Settebello shines against Croatia

Sevens shines against Croatia

Italy wins 14-11 against Croatia on the second day of the Olympic water polo tournament. It was the second consecutive success for the Settebello, which defeated world champions Croatia in Doha. Captain Di Fulvio scored four goals, while Del Lungo made a decisive penalty save in the second half. The Azzurri show a great performance, a nice boost of confidence for the continuation of the competition.

The match è was vibrant and intense: a continuous head-to-head in the first two halves. Croatia won the first partial by a narrow margin, while Italy won the second. Thereafter, the Azzurri took the lead by posting a decisive +3 break in the third half and managed the advantage in the last quarter.

"We face each game as if it were a final,” Gonzalo Echenique pointed out.

We prepared ourselves by looking at their previous competition and the game against us in Sardinia. We are doing well on offense, but I think it all starts with the defense. We are solid, compact and we help each other. Then on offense we are more loose to develop our game. We have worked a lot and we have to continue like thisì as we are doing".

After wins over the United States and Croatia, the Settebello will face Montenegro on Thursday, Aug. 1 at 4:35 p.m., Romania on Saturday, Aug. 3 at 9:05 p.m. and Greece on Monday, Aug. 5 at 3:10 p.m. The next two matches will be played at the Aquatics Centre; starting with the last day of the group stage, Monday, Aug. 5, we move to the La Défense Arena. The top four from the two rounds will advance to the quarters. The finals are scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 11.