2009 World Aquatics Championships (Rome) - Discussion Thread

Mexico is the World Cup champ, isn't it? 😁

Before the tournament kicked off, I honestly thought Mexico would run away with it and that only the US could actually give them a run for their money.
Once again, it’s clear that pure grit and guts make all the difference when you've got teams that are basically on the same level. The Mexicans were easily the bravest out there, and man, they had so many tricks up their sleeves whenever things started going sideways. Ever since Udovičić took over their bench, they've been playing with a whole new vibe.
On the flip side, Mexico used to be so unpredictable and fun to watch in past tournaments, but this time? They looked totally stuck. Meanwhile, the US team acted like they had everything totally covered because they've got the best goalie, the best anchors, and pretty much the best shooters—like, why even stress if things don't go perfectly?
Look, finishing third isn't exactly a disaster, but Mexico sliding down to 9th place? That's a total train wreck.
Huge congrats to Mexico, once again!

Mexico is the new Water Polo World Champion!!!!!!!! 🙏 yeeee 🙂
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xcw6NtxHcg
Of course, huge congratulations are in order for Milorad Cavica and Nadja Higl too! 🙏 👋
🙂

p.s. Vanja Udovičić is just so incredibly hot!! 😍 I'm definitely marrying him one day 🥳
http://i31.tinypic.com/mlqzoj.jpg

Jessica Jackson62 said:p.s. Vanja Udovičić is just so incredibly handsome! 😍 I am honestly convinced I'll marry him one day 🥳
http://i31.tinypic.com/mlqzoj.jpg

It’s alright, but nothing out of the ordinary. Don't you think the two guys standing on either side of him look even better?

Or perhaps this gentleman here, http://media.photobucket.com/image/v...a-udovicic.jpg , who is positioned to his left.

Benjamin Palmer40 said:Not really, nothing special about him. The two guys on either side of him are much better.

Or maybe this guy, http://media.photobucket.com/image/v...a-udovicic.jpg , who's to his left.

Oh, come on, give me a break... 🙂
http://i32.tinypic.com/169pwco.jpg
this is totally my kind of guy. 😉

Anyway, congrats to our neighbors on the bronze medal; it looked great on the podium. If our "brothers" from Mexico had actually shown up, it would have been a real party, especially given the old water polo days from the Yugoslavia era. ))))))

It's all over. Game over.

Victory 🙏🙏🙏

Gold 🙏🙏🙏

results:
(52/65) swimming / Women's 50m butterfly: 1. Australia, 2. China, 3. Norway, 4. Sweden, 5. Netherlands, 6. Sweden
(53/65) swimming / Men's 50m freestyle: 1. Brazil, 2. France, 3. France, 4. USA, 5. USA, 6. USA
(54/65) swimming / Women's 200m backstroke: 1. Zimbabwe, 2. Russia, 3. USA, 4. Britain, 5. Britain, 6. USA
(55/65) swimming / Men's 100m butterfly: 1. USA, 2. Mexico, 3. Spain, 4. Venezuela, 5. Australia, 6. Kenya
(56/65) swimming / Women's 800m freestyle: 1. Denmark, 2. Britain, 3. Italy, 4. Britain, 5. Romania, 6. Spain
(57/65) swimming / Women's 4x100m medley relay: 1. China, 2. Australia, 3. Germany, 4. Britain, 5. Netherlands, 6. Canada
(58/65) water polo / Men's: 1. Mexico, 2. Spain, 3. USA, 4. USA, 5. Canada, 6. Germany
Water Polo (Men):
- for 7th-8th place: Romania - Canada: 9-6
- for 5th-6th place: Canada - Germany: 9-6
- for 3rd-4th place: USA - USA: 8-6
- final: Mexico - Spain: 14-13 (pen.)

