The Greek National Water Polo Team defeated the Netherlands 9-8 in the 2nd matchday of the FINA World League preliminary phase, recording their first win in this year’s competition.
Similar to Greece’s opening match against Croatia (loss 11-6), Theodoros Vlachos gave playing time to new faces as the National Team transitions for the next Olympic period. Greece took an early lead in the match, however the Dutch staged a comeback and went ahead 5-6 with two minutes remaining in the third period.
A strong end to the third quarter once again gave the Galanolefki the lead with Genidounnias and Gounas’ goals before the visitors pulled level (7-7) in the fourth period. Kapotsis and Gounas each found the back of the net in the final period to re-give Greece a 2-goal advantage, which proved to be decisive in the end as Greece held on to the 9-8 win.
Yesterday's result puts Greece on 3-points after two games, tied with the Netherlands, while Croatia continues to lead the group after a big win over France in the other group match (9-14). After the new year, Greece will travel to France for the third matchday of Group B.
*Image Source: sportfm.gr
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