Final Four Men Oradea 2012

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European Water Polo Club Cup Competitions

Men’s Champions League FINAL FOUR – Oradea 2012
Recco returns to the throne

http://www.len.eu/cms?press+pr+2012=237

Pro Recco of Italy regained its European supremacy after a hard-fought win against Croatian rival, Primorje Rijeka. Recco won its seventh Champions League title, and the fourth in six years. They also wrote a new chapter in European water polo history by becoming the first club whose men’s and women’s teams collect the trophies of their respective top continental competitions in the same season. The bronze medal went to Mladost Zagreb of Croatia, while Vasas of Hungary had to settle for fourth place in Oradea.

The game for the bronze medal brought little excitement: the freshly crowned Hungarian Champion, Vasas, struggled for most of the game. They seemed to have run out of gas for the last game of the season. Even if Mladost could only use nine field players (two were suspended after seeing red-cards in the semis) and they lost two more with three major fouls by the beginning of the fourth period, they were still in commanding mood and ahead most of the game. Mladost took control in the second quarter (leading 6-4 after being 2-3 down) and never let Vasas back in the game. They even jumped to an 8-4 lead in the third and maintained this gap till the end with a great team effort and four players netting two goals respectively and three adding one apiece. Mladost finished the season on a high note despite their failure to reach their domestic league’s final. Their team won the Croatian Cup and finished third in the Champions League – a good base for the next season.

The final was a totally different story. Very different from the other three games of this tournament – both Semi Finals and the contest for the third place were rather one-sided –, and also different from the two finalists‘ previous encounter when Recco demolished Rijeka in the final of the Adriatic League. This time the Croats gave their best and they managed to remain in the game for quite a while. In fact, Recco hadn’t had such a tough test in the entire season in the Champions League as in this final game when they really had to put up a strong battle to overcome their opponent. Ivan Buljubasic opened the score for Rijeka but Recco hit back with four consecutive goals, most of them coming from pinpoint shots at the end of the 6 on 5s. Being 4-1 up, Recco seemed to sit comfortably in the driving seat – but what happened next was really unexpected: Rijeka hit three in a row, within a span of four minutes, and this period determined the rest of the evening: the Croatians, fuelled by two fantastic goals by Hungarian Olympic Champion Denes Varga, who was elected the MVP of the event, believed at last that they could make an upset and fought with tripled efforts. Even if Recco hit back immediately for 6-4, and jumped to an 8-5 lead in the middle of the third (Aleksandar Ivovic’s blasts constantly found the back of the net), Rijeka wasn’t done yet. The Croats climbed back with two fine action goals for 8-7 and Recco needed a wicked deflected shot to make it 9-7 with 0:04 on the clock.

No other team has ever been close to Recco at the beginning of the fourth period in any Champions League game this season, but Rijeka managed to bury an extra for 9-8 with 5:37 to go. However, Andrea Prlainovic killed their momentum as he was cool enough to score in the following 6 on 5 – and the Italians‘ defence managed to deny their rivals‘ attacks in the remaining five minutes. A fine lob from Boris Zlokovic virtually ended the contest with 3:40 to go (11-8) – Rijeka’s desperate attempts didn’t bring any results while Recco didn’t risk anything.

At the end, head coach Giuseppe Porzio was pushed into the pool by the triumphant players who joyfully celebrated their return to the European throne. This was the seventh European title for Pro Recco, and the fourth in the past six years (2007, 2008, 2010, 2012). The men’s side completed the mission of the club which also put together a great women‘s team that already won their Champions Cup two weeks ago. The men got the Champions League and thus Recco became the first club in history which owns the top European trophy in both genders‘ most important competition.

Champions League Final Four, Oradea 2012

Final (Saturday, May 12)

Ferla Pro Recco (ITA)–VK Primorje Rijeka (CRO) 11-8 (4-1, 2-3, 3-3, 2-1)

Referees: Stravridis (GRE), Borrell (ESP)

Ferla Pro Recco: Tempesti, Buric, Madaras 2, Sukno, Kasas 1, Felugo 1, Filipovic 1, Perrone, Pijetlovic, Zlokovic 2, Ivovic 3, Molina Rios, Prlainovic 1. Coach: Giuseppe Porzio.

VK Primorje Rijeka: Car, Buljubasic 1, Paskvalin, Krapiv, Denes Varga 2, Frankovic, Mulsim, Jelaca, Daniel Varga 1, Barac, Setka 2, Garcia 2, Radic. Coach: Zoran Roje.