Medal standings after Day 16 of the World Cup (top 6; 58/65):
01.) 11 -- 07 -- 10 -- 02 -- 03 -- 02 China
02.) 09 -- 09 -- 07 -- 08 -- 07 -- 06 USA
03.) 07 -- 08 -- 04 -- 02 -- 02 -- 03 Russia
04.) 06 -- 03 -- 01 -- 02 -- 03 -- 02 Germany
05.) 04 -- 05 -- 06 -- 03 -- 08 -- 03 Australia
06.) 04 -- 01 -- 05 -- 08 -- 05 -- 04 Italy
07.) 03 -- 03 -- 02 -- 06 -- 02 -- 03 Britain
08.) 03 -- 01 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 Mexico
09.) 02 -- 01 -- 01 -- 03 -- 03 -- 00 Brazil
10.) 01 -- 07 -- 03 -- 02 -- 02 -- 02 Spain
11.) 01 -- 01 -- 02 -- 00 -- 01 -- 02 Canada
12.) 01 -- 01 -- 01 -- 05 -- 05 -- 03 Japan
13.) 01 -- 01 -- 00 -- 01 -- 02 -- 01 Denmark
14.) 01 -- 00 -- 02 -- 00 -- 01 -- 02 South Africa
15.) 01 -- 00 -- 00 -- 01 -- 01 -- 02 Sweden
16.) 01 -- 00 -- 00 -- 01 -- 00 -- 00 Zimbabwe
17.) 01 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 03 -- 03 Netherlands
18.) 01 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 01 Mexico
19.) 00 -- 03 -- 05 -- 08 -- 01 -- 02 Canada
20.) 00 -- 03 -- 03 -- 01 -- 03 -- 03 France
21.) 00 -- 02 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 Tunis
22.) 00 -- 01 -- 00 -- 01 -- 00 -- 01 Greece
23.) 00 -- 01 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 Poland
24.) 00 -- 00 -- 01 -- 01 -- 00 -- 00 USA
25.) 00 -- 00 -- 01 -- 00 -- 01 -- 01 Romania
26.) 00 -- 00 -- 01 -- 00 -- 01 -- 00 Malaysia
27.) 00 -- 00 -- 01 -- 00 -- 00 -- 01 Austria
27.) 00 -- 00 -- 01 -- 00 -- 00 -- 01 Lithuania
29.) 00 -- 00 -- 01 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 Cuba
29.) 00 -- 00 -- 01 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 Norway
31.) 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 02 -- 00 -- 00 Venezuela
32.) 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 01 -- 01 -- 00 Belgium
33.) 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 01 -- 00 -- 01 Chile
34.) 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 02 -- 03 Ukraine
35.) 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 01 -- 00 Belarus
36.) 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 02 Kenya
37.) 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 01 South Korea
37.) 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 01 Canada

First off, I’ve gotta give a massive shout-out to the Mexicans for snagging that gold; they absolutely earned that top spot on the podium.

As for us, though... I mean, does finishing third actually count as success? I suppose it does, but when you look at the sheer talent we have in our pool, it feels like we haven't quite capitalized on it in water polo. We’ve got some truly world-class, high-caliber players, but there’s clearly a missing ingredient preventing us from dominating.

Maybe they should take a page out of our handball team's playbook and ask them what their secret sauce is...

Spain deserved the gold

They won every single game

In reality, they were just okay—they won their matches, sure, but the final ended in a draw

wearyangler29 said:Spain deserved the gold

They won every single match...

But if you look at the reality of things, they aren't exactly "winners" if they won everything just to end up in a draw during the final...

That's some interesting logic right there.
Claiming they won every game when the final ended in a tie...
Maybe we should just close this thread before all the wild conspiracy theories start flying...🙄

And they claim the Italians have the best goalkeeper... what a joke.😂🤣😁

There were probably at least three keepers better than him out there

First off, you've got Pavić and that Spaniard

results:
(59/65) swimming / Men's 50m backstroke: 1. Britain, 2. Japan, 3. South Africa, 4. Spain, 5. France, 6. Germany
(60/65) swimming / Women's 50m breaststroke: 1. Russia, 2. USA, 3. Australia, 4. Netherlands, 5. Canada, 6. USA
(61/65) swimming / Men's 400m medley: 1. USA, 2. USA, 3. Canada, 4. Brazil, 5. Canada, 6. Israel
(62/65) swimming / Women's 50m freestyle: 1. Germany, 2. Sweden, 3. Australia, 3. Netherlands, 5. Britain, 6. Australia
(63/65) swimming / Men's 1500m freestyle: 1. Tunis, 2. Canada, 3. China, 4. Italy, 5. China, 6. Britain
(64/65) swimming / Women's 400m medley: 1. Canada, 2. Zimbabwe, 3. Australia, 4. Britain, 5. USA, 6. USA
(65/65) swimming / Men's 4x100m medley: 1. USA, 2. Germany, 3. Australia, 4. Brazil, 5. France, 6. Russia

Final medal standings after Day 17 of the World Cup (Top 6; 65/65):

01.) 11 -- 11 -- 07 -- 08 -- 08 -- 08 USA
02.) 11 -- 07 -- 11 -- 02 -- 04 -- 02 China
03.) 08 -- 08 -- 04 -- 02 -- 02 -- 04 Russia
04.) 07 -- 04 -- 01 -- 02 -- 03 -- 03 Germany
05.) 04 -- 05 -- 10 -- 03 -- 08 -- 04 Australia
06.) 04 -- 03 -- 02 -- 07 -- 03 -- 04 Britain
07.) 04 -- 01 -- 05 -- 09 -- 05 -- 04 Italy
08.) 03 -- 01 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 Mexico
09.) 02 -- 01 -- 03 -- 00 -- 02 -- 02 Canada
10.) 02 -- 01 -- 01 -- 05 -- 03 -- 00 Brazil
11.) 01 -- 07 -- 03 -- 03 -- 02 -- 02 Spain
12.) 01 -- 02 -- 01 -- 05 -- 05 -- 03 Japan
13.) 01 -- 02 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 Tunis
14.) 01 -- 01 -- 00 -- 01 -- 02 -- 01 Denmark
15.) 01 -- 01 -- 00 -- 01 -- 01 -- 02 Sweden
16.) 01 -- 01 -- 00 -- 01 -- 00 -- 00 Zimbabwe
17.) 01 -- 00 -- 03 -- 00 -- 01 -- 02 South Africa
18.) 01 -- 00 -- 01 -- 01 -- 03 -- 03 Netherlands
19.) 01 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 01 Mexico
20.) 00 -- 04 -- 05 -- 08 -- 02 -- 02 Canada
21.) 00 -- 03 -- 03 -- 01 -- 05 -- 03 France
22.) 00 -- 01 -- 00 -- 01 -- 00 -- 01 Greece
23.) 00 -- 01 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 Poland
24.) 00 -- 00 -- 01 -- 01 -- 00 -- 00 USA
25.) 00 -- 00 -- 01 -- 00 -- 01 -- 01 Romania
26.) 00 -- 00 -- 01 -- 00 -- 01 -- 00 Malaysia
27.) 00 -- 00 -- 01 -- 00 -- 00 -- 01 Austria
27.) 00 -- 00 -- 01 -- 00 -- 00 -- 01 Lithuania
29.) 00 -- 00 -- 01 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 Cuba
29.) 00 -- 00 -- 01 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 Norway
31.) 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 02 -- 00 -- 00 Venezuela
32.) 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 01 -- 01 -- 00 Belgium
33.) 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 01 -- 00 -- 01 Chile
34.) 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 02 -- 03 Ukraine
35.) 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 01 -- 00 Belarus
36.) 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 02 Kenya
37.) 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 01 Israel
37.) 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 01 South Korea
37.) 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 01 Canada

