ATHENS, Greece, August 29. TEAM USA men\u2019s water polo squad won\u2019t go home from these Games with any hardware, but there were plenty of indicators to suggest that they deserved some, claimed USA Water Polo in reports from the Games.<\/p>\n
After finishing fourth in a bracket where the top three teams advanced to medal games, the U.S. won its next two contests to take seventh place in the tournament. Today\u2019s 9-8 win over No. 2- ranked Italy before 4,215 fans at the main pool of the Olympic Aquatic Centre capped off a strong finish for the young American squad.<\/p>\n
The U.S. would like to have been in the medal picture, but was happy to finish the tournament with a solid showing against one of the world\u2019s top teams. Tonight, the three higher ranked teams in the U.S. bracket\u2014Hungary, Serbia and Montenegro and Russia\u2014and host Greece, will gun it out for their shot at Olympic medals.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe whole time we were saying that the top three teams in our bracket were going to get the medals,\u201d said USA driver Tony Azevedo (Long Beach, CA\/Stanford\/Long Beach Shore). \u201cItaly\u2019s one of the top three teams in their bracket and somehow they didn\u2019t make it. A team like Germany we beat six out of six times. We play well against Spain. It just shows that if we were in that bracket, we probably could have come away with a medal. It shows that our team is extremely strong.\u201d<\/p>\n
Italy, another team who felt the ill effects of the new Olympic tournament format, slipped from its No. 2 world ranking down to No. 8, the steepest decline of any men\u2019s team in Athens. By this format, only the top three teams from each group advance, where in previous Olympics, the top four have progressed to the quarterfinals. Italy, who took silver just a year ago at the FINA World Championships, finished fourth in its bracket despite posting three wins in bracket play.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t really like the tournament format,\u201d said U.S. head coach Ratko Rudic. \u201cAnd in our bracket, we had all three medal winners from the last Olympics and what will probably be the three medal winners from these Olympics. So it\u2019s difficult, but overall I\u2019m pleased with how we played. We played well against Hungary, but Russia and Serbia were just better than us those nights.\u201d<\/p>\n
The U.S. was sharp all the way through a tight game under the sun at the Olympic Aquatic Centre\u2019s main pool, making some key stops and coming up with big shots when it needed to. <\/p>\n
Team USA forced Italy into a bad shot on its opening possession but Brandon Brooks\u2019 (Honolulu, HI\/UCLA\/Los Angeles WPC) resulting outlet pass was picked off at mid-tank by Alberto Angelini and walked in for an easy score to get Italy on the board first. The U.S. answered immediately, getting a goal from Azevedo on a drive to even things at 1-1. Italy\u2019s Maurizio Felugo connected on a spinning lob from 5:16 to put Italy back out in front, 2-1. Azevedo drew an exclusion in transition with just over four minutes to go, setting up a 6-on-5 goal from the top by Jesse Smith (Coronado, CA\/Pepperdine\/New York AC) to bring it to 2-all. A Smith field block later in the quarter yielded two USA shots on one trip down \u2013 one tipped out and one off of the crossbar \u2013 before Italy pushed the U.S. out of the attacking zone. <\/p>\n
Omar Amr (Fullerton, CA\/UC Irvine\/Newport WPF) found Layne Beaubien (Coronado, CA\/Stanford\/New York AC) with a nice cross pass to the left post for an easy score at the 6:15 mark of the second quarter to give the U.S. a 3-2 lead. Later in the quarter, the U.S. earned an ejection at two meters before Amr caught Alberto Angelini on his back at the left post for a four meter penalty call. Azevedo made good on the ensuing throw, rocketing his shot into the low right corner past Italian goalie Stefano Tempesti, giving the U.S. a 4-2 lead heading into the halftime break.<\/p>\n
Italy took all of 20 seconds to get on the board in the third quarter, getting a rollout, player-up score from Alessandro Calcaterra at the 6:40 mark to pull within one goal of the U.S. The tying goal came from lefty Bogdan Rath, who drove home a high, nearsider past Brooks at 4:02. Smith\u2019s second player-up goal of the game at 3:18 gave the U.S. the lead again at 5- 4, but Italy\u2019s Francesco Postiglione snuck a redirect into the cage from the right post on a 6-on-5 the next time down to make it 5-5. Making good on another player-up opportunity, Beaubien took a pass on the right side and sailed the ball through Tempesti\u2019s arms to inch the U.S. ahead, 6-5.<\/p>\n
