Australia: Set to Face the Hosts of the Water Polo World League Super Final
This week, the World League Super Final begins in Nis, Serbia. The FINA’s 2010 Open begins with Australia’s water polo team in a defiantly good position. They managed to upset the Croatian team, defeating them 10-7 (3-1, 3-2, 2-1, 2-3). The Croatians were ranked the third team of the tournament.
Winning from the beginning, Australia’s Sharks were leading 6-3, and won every quarter except for the fourth, during which Croatia managed to make a comeback with a 3-2 lead. But this would be hardly enough to defeat the Australians, who managed a powerful performance.
It was a challenging match, however, for the Sharks, and it was not easily won. John Fox, their coach, managed to establish a strategy that kept the Croatians from scoring more than their four goals, countering their additional 12 attempts. With an extra-man play, the Croatians had the advantage, but the Australians were ready to swim for two.
Sam McGregor was able to score three goals, which was quite a boost for the confidence of the disadvantaged Australians, while their goalkeeper James Stanton saved nine attempts from the Croatians to score. The match would be memorable for the Australian team player Johnno Cotterill, who was playing his 75th match among the Sharks, after professionally playing for Spain during the year.
Australia’s coach Fox expressed in an interview his reaction to the victory: “It was a pleasing way to begin this tournament, achieving a win over the third-ranked team in the world.” He then added that, “The team's mobility and work ethic presented problems to our much accredited and physically larger opponents. We must now focus on South Africa tomorrow followed by the world number one Serbia on Thursday.”
The focus of the Australian team needs to be kept in order to win their next two matches. But somehow, the team spirit seems to be deteriorating. There was indeed a choice that the Sharks' coach made which made things harder for the Australian teammates. The coach had indeed decided to outcast Steve Cody and Aidan Roach, two brilliant water polo players, that were unable to participate in the event due Fox’s last-minute decision to leave them out. There was unfortunately a need to limit the number of players to 13.
Fox commented his choice:“Steve Cody and Aidan Roach have been the unfortunate victims of this decision and despite both being naturally extremely shattered and disappointed that they won't get to play in this tournament and perhaps the World Cup.”
He added that, “Both have shown tremendous character and continue to offer their upmost support to the team. It is a credit to them in the way they have been able to accept the decision and remain positive despite the disappointment they would be experiencing.”
The two Australians, Cody and Roach, will have to watch their team players from afar and encourage them as best as they can. The news was quite disappointing for the Australians’ supporters.
The Australian Sharks will move on to confront their next opponent in the Group B, facing South Africa’s brand new team. On Thursday, the Sharks will confront the host’s team of the event, Serbia. This will be quite a challenge, as the Serbians--the defending champions--will be playing in front of an enthusiastic crowd, providing full support to their homegrown champions.
Serbia also had a quite an impressive match, crushing South Africa with an embarrassing 22-0. Serbia’s dominating victory have triggered the crowd to expect a second championship title from their team, and therefore prove that they are the masters of water polo.
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