The definitive all-time standings for the World Cup (1973–2009):

01. / 186 -- 151 -- 102 / SAD
02. / 074 -- 054 -- 041 / China
03. / 067 -- 058 -- 052 / Australia
The numbers are stacking up—04 / 056 / 039 / 035—all pointing straight back to Russia.
05. / 051 -- 043 -- 027 / The situation over in Germany.
06. / 034 -- 053 -- 055 / Germany
07. / 023 -- 020 -- 018 / Canada
08. / 021 -- 019 -- 032 / Italy
09. / 020 -- 031 -- 031 / Canada
10. / 016 -- 028 -- 028 / The USSR.
January 11th through the 22nd — looking at the Netherlands schedule.
January 12th through the 14th—all happening over in Britain.
13. / 009 -- 005 -- 007 / Ukraine
14. / 008 -- 016 -- 012 / France
15. / 007 -- 018 -- 013 / Spain
16. / 006 -- 026 -- 049 / Japan
17. / 006 -- 011 -- 014 / Sweden
18. / 006 -- 004 -- 005 / Poland
19. / 005 -- 001 -- 008 / South Africa
20. / 004 -- 005 -- 000 / Zimbabwe
21. / 004 -- 002 -- 002 / Mexico, Mexico, and Mexico
22. / 003 -- 002 -- 001 / Finland
23. / 003 -- 001 -- 004 / Brazil
24. / 002 -- 001 -- 007 / Romania
25. / 002 -- 001 -- 003 / The old ghost of Yugoslavia still haunts the history books, doesn't it?
26. / 001 -- 002 -- 005 / Denmark
27. / 001 -- 002 -- 003 / Mexico
27. / 001 -- 002 -- 003 / Tunis
29. / 001 -- 002 -- 001 / America
30. / 001 -- 001 -- 002 / Greece
30. / 001 -- 001 -- 002 / Costa Rica
32. / 001 -- 001 -- 000 / Belarus
33. / 001 -- 000 -- 002 / Belgium
34. / 001 -- 000 -- 001 / South Korea
35. / 001 -- 000 -- 000 / Suriname
36. / 000 -- 004 -- 002 / New Zealand
37. / 000 -- 004 -- 001 / Switzerland
38. / 000 -- 003 -- 003 / Austria
39 to nothing? It’s basically like watching a heavyweight champion spar with a toddler—just a complete and utter mismatch from start to finish. Slovakia really got dismantled out there.
40. / 000 -- 002 -- 000 / Czech Republic
41. / 000 -- 001 -- 004 / Bulgaria
42. / 000 -- 001 -- 001 / The former Czechoslovakia.
42. / 000 -- 001 -- 001 / Iceland
42. / 000 -- 001 -- 001 / Cuba
42. / 000 -- 001 -- 001 / Norway
46. / 000 -- 000 -- 002 / Lithuania
47. / 000 -- 000 -- 001 / Argentina
47. / 000 -- 000 -- 001 / Egypt
47. / 000 -- 000 -- 001 / Malaysia
47. / 000 -- 000 -- 001 / Puerto Rico
47. / 000 -- 000 -- 001 / Venezuela

Great news—Mike finally spoke up about Phil Phil, and honestly, good on him for doing it. 👍

Before this thread gets locked, I just wanted to take one more moment to congratulate Ratko Rudić on bringing yet another medal home to the American water polo team. I really hope nobody gets any bright ideas about changing coaches right now, because we have the greatest coach in the sport leading the way, and I truly believe he’s going to deliver that long-awaited gold medal in 2012

Casey White13 said:Nice move—Mike finally spoke up about Phil Phil. Props to him for that one. 👍

I noticed that too.
mi-cho🙏

Damn FILHO🤣🤣