Postiglione\u2019s six-meter rip on Italy\u2019s first possession of the fourth quarter hit the crossbar and dropped in behind Brooks to tie the score at 6- 6. Consecutive saves by Tempesti on the other end sent Italy back on the attack. Two attempts by Angelini\u2014one on the counter and another in the front court offense\u2014missed their mark by a hair and one by Postiglione sailed wide of the cage, but the U.S. came up empty on the resulting attack when an offensive foul was called on the perimeter. On the next trip down for Italy, Alessandro Calcaterra worked deep into the hole and spun his man before getting fouled by Brooks for a penalty call. Brooks stuffed Angelini\u2019s offering in the low left corner, but Angelini controlled the rebound and tossed it in to give Italy the lead. Azevedo went the finesse route from downtown on Team USA\u2019s next possession, connecting on a lob from eight meters out to knot things at 7-7. Another block by Brooks led to a crosscage, counterattack lob goal by Jeff Powers (San Luis Obispo, CA\/UC Irvine\/Newport WPF) to push the U.S. ahead 8-7. With just under a minute to play, Azevedo drew another exclusion in transition, prompting a timeout call by U.S. coach Ratko Rudic. After the chat, the U.S. worked the exclusion clock down and got the ball into the hands of Smith, who ripped the net from
\nsix meters with his third goal of the day to give the U.S. a two-goal cushion. But Italy wasn\u2019t done yet. Calcaterra made things interesting with a score around a defender from five meters out at the 22-second mark to make it 9-8, but the U.S. was able to protect the ball well and run out the clock for the remainder to hold on to the win.<\/p>\n
Turns out, that insurance goal by Smith was pretty important. \u201cI was pumped about that last one because it\u2019s a lot easier if you\u2019re up by two in the final minute,\u201d said Smith. \u201cOur plan there was to control the ball, so I wasn\u2019t really worried about scoring. I was trying to go for a high shot so it could get tipped out, but it went in.\u201d<\/p>\n
The team similarities were apparent as the game wore on, which actually worked in Team USA\u2019s favor. Perhaps it was their insider info on Italy courtesy of Ratko Rudic, who coached teams to a gold (1992) and a bronze (1996) there.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe knew that they\u2019d be focused and they\u2019d be coming out hard,\u201d Azevedo said of Italy. \u201cAnd since Ratko used to coach them, they play a lot like us.\u201d <\/p>\n
Team USA finishes the tournament in seventh place, one off of its sixth
\nplace finish in Sydney where it lost the fifth place game to Italy. The team will return home tomorrow to get rested and recovered, with workouts expected to pick up again in October. <\/p>\n
Another Wigo on the Way?
\nOne of the most closely followed water polo stories at the Olympic Games was an unborn Wigo. Wolf\u2019s wife, Barbara, is at home, expecting the couple\u2019s first child any day. At the time of this release, Barbara and baby Wigo \u2013 a girl, Athena \u2013 hadn\u2019t officially met. Wigo will take part in closing ceremonies tonight and will board a flight home tomorrow. Hopefully, Athena can wait.<\/p>\n
Today's Box Score<\/p>\n
Team USA\t2\t2\t2\t3\t—\t9
\n Italy\t2\t0\t3\t3\t—\t8<\/p>\n
Individual Scoring
\nTeam USA:\tSmith 3, Azevedo 3, Beaubien 2, Powers 1
\nItaly:\tAngelini 3, A. Calcaterra 2, Postiglione 1, Felugo 1, Rath 1<\/p>\n
Goal Saves
\nTeam USA:\tBrooks 11 (including one on penalty attempt)
\nItaly:\tTempesti 6<\/p>\n
Player Advantage Scoring
\nTeam USA:\t3 for 6
\nItaly:\t2 for 4; 0 for 1 on penalty shots
\nAttendance:\t4,215
\nReferees:\tAndrei Afanasiev (Russia), Boris Margeta (Slovenia)
\nDelegate:\tMonica Graciela Brochero (Argentina)<\/p>\n
Schedule\/Scores (All scores not available at time of release) 9th Place Game: Australia 8, Croatia 7 7th Place Game: USA 9, Italy 8 5th Place Game: Germany 6, Spain 4 Bronze Medal Game: Russia vs. Greece
\nGold Medal Game:\tHungary vs. Serbia and Montenegro <\/p>\n
Final Olympic Standings * ^
\n1. ?
\n2. ?
\n3. ?
\n4. ?
\n5. ?
\n6. ?
\n7. Team USA (6)
\n8. Italy (2)
\n9. Australia (7)
\n10. Croatia (9)
\n11. Kazakhstan (NR)
\n12. Egypt (NR)
\n* Placing indicates new world ranking
\n( ) indicates previous world ranking
\n^ Final rankings not available at time of release<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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