Greeks come from behind to defeat USA in thriller

Defending champions Greece came back from a 5-9 third period deficit to force a penalty shootout with less than one second left, beating the United States *11-11 (4-1 on penalties) to advance to the semifinals of the 2019 Men’s Junior (U20) Water Polo World Championships.

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After going undefeated in group play, Greece received a bye to the quarterfinals. The Americans beat Canada 12-6 on Tuesday to set up a meeting with the Greeks. Although Greece were heavily favored to win, the Americans surprisingly took a 0-4 lead early in the first period. Two late goals from the Greeks saw them reduce the Americans’ lead to 2-4 after the conclusion of one period of play. The Americans then found themselves ahead 5-7 after the second period, with Greek coach Theodoros Lorantos having received a red card.

In the third period, the United States extended their lead to 5-9, but the Greeks would then score three unanswered goals to see them only trailing by 8-9 after the third period. Greece then extended their run to 5-0, taking a 10-9 lead in the fourth period. However, the Americans responded quickly by going up 10-11 themselves. With half a second left in the fourth period, Greece’s Efstathios Kalogeropoulos found the back of the net to level the score at 11-11 and force a penalty shootout.

Greece quickly went up 3-0 in the shootout, and ultimately won it 4-1 to book their place in the semifinals after a dramatic quarterfinal win. Konstantinos Gkiouvetsis was Greece’s top scorer of the match with four goals. Kalogeropoulos, Dimitrios Nikolaidis, and Alexandros Papanastasiou each scored two goals in regulation, plus one in the shootout as well.

Greece will now take on Croatia in the semifinals on Thursday, in a rematch of the 2017 final which Greece won on penalties. Croatia edged Spain 7-6 in their quarterfinal match. Italy and Serbia will face each other in the other semifinal. It should be mentioned that Greece are the overwhelming favorites to take the title this year, as they are not only the defending champions, but the Greeks from this generation also won gold last year at both the European U19 Championships and the World U18 Championships.

by Andrew Stamas

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