Greek men’s water polo team earns bronze at Worlds and makes Rio
The men’s national water polo team achieved the best result of a generation as it finished third in the World Championship in Russia by beating Italy in the third-place playoff on Saturday and earned itself a ticket to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.
Ten years after the bronze medal at the Montreal Worlds, Greece returned to the podium of global water polo at Kazan by edging the Italians in the penalty shootout.
Greece led for most of the match, but Italy turned the 7-5 score to a 7-7 draw at the end of regulation time to take the game to the penalties.
Yet having lost to Croatia in the semifinal at the shootout, Greece was determined not to let the medal slip through its collective fingers, and won 4-2 in the penalties for an 11-9 overall win.
