More glory for Greek water polo as the Ethniki Neon were crowned champions of Europe after defeating Montenegro 14:12 in Sunday’s final.
Greece’s successful summer in water polo continued on Sunday as the Ethniki Neon defeated Montenegro 14:12 in Sunday’s final to claim this year’s European championship. The Greek team, who thrashed Croatia with an outstanding 8:0 scoreline in the semi-finals, finished the tournament without tasting a single defeat.
Greece played exceptionally in three of the four periods, however, the national team got off to a slow start falling behind by three goals on two occasions (1:4, 2:5) in the opening period. The second period saw Greece claw their way back into the game pulling within one goal at 6:7 midway through the period and drawing level with just over a minute left in the half. Greece was not done there and with just seconds remaining in the first half, took an 8:7 lead through Alafragis.
From that point on, Greece never lost their lead and held a steady 1-2 goal advantage throughout the third period and increased their advantage to three goals (12:9) in the final minute of the third period. The Ethniki Neon did well to play with the clock in the fourth and final period and marched on to a 14:12 victory to win the European Championship.
Giouvetsis led Greece with five goals while Papanastasiou and Nikolaidis followed with three and two goals respectively. Alafragkis, Rabopoulos, Kalogeropoulos, and Kakaris also contributed with one goal each.
It has been a memorable summer for Greek water polo after Greece women’s national team won silver in the European championships and the men’s Ethniki Efivon won gold in the World Championships. Earlier today, the women’s Ethniki Efivon also claimed the bronze medal at the World Championships.
by Sarantos Kaperonis
