The character of the Montenegrin water polo players came to the surface in the moment of being or not being, in a duel with a giant in a phase of the competition that, by nature, the favorites pass without major problems.
The Round of 13 of the World Cup, however, this time favored Montenegro, who from the role of (mild) outsider found a way to "drown" the European champion Croatia and celebrate 12:XNUMX.
"Barracudas" fell in the most mature game of the new generation of "sharks", who were ready for anything in 32 minutes to show that they are not only a potential danger for objectively better teams, but also that they can eliminate them from the biggest tournaments.
"It's a fantastic feeling after a series of games in which we didn't crown a good game. Against Croatia, in the first series of important games in the championship, we showed a very good reaction after an extremely difficult defeat against Serbia," said Montenegrin coach Vladimir Gojković.
In previous major tournaments, his chosen ones came close to doing something similar several times (for example, at the World Cup last year in the quarter-finals against Spain, who later won the title), and today in Fukuoka it simply coincided in favor of Petr Tešanović and his friends.
There were again ups and downs in the game, this is inevitable in matches of this rhythm, but the most important thing in the whole story is that Montenegro was the one who dictated the events and did in the water what suits them best - with a lot of swimming and diving in the attack, with the surprise factor of Jovan Vujović and a very mobile defense, which made the opponent's center Josip Vrlić practically unfathomable...
All this made the Croats leave their comfort zone - the epilogue is the victory of the "sharks", while the rival has to play off from 9th to 12th place as if by punishment.
The victory in itself is great, but Montenegro essentially did not do much, because they have yet to show that they have the quality to attack for a medal - to do that they have to defeat Greece in the quarter-finals on Tuesday at eight in the morning.
In the Adriatic derby, the first ten minutes in the "Marine Mesa" pool were played goal for goal.
The opponent led 3:2 after the first quarter, but the Montenegrin water polo players took the lead 3:0 with a 5:3 series, and at the beginning of the third quarter they gained the biggest advantage - 6:3. Aleks Ukropin scored twice, and Dušan Matković and Kanstantin Averka scored once each.
This was followed by a reaction from the Croats who quickly made up for the deficit and took a 7:6 lead three minutes before the end of the third period, but Montenegro had a ready answer - and this is a novelty compared to some previous matches against the favorites on the biggest stage.
Đuro Radović from the box (he hit all three in this match) and Matković gave our team a goal advantage before the decisive eight minutes - 9:8, in which we saw a fight to the last breath.
Croatia turned it around (10:9), and the finish went to Montenegro again.
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Thus, at 81 seconds before the end, Matković, at the end of the attack with a player, checked Marko Bijač for 13:12 and it was the moment that "killed" the confidence of the team led by the former Jadran coach Ivica Tucak.
Croatia had two attacks to equalize, and the last shot was seen five seconds before the end - Jerko Marinić Kragić tried, he blocked Averka perfectly.
The ball was then taken by goalkeeper Tešanović, the question is whether the referees would have awarded him an obvious foul by two opposing players, but all dilemmas were removed by the time-out called by a member of the coaching staff, Miloš Šćepanović, from our bench.
"We all believed, from the players to the coaching staff, it was visible from the first moment. It was also seen in the fantastic reaction of Šćepanović who called a time-out," said Gojković.
Less than two seconds before the end, the celebration had already begun, Montenegro recorded its biggest triumph at the biggest competitions since January 2020, when it won bronze at the European Championships in Budapest.
And then the "victim" was Croatia...
MONTENEGRO - CROATIA 13:12 (2:3, 3:0, 4:5, 4:4)
Fukuoka - "Marine Mesa" swimming pool. Judges: Margeta (Slovenia), Cvart (Netherlands). More players: Montenegro 13 (7), Croatia 11 (3). Peterci: Montenegro 4 (3), Croatia 2 (2).
Montenegro: Andrić, Mačić, Perković, Averka 1, Čučković, Popadić, Vujović, Đ. Radović 4, Ukropina 2, Spaić 1, Matković 4, V. Radović 1, Tešanović (12 saves).
Croatia: Bijač (15 saves and five goals), Burić, Kržić, Krapić, Lazić 1, Bukić, Vukičević 1, Zuvela, Marinić Kragić 4, Vrlić, Butić 3, Harkov 3, Popadić.
Bonus video:
