ATHENS, Greece, Aug. 3 THE USA Men’s National Team sat tied to Greece, 4-4, at halftime when the lights went out at the competition pool in Athens, Greece on Aug. 2. Due to the power outage, the game was postponed until the morning of Aug. 3 at which time Team USA played Greece again; this time leading at halftime, 3-2, and defeating the home team, 7-5. Goalkeeper Merrill Moses had a stellar game with 17 saves for the U.S.
“We started the game off well and our defense was very strong,” Team USA head coach Ricardo Azevedo said. “Our offense struggled through the whole game, but our defense played hard and kept us in it.”
Going back to the regular scheduled games, a tired U.S. team played its second game of the day against reigning title holder Serbia and Montenegro and lost 15-4. The loss served as Team USA’s first of the FINA World League Series. USA is now set to play Spain on Aug. 4.
“It’s tough to start out with only five hours rest against a good and rested Serbia and Montenegro,” Azevedo said. “We went down 5-0 and then in the second quarter we gained our composer and played even, 3-3. After the half, we didn’t play good water polo.”
GAME 1: USA vs. GREECE, 7-5
BOX SCORES:
USA – 1 2 2 2 – 7
GRE – 1 1 2 1 – 5
SCORERS:
USA – Varellas 3, Witt 1, Bailey 1, Azevedo 1
SAVES:
USA – Moses 17
PLAYER ADVANTAGE:
USA – 2 of 8, 1 of 1 (penalty)
GRE – 4 of 7, 1 of 1 (penalty)
GAME 2: USA vs. SCG, 15-4
BOX SCORES:
USA – 0 3 0 1 – 4
SCG – 4 3 4 4 – 15
SCORERS:
USA – Varellas 1, Powers 1, Witt 1, Smith 1
SAVES:
USA – Kerr 4
PLAYER ADVANTAGE:
USA – 3 of 7
SCG – 7 of 8