Saturday, July 13, 2024 2:28 p.m
The Hungarian men’s water polo team, which is preparing for the Paris Olympics, defeated the Japanese team, finishing in 2nd place at the Domino Trans preparatory tournament organized on Margitsziget.
Domino Trans men’s water polo preparatory tournament, 3rd round:
Hungary-Japan 16-12 (3-2, 5-6, 4-3, 4-1)
the Hungarian goal scorers: Varga D. 5, Hárai 4, Angyal, Jansik, Fekete 2-2, Manhercz 1
The Hungarians defended well in the first quarter, but only led by one goal, and in the second eight minutes, the Japanese managed to score six goals, although the students of national team captain Zsolt Varga also scored five. The sides went into the break with an 8-8 draw, and in the continuation, thanks to the excellence of Dénes Varga, the Hungarians managed to pull within three goals, and in the end beat the Asian team with a four-goal margin.
“We had a discussed tactic that worked quite well in the first quarter, then they reacted to it, there were very few blocks and we scored a lot of goals. It is clear that with their game we will score at least 10-14 goals, but we definitely had to keep them under eight It was a difficult and tiring match, but that’s no excuse, because they were tired too.”I’m glad that we were able to win in the end, but we still have a lot of work to do before the Olympics. It’s true that there isn’t much time, but you have to prepare not only in training, but also mentally”
Gergő Fekete told M4 Sport, then added that he felt a bit like they were stuck in the Mátraház training camp, as he thought the team was not sharp enough and focused.
According to national team captain Zsolt Varga, they were able to benefit a lot from the tournament, and he is particularly happy that they were able to defeat the out-of-form French with a slower game. And against the Japanese, according to him, by the end, the team already felt how to play against them.
Playing three official matches really gives a completely different rhythm, highlights the points that need to be worked on.
“In the meantime, we worked on these, and we even changed some things. We absolutely saw what we need to work on, which players are possibly still out of shape and what type of work they still need to undergo,” said Zsolt Varga.
After the match, Dénes Varga confirmed that this was his last official match on Margitsziget, and he also emphasized that all three matches had their benefits, even the failure, “because no matter how bad it sounds, you can learn from it”.
Source: molcsapat.hu
