Greece, Spain advance to water polo semifinals
Greece is one win away from its first men’ water polo medal at the Olympics.
Konstantinos Genidounias scored five goals to lead Greece to a 10-4 victory over Montenegro in the quarterfinals of the Tokyo Games, and Spain also advanced with a 12-8 win against the United States on Wednesday.
Greece is making its first appearance in the semis since it finished fourth at the 2004 Athens Olympics. It finished sixth at the Rio de Janeiro Games in 2016.
Next up is the winner of the Croatia-Hungary quarterfinal. Genidounias said winning a medal for Greece “means absolutely everything.”
“We’re not fighting for just the 13 of us and the coaching staff,” he said. “We’re fighting for (the) entire county. It would mean everything for us.”
Backed by a noticeable cheering section comprised of people from the country’s Olympic party, Greece limited Montenegro to one goal in the first half. Genidounias then scored three times in the third quarter to help his team open a 6-1 lead.
“We brought the good defense from the preliminary round, which was our goal,” Genidounias said. “One hundred percent it’s what gave us the win.”
Spain improved to 6-0 in Tokyo, outscoring its opponents 73-39, but it was pushed into the second half in the United States’ best performance of the tournament. [AP]
