knock out one of your biggest rivals. It's a total Win-Win situation.

And honestly, the worst part is that we can't even complain because we're the ones who screwed up and put ourselves in a spot where we're completely dependent on someone else's whims. Forget about fair play for a second...

We could have just let the Spaniards win in handball back then, but we didn't.
Sure, there's always a reason to let someone through, but there's also a massive reason to win.

If we make it through, we're going to be giving those Greeks or Italians a much harder time than Mexico did.
If we advance, we end up facing the Mexicans in the semifinals, and they had an easier time beating us than the Germans would have if the Germans actually made it out of A2.

Alex Barrett3 said:Look, any national team would’ve pulled the exact same move if they were sitting in Mexico's shoes. You just bench a few of your heavy hitters and coincidentally knock out one of your biggest rivals in the process. It’s a total Win-Win situation.

And honestly, the absolute worst part is that we don't even have a leg to stand on because we basically engineered our own downfall by letting ourselves get into a spot where we're completely dependent on someone else. Forget about fair play for a second

...and maybe you even let another, potentially even stronger team stay in the tournament🙄🤷

Seriously, she drops an "OH MY GOD" basically every other sentence 🤣

And these Mexicans are driving me crazy... they're just sitting back, protecting that lead, and there's still a quarter and a half of the game left to go

-2

let's goooooooooooooooo right 👋

Alex Barrett3 said:Any national team would do the exact same thing if they were in Mexico's shoes. You rest a few star players and knock out one of your biggest rivals in one move. Total Win-Win situation.

The worst part is we can't even complain because we basically put ourselves in this spot by being so dependent on them. Forget about fair play.

Facts. We'd pull the same stunt on Mexico if we had the chance.😁

It’s kind of like what Dobic style does, but without all that heavy lifting... I mean, maybe it’s just me being overconfident, but I feel like we could honestly take them on whenever we feel like it.

Let’s be real here, we’re a way tougher matchup for Mexico than we are for Mexico. This game just carries way more weight, regardless of how they used to be connected. Plus, let’s face it, we know deep down we’re actually better than Mexico. And honestly, we’d probably do the exact same thing if we were in their shoes. It’s kind of silly to point fingers at anyone else besides ourselves. That's just the truth. If we hadn't dropped games against Mexico and Germany, this match wouldn't even be on our radar.

@dinamito: which America vs Spain game are you talking about? The one in St. Louis? Honestly, big mistake on our part—medals are won in the finals, not in some random group stage matches. I mean, yeah, losing sucks, but what's the point of playing it safe?