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| Event type

Water Polo, Men

Date29 July – 12 August 2012
StatusOlympic
LocationWater Polo Arena, Olympic Park, Stratford, London
Participants155 from 12 countries
FormatRound-robin pools advanced teams to classification matches.

Yugoslavia had once been one of the powers in men’s water polo, having won Olympic gold medals in 1968, 1984, and 1988, and winning four silver medals. However, since the break-up of Yugoslavia into its constituent republics, Croatia had won a silver medal in 1996, and Serbia had won silver in 2004 and bronze in 2008, but the former Yugoslav republics had yet to win an Olympic title.

Both Serbia and Croatia came into London among the favorites. Serbia had won the 2011 World League Super-Final, and Croatia had won a bronze medal at the 2011 World Championships. At the 2010 World Cup, Serbia had defeated Croatia in the final.

Croatia was drawn in Group A and Serbia in Group B and they both won their respective groups, with Croatia winning all five group matches, while Serbia was tied by another Yugoslav remnant, Montenegro. In the knock-out round, Croatia easily defeated the United States in the quarter-finals and then beat Montenegro, 7-5, to advance to the final. On the other side of the draw, Serbia handled Australia easily, but then lost to Italy, the 2011 World Champions, in the semi-finals, 9-7, setting up a Croatia-Italy final.

In the final, Italy opened the scoring with the first two goals, leading 2-0, but Croatia led at the half, 3-2. Italy tied it up, 3-3, early in the third period, but Croatia then scored four consecutive goals to open a 7-3 lead, and put the match away. Italy came back a little, but Croatia’s first Olympic water polo gold medal was never in much doubt in the second half. The bronze was a re-match of Serbia and Montenegro, with Serbia winning the bronze medal, 12-11.

