Home – Sports – Hungarian women’s polo team loses in quarter-finals

Our team finished third in the group, with the defending champions USA finishing second in the other five games after a surprising loss to Spain.

In women’s polo, the United States has dominated the Olympics since 2012, winning every title since the London Olympics and coming to Paris to become the Olympic champion for the fourth consecutive time.

In addition to the men’s competition, the women’s competition was also moved to the original swimming venue, so the 17,000-seat La Défense Stadium was filled with fans a few hours before the start of the game, and in addition to many American flags, there were also many Hungarian flags.

Co-captain Attila Mihok said before the meeting that the team must improve mentally after the game against Australia. If only because we recently played a close game with the United States, we even beat them in a warm-up game in June and we lost 8-7 in the final of this year’s World Cup in Doha.

Hungary defended well, and the U.S. goalkeeper performed well.

In the first period, Vanda Vályi took the ball in for a swim. Garda Cristina tried a shot but it was saved by the American goalkeeper. The counterattack was thwarted by Alda Maggiari, who won the ball beautifully, but this time we were unable to take advantage of our chance.

Both teams defended well and we were unlucky, with two shots hitting the post in the first few minutes. However, the crowd didn’t see a goal for a long time and we waited nearly five minutes for the first goal, which we took with Garda.

Magyari defended again but Rita Keszté hit the crossbar. Six minutes later, the Americans got their first goal when Maggie Stephens fired home from close range. Dóra Leimeter’s excellent clearance gave us the advantage again, with Magyari doing a great job collecting the ball in the backfield. Even though we were trailing, Jovana Sekulic’s shot was brilliantly blocked by Garda. We saw a battle through the first eight minutes, with Hungary’s defence very focused, 2–1.

In the second quarter, the U.S. had the ball, but Hungary’s defense was still outstanding. We could have scored two goals, but Ashley Johnson was in the right place at the right time…

Gréta Gurisatti swung to the right but the American goalkeeper once again felt he had to stay in position. Midway through the period, there was no sign of another goal until Tara Prentiss received a beautiful pass in the middle and blasted the ball into our net from close range.

We also tried to respond quickly from the middle, but failed, but we almost scored on the counterattack, but the equalizer was waiting for us. More importantly, half a minute before the end of this quarter, Jewel Romo reversed the score and the US team was already ahead. Our defense in these eight minutes was not bad, but it was not without goals. 2–3.

A battle of nerves

In the third quarter, we swam better, but we couldn’t find the antidote against the massive American defense. Rita Kesty then started on the left side and no one could catch her, she quickly received a pass from Camilla Farago and made no mistake, tying the game at 3-3.

We were shorthanded, conceded a goal and Attila Mihok nearly exploded by the pool. No wonder the atmosphere started to get increasingly tense as the defending champions were leading by one goal at 3-4 with a quarter and a half left.

Camila Farago then equalized with a huge bomb. We had to work hard because if our shot was even slightly inaccurate, the American goalkeeper would save it. Although it was a goal, the ball bounced off the post. 4–4which is also the end of the quarter.

In addition, if the game was tied, the final round could also come. Neither team took more risks, and after a minute and a half, the American captain asked for time. Mazzarri drew the curtain, and although the Americans tried twice from close range, our attack was quelled.

The Americans also made a lot of mistakes, and Attila Mihok called for time. With five minutes left, when 17,000 fans looked up at the big screen, the score was still 4-4.

Kesztě hit the post with a shot and then we were two down before Rachel Fattal gave the defending champions the lead. We had three minutes left but we couldn’t capitalise on the man advantage and Mazari’s backline allowed Hungary to keep having chances.

Sandor Cech received a red card with one minute left and had to leave the Hungarian bench. With 20 seconds left, Farago tried to shoot but missed the target. 4–5 In the end, the US team advanced and our team was 5-8. They can fight for the position.

Gréta Gurisatti: We don’t want our story to end here

“During the match and now I think we played well. What we wanted has been partially achieved, at least defensively. We are confident that we can be more effective offensively,” said Attila Mihok about the match, and he also talked about the two doubles that had a decisive impact on the match.

“You can imagine what I was thinking… In fact, in the second half, even without the ball, they had two double chances, from which we scored two goals, and a stubborn five-meter player was allowed to continue at will. They say that the Olympics is a dream game, but it is difficult to dream…” – said the vice-captain after losing 5-4.

He added that he didn’t want to say it explicitly, but he felt it wasn’t just their fault.

Attila Mihok pointed out that against the United States, four goals are usually not enough, but conceding three goals will solve the problem, and the opponents have a similar number of players, but even six against five is not very dangerous, and it is true. with them.

“We could have had one or two without the ball, we could have tried more quick shots,” said the pundit, who believes that continuing to stay in fifth place should definitely be a motivation for the team.

The players struggled for words in the mixed zone. Garda Cristina didn’t want to deal with the judges: “We tried very hard and we gave it our all in this session. They didn’t really have good chances either, but unfortunately they scored more goals.”

“We talked after the Australia game that we need to get along better as a team and I think we succeeded. Everyone fought for each other until their last breath.” Dóra Leimeter began her assessment with tears in her eyes. – “I don’t know how many games we have played against the United States when we have to play with such a performance ratio and such pressure from the referee, obviously it doesn’t calm anyone down, especially us but in the end it’s good news for us, they won almost only because of the man advantage goal.”

A player who scored in the quarter-finals also said that it was a pity that they needed a weaker match like Australia, which put them in a difficult situation, but at the same time they would not “let go of every player. Someone else’s hand” in the continuation and will fight for the fifth place.

Gréta Gurisatti also burst into tears, she spoke about the match in which everyone gave their all, some even shed blood for good defence. Regarding the controversial decision, he said the case had to be retried, the referee agreed, but the judge did not give them a similar opportunity.

“We don’t want our story to end here,” said the Hungarian T-shirt player, singling out a team that, even after losing to Australia in the group stage, did not despair of playing against the United States and waited bravely for a clash that was a dramatic battle in front of a packed house and in a hard-fought match.

Olympia, Paris 2024
Women’s Water Balloon Championships, Quarterfinals
Hungary-USA 4-5 (2-1, 0-2, 2-1, 0-1)

Before:

Canada-Spain: 8-18
Netherlands-Italy: 11-8
Australia vs Greece: 9-6

5-8. For location:

Greece – Hungary
Italy – Canada

In the semi-finals:

Australia – United States
Netherlands – Spain

(Cover photo: Dóra Leimeter and American Maddie Musselman during the Hungary vs. USA match at the La Défense Stadium in Paris, August 6, 2024. Photo: Zsolt Czeglédi / MTI)