Bronze medal game (Saturday, May 12)

Teva-Vasas-Uniqa (HUN)–HAVK Mladost Zagreb (CRO) 7-11 (1-1, 3-5, 1-2, 2-3)

Referees: Margeta (SLO), Alexandrescu (ROU).

Teva Vasas: Nagy, Decker, Boskovic 1, Katonas 2, Fazekas, Voros 1, Kiss, Vamos 2, Brguljan D., Fulop, Steinmetz B., Takacs, Steinmetz A. 1. Coach: Laszlo Foldi.

Mladost Zagreb: Pavic, Radu 1, Pavicic, Zivkovic 2, Udovicic 2, Milakovic K., Bukic, Gagulic 1, Hinic 1, Mallarach 2, Vukicevic 2. Coach: Vjekoslav Kobescak.

Pro Recco was awarded 45 000 Euros by LEN for the title.

The MVP of the tournament: Denes Varga (Primorje Rijeka)

Semi Finals (Friday, May 11)

The first Semi Final lacked the excitement that is usually expected: Recco didn’t let Vasas into the game. They were cool, precise, and extremely powerful right from the beginning. They made use of their first three 6 on 5s and this gave them the edge over the Hungarian Champions. Vasas missed two powerplays (scoring only once) and that opened a gap which just grew further in the following periods. Recco, featuring the very best players of the leading nations (three from Serbia, two from Hungary, Croatia, Montenegro, and Spain, and two from Italy), defended quite effectively and the Hungarians couldn’t set up any good scoring chances. The best efforts from their side came from the goalie, Viktor Nagy, who made some great saves, including a penalty. At one stage Recco was 8-1 up, and yet Vasas fought hard and came back a bit in the second half. Still, the Italian Champion marched into the final for the seventh time in a row.

The second Semi Final saw a much more balanced game – at least for a while. The two Croatians sides had already had a showdown recently with Rijeka eliminating Mladost in the semis of the national league. For two periods this game brought back the tensions of those clashes. Rijeka went ahead but Mladost always answered back so by half-time Primorje was just slightly better (4-3). The killing blow came in the third when in a five-minute span Rijeka jumped to a 7-3 lead. Mladost buried two extras for 7-5, but they couldn’t get any closer. In fact, the final period was dominated by Rijeka, they scored first and that was crucial, at 8-5 the players of Mladost seemed to have lost their desire. It was Denes Varga who gave the spectators the pleasure of witnessing a wonderful back-handed shot from eight metres: the fans even applauded the replay on the video-walls.

This game resulted in the debutant of the Final Four tournament, Primorje Rijeka, reaching the final on their first try – hopefully, this time they would give Recco a tougher time compared to their previous encounter in the final of the Adriatic League when Recco thrashed them 11-4. But this is the Champions League and it produces different stories every time.

Semi Finals

Ferla Pro Recco (ITA) - TEVA-Vasas-UNIQA (HUN) 12-5 (4-1, 2-0, 4-2, 2-2)

Referees: Alexandrescu (ROU), Borrell (ESP)

Ferla Pro Recco: Tempesti, Buric, Madaras, Sukno 2, Kasas 1, Felugo, Filipovic 2, Perrone Rocha 2, Pijetlovic 1, Zlokovic, Ivovic, Molina Rios 2, Prlainovic 2.

Teva Vasas Uniqa: Nagy, Decker, Boskovic 1, Katonas 1, Fazekas, Voros 1, Kiss, Vamos 1, Brguljan 1, Fulop, B. Steinmeitz, Takacs, A. Steinmeitz.

HAVK Mladost Zagreb (CRO) – VK Primorje Rijeka 6-10 (1-2, 2-2, 2-3, 1-3)

Referees: Margeta (SLO), Brguljan (MNE)

Mladost Zagreb: Pavic, Radu 1, Milakovic I., Letica, Pavicic, Zivkovic 1, Udovicic, Milakovic K., Bukic 1, Gagulic, Hinic 1, Mallarach 1, Vukicevic 1. All. Kobescak.

Primorje Rijeka: Car, Buljbasic, Paskvalin, Krapic 1, Denes Varga 2, Frankovic, Muslim, Jelaca 2, Daniel Varga 2, Barac 1, Setka 1, Garcia 1, Radic.

(May 14, 2012)