PosNumberTeamNOCMatches PlayedWinsTiesLossesPointsGoals
1CroatiaCRO88001673-42Gold
Goalkeeper1Josip Pavić 7–-–
Centre Back2Damir Burić 8–-–
Defense3Miho Bošković 8–-–
Centre Forward4Nikša Dobud 8–-–
Defense5Maro Joković 8–-–
Centre Back6Ivan Buljubašić 8–-–
Defense7Petar Muslim 8–-–
Centre Back8Andro Bušlje 8–-–
Defense9Sandro Sukno 8–-–
Defense10Samir Barać 8–-–
Centre Forward11Igor Hinić 8–-–
Defense12Paulo Obradović 8–-–
Goalkeeper13Frano Vićan 2–-–
CoachRatko Rudić
2ItalyITA85121166-60Silver
Goalkeeper1Stefano Tempesti 8–-–
Centre Back2Amaurys Perez 8–-–
Centre Back3Niccolò Gitto 8–-–
Defense4Pietro Figlioli 8–-–
Defense5Alex Giorgetti 8–-–
Defense6Maurizio Felugo 8–-–
Centre Back7Massimo Giacoppo 8–-–
Defense8Valentino Gallo 8–-–
Defense9Christian Presciutti 8–-–
Centre Back10Deni Fiorentini 8–-–
Centre Forward11Matteo Aicardi 8–-–
Centre Forward12Danijel Premuš 8–-–
Goalkeeper13Giacomo Pastorino 1–-–
CoachSandro Campagna
3SerbiaSRB86111399-66Bronze
Goalkeeper1Slobodan Soro 8–-–
Defense2Aleksa Šaponjić 8–-–
Defense3Živko Gocić 8–-–
Centre Back4Vanja Udovičić 8–-–
Defense5Dušan Mandić 8–-–
Centre Forward6Duško Pijetlović 8–-–
Centre Forward7Slobodan Nikić 8–-–
Centre Back8Milan Aleksić 8–-–
Centre Back9Nikola Rađen 8–-–
Defense10Filip Filipović 8–-–
Defense11Andrija Prlainović 8–-–
Defense12Stefan Mitrović 8–-–
Goalkeeper13Gojko Pijetlović 3–-–
CoachDejan Udovičić
4MontenegroMNE8413981-69
Goalkeeper1Denis Šefik 2–-–
Defense2Draško Brguljan 8–-–
Defense3Vjekoslav Pasković 8–-–
Centre Back4Antonio Petrović 8–-–
Defense5Dragan Drašković 7–-–
Defense6Aleksandar Radović 8–-–
Defense7Mlađan Janović 8–-–
Defense8Nikola Janović 8–-–
Centre Back9Aleksandar Ivović 8–-–
Centre Forward10Boris Zloković 8–-–
Defense11Vladimir Gojković 8–-–
Centre Back12Predrag Jokić 8–-–
Goalkeeper13Miloš Šćepanović 7–-–
CoachRanko Perović
5HungaryHUN85031098-80
Goalkeeper1Zoltán Szécsi 6–-–
Centre Back2Tamás Varga 8–-–
Defense3Norbert Madaras 8–-–
Defense4Dénes Varga 8–-–
Defense5Tamás Kásás 8–-–
Defense6Norbert Hosnyánszky 8–-–
Defense7Gergő Kiss 8–-–
Centre Back8Márton Szivós 8–-–
Centre Back9Dániel Varga 8–-–
Defense10Péter Biros 8–-–
Centre Forward11Ádám Steinmetz 8–-–
Centre Forward12Balázs Hárai 8–-–
Goalkeeper13Viktor Nagy 5–-–
CoachDénes Kemény
6SpainESP8404877-74
Goalkeeper1Iñaki Aguilar 6–-–
Defense2Mario José García 8–-–
Defense3David Martín 8–-–
Centre Forward4Balázs Szirányi 8–-–
Centre Forward5Guillermo Molina 8–-–
Centre Forward6Marc Minguell 8–-–
Centre Forward7Blai Mallarach 8–-–
Defense8Albert Español 8–-–
Centre Forward9Xavi Vallès 6–-–
Defense10Felipe Perrone 8–-–
Centre Forward11Iván Pérez 8–-–
Centre Forward12Xavier García 8–-–
Goalkeeper13Daniel López 4–-–
CoachRafael Aguilar
7AustraliaAUS8305667-74
Goalkeeper1Joel Dennerley 7–-–
Centre Back2Richie Campbell 8–-–
Centre Back3Tim Cleland 8–-–
Defense4Johnno Cotterill 8–-–
Defense5Aaron Younger 8–-–
Centre Forward6Jamie Beadsworth 8–-–
Defense7Aidan Roach 8–-–
Defense8Sam McGregor 8–-–
Defense9Thomas Whalan 8–-–
Centre Forward10Gavin Woods 8–-–
Defense11Rhys Howden 8–-–
Defense12Billy Miller 8–-–
Goalkeeper13James Clark 3–-–
CoachJohn Fox
8United StatesUSA8305661-70
Goalkeeper1Merrill Moses 8–-–
Defense2Peter Varellas 8–-–
Centre Back3Peter Hudnut 8–-–
Centre Forward4Jeff Powers 8–-–
Defense5Adam Wright 8–-–
Defense6Shea Buckner 8–-–
Defense7Layne Beaubien 8–-–
Defense8Tony Azevedo 8–-–
Centre Forward9Ryan Bailey 8–-–
Centre Back10Tim Hutten 8–-–
Centre Back11Jesse Smith 8–-–
Centre Forward12John Mann 8–-–
Goalkeeper13Chay Lapin 1–-–
CoachTerry Schroeder
9GreeceGRE5113341-43
Goalkeeper1Nikolaos Deligiannis 5–-–
Defense2Emmanouil Mylonakis 5–-–
Defense3Andreas Miralis 5–-–
Centre Back4Konstantinos Kokkinakis 5–-–
Defense5Theodoros Chatzitheodorou 5–-–
Defense6Argyris Theodoropoulos 5–-–
Defense7Christos Afroudakis 5–-–
Centre Back8Vangelis Delakas 5–-–
Centre Forward9Georgios Afroudakis 5–-–
Defense10Giannis Fountoulis 5–-–
Centre Forward11Kostas Mourikis 5–-–
Centre Forward12Manthos Voulgarakis 5–-–
Goalkeeper13Filippos Karampetsos 2–-–
CoachDragan Andrić
10RomaniaROU5104248-55
Goalkeeper1Dragoș Stoenescu 5–-–
Centre Forward2Cosmin Radu 5–-–
Defense3Tiberiu Negrean 5–-–
Defense4Nicolae Diaconu 5–-–
Defense5Andrei Iosep 5–-–
Centre Back6Andrei Bușilă 5–-–
Defense7Alexandru Matei-Guiman 5–-–
Centre Forward8Mihnea Chioveanu 5–-–
Centre Back9Dimitri Goanță 5–-–
Defense10Ramiro Georgescu 5–-–
Centre Back11Alexandru Ghiban 5–-–
Centre Back12Kalman Kadar 5–-–
Goalkeeper13Mihai Drăgușin 1–-–
CoachIstván Kovács
11KazakhstanKAZ5005024-53
Goalkeeper1Nikolay Maksimov 5–-–
Defense2Sergey Gubaryov 5–-–
Defense3Murat Shakenov 5–-–
Centre Back4Sergey Gorovoy 5–-–
Centre Back5Aleksey Panfili 5–-–
Centre Back6Aleksey Shmider 5–-–
Defense7Vladimir Ushakov 3–-–
Defense8Rustam Ukumanov 5–-–
Centre Back9Yevgeny Zhilyayev 5–-–
Centre Forward10Mikhail Ruday 5–-–
Centre Forward11Ravil Manafov 5–-–
Defense12Nikita Kokorin 4–-–
Goalkeeper13Aleksandr Shvedov DNS–-–
CoachSergey Drozdov
12Great BritainGBR5005028-77
Goalkeeper1Ed Scott 3–-–
Defense2Ciaran James 5–-–
Defense3Glen Robinson 5–-–
Defense4Sean King 5–-–
Defense5Craig Figes 5–-–
Centre Forward6Jack Waller 5–-–
Defense7Alex Parsonage 5–-–
Centre Back8Jake Vincent 5–-–
Centre Back9Rob Parker 5–-–
Centre Forward10Adam Scholefield 5–-–
Defense11Sean Ryder 5–-–
Centre Back12Joe O'Regan 5–-–
Goalkeeper13Matt Holland 3–-–
CoachCristian Iordache

