Greece did its homework against the Netherlands in the men's European Polo Championship qualifiers and with its victory qualified for the quarter-finals where it will face Croatia on Friday.
Greece demonstrated in the swimming pool the difference in quality from Holland And imposed with 15-10 In Zagreb to Playoffs From the European Polo Championship for Men, thus qualifying to the quarter-finals of the institution.
The Greek team will face hosts Croatia on Thursday (17:30, ERT3, live from SPORT24) and will strive to get the result that will take them closer to the medal.
Greece took advantage of the above player in the first eight minutes, with goals from Dinos Geindonias, Alexandros Papanastasiou and Angelos Vlachopoulos. The Dutch had a wonderful day with their top scorer Lars ten Broek, who made things very difficult for the Greek team. When he didn't score, it was Cas De Rail, who proved to be a greater threat in the next eight minutes.
Vlachopoulos, Guinidonia and Kostas Kakaris then extended the gap between the two teams, but the Dutch found a way to prevent Greece from getting away with the result. Genidonias and Yannis Fondoulis made it 8-4 early in the second quarter, and a Stelios Argyropoulos Kanakaki penalty and a goal by Dimitris Skopakis made it 10-5.
A slow turnaround in Greece's defense kept the Dutch in the game. Jennedonia's fourth goal made it 11-6 but the Dutch reduced the score to 11-8. For about 3.5 minutes, the Netherlands were hoping to get closer to Greece, but Skopakis made it 12-8 in the third quarter.
The fourth eight minutes of the second suspension began with a substitution for the Dutchman and a goal by Zani Al-Afragki, and the result was clear momentum for Greece. Giorgos Dervisis scored in a one-on-one match soon after, but was quickly sent off as a substitute and will miss the quarter-finals (following the recent rule change).
His fifth goal of the game and ninth of the tournament helped set up the final result, which found Greece in the quarter-finals, vying with Croatia to get closer to the big goal.
- The eight minutes: 5-3, 4-2, 3-3, 3-2
- Hellas: Zardivas, Genidonias 5, Skopakis 2, Giovitsis, Fondoulis 1, Papanastasiou 1, Darwish 1, Argyropoulos Kanakakis 1, Alafrajkis 1, Kakaris 1, Nicolaides, Vlachopoulos 2, Tgurtzatos.
- Holland: Huisman, Gbadamasi 1, van den Bergh, Kastrup, van Eperen, van der Weyden 1, T. Reilly 4, Nisbling 1, Müller, de Weerd 1, Koopman, Ten Broek 2, Westerveld
Qualifying results
- France – Serbia 10-14
- Montenegro – Germany 10-5
- Greece – Netherlands 15-10
- 11/01 20:00 Georgia – Romania
Quarter-final schedule
- 12/01 14:00 Hungary – Serbia
- 12/01 15:30 Spain – Georgia or Romania
- 12/01 17:30 Croatia – Greece
- 12/01 19:15 Italy – Montenegro
Semi-final pairs
- Winner 2 – Winner 4
- Winner 1 – Winner 3
The small final will be held on Tuesday at 17:30 and the grand final on the same day at 21:15.
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