Czech: He is not in the game, there is a feeling of absence in the result

“Regarding our game, I don’t have a feeling of lack. In the result, yes” Sándor Cseh, the co-captain of the women’s water polo team, sighed when we asked about his team that finished fifth in Paris.

“I think we were unlucky in the key moments, and since the women’s water polo front is amazingly balanced, these nuances now resulted in us returning home from the Olympics without a medal. I’m sad because we really wanted to get on the podium, but at the same time I’m very proud of the girls and the work we’ve done in the last eight months.”

We got ourselves into a difficult situation

For the fans – in fact, for everyone who saw it – the match against the United States was the key match of the Olympics, and it’s hard to argue with that, since the quarterfinals are the most important match in every tournament. It is there that it is decided whether a team will play for a medal, and although our team played a great match against the Americans, according to Czech, it was not our most important match.

“In the group stage, we lost to Australia on penalties, and I believe that if we want to find fault in ourselves, then it should be there.“You should know that Australia, Canada, and the United States do everything for the tournament in the year of the Olympics and the team prepares together throughout the year. The Australians came to Paris with an awfully sharp team, but we should have won that match,” he said. the co-captain about the match against the Australians, who eventually marched all the way to the final.

“We played a very good opening match against the Dutch, it was a one-ball match, it was not decided in our favor, but it was a good start. In the tournament, we defeated the extremely strong Greeks and Italians, who, like us, were coming for a medal, as well as the also strong Canada, but the ones that brought us victory in these matches were on the opponent’s side against the Australians, so we ended up in the situation of having to play the defending champions in the quarterfinals,” said Cseh, with whom we spoke before the games, and then he said that the first two places in the group should be grabbed.

One of the most dramatic matches of the Olympics

The women’s polo team rounded off an epic drama from their quarter-final, losing to the USA 5-4 in a fierce clash with a single goal, in a clash of defenses.

“It happens in women’s water polo that one team’s defense is so coordinated, but it is very rare that two teams get the ball at the same time. It was unbelievable that both teams defended in such a way that the other was almost unable to score,” said Cseh, who unanimously commented on the brutal American superiority.

“In the second half, the American team could only score with a double man advantage, that’s a fact. But a national team captain doesn’t have the freedom that a fan or a journalist has: we can’t be referees, we can’t blame the referees, we have to look for the fault ourselves. So we did.”

The Czech did not sit with the team throughout the match, he received a red card in the most tense moments, but he said that he was not driven by anger. “It was a tactical decision, and I had to accept that Attila (Mihók) could stay by the pool. The referees had to be put under pressure so that the USA would not get a man advantage in the end.”

We held the defending champion USA to five goals (Photo: Waterpolo.hu)

“Obviously, it was terrible to go through the elimination, we were terribly sorry for the girls, who fought with all their heart and soul, really giving the best of their skills, but unfortunately it was not enough. But for us, even an hour after the blow-off, our thoughts were on how to get the girls in the right mental state for the qualifiers. Fortunately, we did not have a difficult time in this matter.”

The last eight months have paid off

It was heartbreaking to see the Hungarian players crying on the edge of the pool, and the pessimists must have thought that it would be a very difficult task to assemble the team for the fight for fifth place. Czech was not worried and he was right.

“The result of the work done in the last eight months was that we were mentally, physically and tactically ready for the qualifiers. “The girls felt it was an obligation to themselves to put themselves out there, and they really felt the fifth place was important – even though everyone obviously wanted to reach the podium.

A very good team was built in the last short year (Photo: Waterpolo.hu)

The Hungarians confidently defeated Greece with an excellent game, and then fought a big battle with the Italians for the 5th place, which they eventually won on penalties. Not by any means: barely a minute and a half before the end, the Italians led by two more goals, from there they managed to equalize, and Alda Magyari quickly dashed the Italian hopes at the five-meter mark. He got the fifth place, but what grade does it deserve from Sándor Cseh?

“In all sports, but especially in Hungarian polo, it is true that only the result matters, and based on that I could even give it an average, but I don’t have the heart to do it. “I looked at the work the girls put into the preparation, how they built themselves up, and how the team was built either tactically, physically, or in terms of self-confidence, and that’s why I can’t give them a score lower than four.”

We will have a lot of joy in this team (Photo: Waterpolo.hu)

“With the same performance, we could have even won a medal, the podium was not possible due to small things. As coaches, it is our duty to be really critical of ourselves: we have to see how we can get even more out of the team, so that next time the little things will bring us success. Somehow like at the World Cup in January…” – added the co-captain.