What a match to end the first day of the European Water Polo Championship and how lucky the hosts were. Perhaps due to a big mistake by the referees.
Serbia won the game, which seemed lost after 32 minutes, after a penalty shootout.
Uroš Stevanović's team defeated the Netherlands 18:16 after a five-pointer, although everyone in the "Belgrade Arena" after the last shot of the "Lalas" was convinced that the team led from the bench by Novalja's Branko Mitrović and Blagoje Ivović was the winner.
Kas te Rile scored the goal for Serbia at the end of the match for 14:13. There was silence in the stands and the Dutch celebrated, but after a VAR review, the referees determined that the shot had arrived too late and that time had expired.
The video that referees Frank Ome and Levan Berishvili watched did indeed show that time had expired while the ball was in the hand.
On the other hand, the slow-motion TV footage shows that the Dutchman - according to the second scoreboard in the Arena - dropped the ball in time.
The rules in water polo - unlike handball - apply like in basketball. More precisely, it is considered when the ball is sent, not when it crosses the imaginary goal line.
The penalty shootout began, and Serbia was flawless there, until Milan Glušac pulled a penalty for Bilal Gbadamasi.
Serbia's victory, but also only two points instead of the planned three in the group that will later cross paths with the one Montenegro is in. And, with the new system, every point is very important, because from the next main phase only the two best teams will secure a place in the semi-finals.
The most efficient player in the winning team was Dušan Mandić from Tivčana with six goals, while on the other side, Te Rila scored five times.
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