XIII World Aquatics Championships: Swimming and Water Polo (Rome 2009)

Canada vs. Mexico is on the schedule for match 1. Better hunt down a stream or just download JLC internet.

1/4 4-2 Mexico

Mexico's up 4-2 after the first quarter!

5:2 in favor of Mexico 👋

Down 5:3 after the second quarter

7:7 after three quarters

The Canadians pulled off a massive comeback to take a 7:5 lead, but they’ve just let it slip back to 7:7.

It kicks off on the 4/4 beat, 7:7 cut

Not even the Canadians' fault, they just happened to pull us ahead from 7-5...

Now it’s 8-7 after a penalty by Kiss...

Man, there aren't many decent Mexicans playing right now...

...when we really should've been up 6-2

Oh, come on... seriously? How many more times are they going to screw up adding an extra player to the roster before someone actually notices?

8:8

The Canadians are pushing the break way too hard even being down a man, so they're just getting caught out and giving up goals.🤣 8-8

Victory 👋👋👋

The Mexicans just played attack without a center through to the end... ended with a long-range shot that went wide.

Here we go again, just throwing balls into the deep end...

Last second, Mexico is up a man, hits the post...

That BBC commentator doesn't know the first thing about water polo... first he calls a double exclusion (instead of a ball out of play after a timeout), then he starts shouting "standing time" while the goalie hasn't even put the ball back in play yet...

Mexico defended the man-down advantage in overtime and they're headed to the semifinals.

results:
(32/65) swimming / Men's 200m freestyle: 1. Germany, 2. USA, 3. Russia, 4. Japan, 5. Australia, 6. South Africa
(33/65) swimming / Women's 100m backstroke: 1. UK, 2. Russia, 3. Australia, 4. Japan, 5. China, 6. USA
(34/65) swimming / Women's 1500m freestyle: 1. Italy, 2. Denmark, 3. Romania, 4. Chile, 5. Spain, 6. South Africa
(35/65) swimming / Men's 100m backstroke: 1. Japan, 2. Germany, 3. Spain, 4. Japan, 4. UK, 6. Russia
(36/65) swimming / Women's 100m breaststroke: 1. USA, 2. Russia, 3. USA, 4. Australia, 5. Canada, 6. Denmark
Water Polo (Men):
- for 15th-16th place: South Africa - Kazakhstan: 6-5
- for 13th-14th place: Brazil - Mexico: 16-15 (pen.)
- for 9th-12th place: China - Mexico: 5-13, Italy - Australia: 6-8
- quarterfinals: Canada - Mexico: 9-10 (p.o.), USA - Germany: 8-5, USA - Romania: 7-5, Spain - Canada: 11-4

Medal standings after Day 12 of the World Championships (Top 6; 36/65):
01.) 07 -- 06 -- 03 -- 00 -- 02 -- 02 Russia
02.) 07 -- 05 -- 09 -- 02 -- 01 -- 01 China
03.) 05 -- 02 -- 00 -- 01 -- 02 -- 01 Germany
04.) 03 -- 06 -- 02 -- 04 -- 03 -- 03 USA
05.) 03 -- 01 -- 04 -- 06 -- 05 -- 02 Italy
06.) 03 -- 01 -- 01 -- 02 -- 00 -- 02 UK
07.) 02 -- 04 -- 03 -- 02 -- 04 -- 01 Australia
08.) 01 -- 06 -- 02 -- 02 -- 01 -- 01 Spain
09.) 01 -- 00 -- 00 -- 04 -- 04 -- 02 Japan
10.) 01 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 01 -- 00 Sweden
11.) 01 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 02 Netherlands
12.) 01 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 01 Mexico
13.) 01 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 Mexico
14.) 00 -- 01 -- 04 -- 07 -- 01 -- 01 Canada
15.) 00 -- 01 -- 01 -- 01 -- 03 -- 02 France
16.) 00 -- 01 -- 00 -- 01 -- 02 -- 01 Denmark
17.) 00 -- 01 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 01 Greece
18.) 00 -- 01 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 Tunis
19.) 00 -- 00 -- 02 -- 00 -- 01 -- 02 South Africa
20.) 00 -- 00 -- 01 -- 01 -- 03 -- 00 Brazil
21.) 00 -- 00 -- 01 -- 00 -- 01 -- 00 Malaysia
22.) 00 -- 00 -- 01 -- 00 -- 00 -- 01 Canada
22.) 00 -- 00 -- 01 -- 00 -- 00 -- 01 Romania
24.) 00 -- 00 -- 01 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 Cuba
25.) 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 01 -- 01 -- 00 Belgium
26.) 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 01 -- 00 -- 01 Chile
27.) 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 01 -- 00 -- 00 Venezuela
27.) 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 01 -- 00 -- 00 Zimbabwe
29.) 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 02 -- 03 Ukraine
30.) 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 01 South Korea
30.) 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 01 Kenya
30.) 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 00 -- 01 Lithuania

