The gold in Tokyo nicely marked the end of the great generation of Serbia that dominated world water polo for almost a decade. After that, the "dolphins" sank, the medals stopped coming, and they had to play qualifiers against selections such as Great Britain, Turkey and Slovakia...
The same selection, much rejuvenated and written off by everyone after the first stage of the Olympic Games, won the gold again, the third consecutive Games - something that only Hungary managed until now from 2000 to 2008.
Uroš Stevanović's team gave Croatia a lesson in water polo and deservedly climbed Mount Olympus once again - 13:11. Thus, Serbia continued its unreal streak in the finals of major competitions since 2012 - it played 17 of them and won every one.
On the other hand, Croatia had a repeat of Rio when they were defeated by the same big rival in the final.
From the start, it was clear in which direction the final was going - Miloš Ćuk and Nikola Jakšić led the "dolphins" to 5:2, and when the "barracudas" threatened through Luka Lončar, a new response from the center of Primorje Nemanja Vic and Strahinja Rašović would arrive for 7:3.
Ivica Tucak changed goalkeepers, and Loren Fatović and Jerko Marinić-Kragić gave Croatia new hope (7:5).
Serbia "danced" in front of the goals of Marko Bijač and Tonij Popadić, so at the moment when Nikola Dedović scored for 8:5, the game in attack with more players of this selection was seven out of seven.
It was the result of the first half, and Serbia continued with 10:6, but at the beginning of the last quarter, Josip Vrlić reduced it to 11:9 and seemed to announce the drama...
However, nothing came of it, Tucak's boys made a lot of mistakes, they didn't even have the courage, and then Dedović masterfully put the ball through for 12:9 and settled the final with three minutes left.
Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo and Paris remain memorable, while Croatia has the consolation that it had a great year in which it played in three finals and reached the world crown.
Bonus video:
