The men’s polo team defeated Croatia

Preparation match:
Croatia-Hungary 10-14 (4-3, 2-4, 1-4, 3-3)
the Hungarian goal scorers: Manhercz 4, Ekler Zs., Vigvári Ve. 3-3, Burián 2, Nagy Á., Angyal 1-1

Several new draft rules were tested during the match: the match was held in a 25-meter pool instead of 33, the attack time was reduced from the previous 30 to 25 seconds, and the duration of the exhibition – and the offensive clock that restarted with it – was reduced from 20 to 15 seconds.

The home team started the evening match better, but the team of national team captain Zsolt Varga warmed up after the losing first quarter, scored four goals each in the two middle periods, and kept their advantage in the final act. The most successful player of the match was the team captain Krisztián Manhercz with four goals, and the newcomer Ekler Zsombor presented himself in the national team with three hits.

“This match is a proper confirmation of the work we have done so far, it is also an important confirmation for the players. It is good to see, to feel that the work started in the fall of 2023 serves as a good basis, those who took part in the training sessions held for young people at that time, then here were the At the European Championship in January, we were able to move on with them without any problems,” Zsolt Varga told the website of the national association.

The captain added that the reforming Hungarian team showed that this fast game suits them, the young people have the speed for it, but according to the expert, defense was key this time as well.

“We worked particularly well with a man disadvantage today, and at this speed level, the Croatians were noticeably tired by the end.”The basics are good, but we have to work a lot to be even more stable – against a Spanish team in the World League qualifiers, for example, we will obviously have a much more difficult taskZsolt Varga concluded his evaluation.