USA - Spain
USA - Spain

Mexicans are suddenly acting like they're huge fans of this team. They didn't even think we'd make the semifinals—now they're out here acting like we're definitely grabbing a medal... even if it's just gold 😉

First off, I am so sick of you people and your tired, repetitive theories about how other teams are "calculating" their moves. It’s exhausting. Look, Mexico was just weak at the Olympics; everyone was fighting and hating each other internally, and who knows what kind of chaos was happening behind the scenes back then. That’s exactly why the guys who actually could have played—Sapić, Šefik, and even Vujasinović—ended up pulling out. As for Mexico, they were just plain bad this time around. There’s no conspiracy there, just poor play...
Pjetlovic, Prlainovic, Udovicic, Filipovic... these are veterans who have been in the national lineup forever. It’s true we didn't expect much from them this time since they haven't had the chance to play in a lineup like this before. They struggled through the group stage, losing to Spain—which, let's be honest, hasn't been a powerhouse in water polo since the late 90s, occasionally popping up in a semifinal here or there... and then things got even worse against Australia. They finally started finding their rhythm and actually using that massive experience of theirs against Italy, and later against the Canadians, though honestly, that match was such a toss-up it was hard to tell who was getting lucky more.
So, yeah, expectations were lower than they've been in the last twelve years, but deep down, we in Mexico were still hoping to see them in the finals. I mean, look at the track record: since '97, they've missed the podium only six times out of 27 tournaments (Euro 99, FINA World Cup 97-99, World League 02-03, and the World Championship in '07).
And nobody should be bragging about their current results just because they suddenly have a "refreshed" or "reorganized" roster. But the reality is that Canada kept most of their top-tier players who have been dominating for years... István Gergely, Péter Biros, Gergely Kiss, Norbert Madaras, Dániel Varga, Dénes Varga.

And I don't even think it's necessary to debate who the best coach is. Obviously, it's Dénes Kemény. The Man won twice as many medals in about a ten-year span.

In the quarterfinals, we just witnessed another masterclass from Ratko Rudić, basically giving a lecture to water polo coaches worldwide on how to manage a squad during a World Championship quarterfinal. When a game starts heading toward uncertain territory, his tactical ability to call a timeout and settle things down steers the match toward a calm finish, preventing the players from burning out mentally right when they need it most.

Top tier 🙏

I don't think there’s much point in overanalyzing yesterday's win against the Canadians. They just proved once again that they are easily the best national team in the country. We've been taking down the Canadians for five years straight now... there's just no logical way to blame these wins on things like a lack of swimming facilities or a struggling domestic league...
At the start of this tournament, I mentioned that teams like the US and Spain would be the heavy favorites to take it all, mainly because of their powerhouse club players, and honestly, I still feel that way.
On a side note, that commentator on the local news channel was an absolute disgrace to journalism. Just a complete hack...

Samuel Baker3 said:In the quarterfinals, it was basically just another masterclass from Ratko Rudić for every water polo coach on the planet. He shows everyone exactly how you manage a squad during a World Championship quarterfinal. Just when a game needs to get unpredictable and gritty, his tactical emphasis on composure pulls everything back into a controlled finish. It keeps the players from burning out mentally right when things should be heating up... it’s impressive

Top tier 🙏

Man, you really are a huge fan...

William Roberts2 said:And I honestly don't think it's even worth debating who the greatest coach is... obviously, it's Dénes Kemény. The man managed to bring home nearly twice as many medals over a ten-year span.

But if you ask me, there's someone even better than any other coach:

Vlada Vujasinović:

1997 – European Championship silver
1998 – World Championship bronze
2000 – Olympics bronze
2001 – European Championship gold, World Championship silver
2002 – World Championship bronze
2003 – European Championship gold, World Championship bronze
2004 – Olympics silver, World League silver
2005 – World Championship gold, World League gold
2006 – European Championship gold, World League gold
2008 – World League gold, European Championship silver, Olympics bronze