Preliminary Round

Date29 July – 6 August 2012

Group A

Date29 July – 6 August 2012
FormatRound-robin pool.
PosTeamNOCWinsTiesLossesPointsGoals
1CroatiaCRO5001050-29Q
2ItalyITA311740-36Q
3SpainESP302652-42Q
4AustraliaAUS203440-44Q
5GreeceGRE113341-43
6KazakhstanKAZ005024-53
MatchDate/TimeTeamNOCResultTeamNOC
Match #129 Jul 10:00CroatiaCRO8 – 6GreeceGRE
Match #229 Jul 11:20SpainESP14 – 6KazakhstanKAZ
Match #329 Jul 14:10ItalyITA8 – 5AustraliaAUS
Match #431 Jul 11:20CroatiaCRO8 – 7SpainESP
Match #531 Jul 14:10AustraliaAUS7 – 4KazakhstanKAZ
Match #631 Jul 15:30GreeceGRE7 – 7ItalyITA
Match #702 Aug 10:00SpainESP13 – 9AustraliaAUS
Match #802 Aug 19:40CroatiaCRO11 – 6ItalyITA
Match #902 Aug 11:20GreeceGRE11 – 4KazakhstanKAZ
Match #1004 Aug 11:20CroatiaCRO11 – 6AustraliaAUS
Match #1104 Aug 14:10SpainESP11 – 9GreeceGRE
Match #1204 Aug 15:30ItalyITA9 – 6KazakhstanKAZ
Match #1306 Aug 10:00CroatiaCRO12 – 4KazakhstanKAZ
Match #1406 Aug 19:40ItalyITA10 – 7SpainESP
Match #1506 Aug 11:20AustraliaAUS13 – 8GreeceGRE

Group B

Date29 July – 6 August 2012
FormatRound-robin pool.
PosTeamNOCWinsTiesLossesPointsGoals
1SerbiaSRB410969-38Q
2MontenegroMNE311754-41Q
3HungaryHUN302665-52Q
4United StatesUSA302643-44Q
5RomaniaROU104248-55
6Great BritainGBR005028-77
MatchDate/TimeTeamNOCResultTeamNOC
Match #129 Jul 15:30SerbiaSRB14 – 10HungaryHUN
Match #229 Jul 18:20RomaniaROU13 – 4Great BritainGBR
Match #329 Jul 19:40United StatesUSA8 – 7MontenegroMNE
Match #431 Jul 18:20SerbiaSRB21 – 7Great BritainGBR
Match #531 Jul 19:40United StatesUSA10 – 8RomaniaROU
Match #631 Jul 10:00MontenegroMNE11 – 10HungaryHUN
Match #702 Aug 18:20United StatesUSA13 – 7Great BritainGBR
Match #802 Aug 14:10MontenegroMNE11 – 11SerbiaSRB
Match #902 Aug 15:30HungaryHUN17 – 15RomaniaROU
Match #1004 Aug 19:40SerbiaSRB11 – 6United StatesUSA
Match #1104 Aug 18:20HungaryHUN17 – 6Great BritainGBR
Match #1204 Aug 10:00MontenegroMNE12 – 8RomaniaROU
Match #1306 Aug 14:10SerbiaSRB12 – 4RomaniaROU
Match #1406 Aug 18:20MontenegroMNE13 – 4Great BritainGBR
Match #1506 Aug 15:30HungaryHUN11 – 6United StatesUSA

Quarter-Finals

Date8 August 2012
FormatWinners of each match advanced to semi-finals.
MatchDate/TimeCompetitorsNOCResultCompetitorsNOC
Match #108 Aug 14:30MontenegroMNE11 – 9SpainESP
Match #208 Aug 15:50SerbiaSRB11 – 8AustraliaAUS
Match #308 Aug 18:40ItalyITA11 – 9HungaryHUN
Match #408 Aug 20:00CroatiaCRO8 – 2United StatesUSA

Semi-Finals

Date10 August 2012
FormatWinners of each match advanced to the final round.
MatchDate/TimeCompetitorsNOCResultCompetitorsNOC
Match #110 Aug 15:40CroatiaCRO7 – 5MontenegroMNE
Match #210 Aug 19:50ItalyITA9 – 7SerbiaSRB

Classification Round 5-8

Date10 August 2012
FormatClassification matches.
MatchDate/TimeCompetitorsNOCResultCompetitorsNOC
Match #110 Aug 14:20SpainESP8 – 7United StatesUSA
Match #210 Aug 18:30HungaryHUN10 – 9AustraliaAUS

Final Round

Date12 August 2012
FormatClassification round.
MatchDate/TimeCompetitorsNOCResultCompetitorsNOC
Match 1/212 Aug 15:50CroatiaCRO8 – 6ItalyITA
Match 3/412 Aug 14:30SerbiaSRB12 – 11MontenegroMNE
Match 5/612 Aug 11:40HungaryHUN14 – 8SpainESP
Match 7/812 Aug 10:20AustraliaAUS10 – 9United StatesUSA