DAY 15 GAME
Classification 7-8
Image source: Nicholas Presciutti (ITA) and Milos Maksimovic (AUS)/Quinn Rooney/Getty Images/World Aquatics
Game 39, AUSTRALIA 6 ITALY 10 (1-2, 1-3, 2-4, 2-1)
\The attendance for this one-off encounter was huge, showing the popularity of water polo in Paris. This was an Italian team that had finished second to Croatia at the World Championships in February and had taken bronze at the European Championships a month earlier. But here they were battling for seventh place after finishing second in the group stage but losing to Hungary on penalties in the quarter-finals. They then had to beat Spain to reach this play-off. Australia found themselves in this match having suffered a painful penalty shoot-out loss to the United States of America in the quarter-finals and a six-goal loss to Greece in the crossovers after fighting their way to second place in their group.
Italy secured the game by taking a 5-1 lead midway through the second quarter with five different goal scorers. The Aussie Sharks’ Charlie Negus At the end of the half he threw a lob to make it 5-2.
The Settebellos Andrea Fondelli on the counter and Australia’s Milos Maksimovic With his second goal from the top left he had decided the game 6:3. Lorenzo Bruni with a second and Matteo Iocchi Grattas The second and third goals gave Italy an almost unassailable lead. Australia used a timeout to Jacob Mercep for the superman goal and 9:4 at the final break.
Lukas Pavillard scored a goal three minutes into the final phase from his usual position as a left-hander. Edoardo di Somma in addition to his goal in the second quarter and the Australian co-captain Nathan Kraft converted in the last minute to make it 10:6.
Image source: Luke Pavillard (AUS)/Quinn Rooney/Getty Images/World Aquatics
Game heroes
Iocchi Gratta finished the game with three goals and scored 13 goals, the same number as captain Francesco di Fulvio. Bruni (11) and by Somma scored two each. For the Aussie Sharks Maksimovic scored a brace to increase his goal tally for Paris to 16, the highest for his team. Pavilion shot one for 14 tonight.
Turning point
The four goals were scored in the first half and gave Italy a lot of room to maneuver.
Image source: Alessandro Velotto (ITA)/Quinn Rooney/Getty Images/World Aquatics
Statistics don’t lie
Italy converted four of eight extra points and saved seven of 11 Australian attempts. Italy took the only penalty and had 27 of 21 shots.
Conclusion
Italy, an eight-time medalist and three-time world champion, finished seventh in Tokyo 2020 after winning bronze in Rio 2016. For Australia, it is a long way from two fifth places, but with three clear victories and second place in the group against some strong opponents, it is a tremendous achievement.
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