Greece did their duty against the Netherlands in the European Men's Polo Championship playoffs and advanced to the quarter-finals with their victory, where they will face Croatia on Friday.
Greece demonstrated the difference in quality across the pond Netherlands and imposed 15-10 In Zagreb Playoffs European Men's Polo Championship, and consequently qualified for the quarter-finals of the organization.
Greece face hosts Croatia on Thursday (17:30, ERT3, live from SPORT24) and chase a medal closer to the final.
Greece took full advantage of the man up top with goals from Dinos Genidounias, Alexandros Papanastasiou and Angelos Vlachopoulos in the first eight minutes. The Dutch had a great day with their first goalscorer, Lars den Broek, making it very difficult for the Greek side. When he didn't score, Gas de Rill did, and he posed an even bigger threat in the next eight minutes.
Vlachopoulos, Genidounias and Costas Kakaris then extended the gap between the two teams, but the Dutch found a way to keep Greece off the scoresheet. Zenitonias and Yiannis Fundoulis scored early in the 2nd quarter to make it 8-4.
A slow transition in Greece's defense kept the Dutch in the game. Genitonias' fourth goal made it 11-6, but the Netherlands cut it to 11-8. For about 3.5 minutes, the Netherlands looked to get closer to Greece, but Skoupakis made it 12-8 in the 3rd quarter.
The 4th eight minutes started with a second suspension for the Dutch and Zani Alafraki scored a goal, resulting in the momentum being clear to Greece. Giorgos Dervisis scored a man-up goal shortly after, but was soon sent off as a substitute and will miss the quarter-final (following a recent rule change).
A fifth goal of the match and ninth goal of the match shaped the final score, which found Greece in the quarter-finals, with Croatia struggling to get closer to the big goal.
- Eight minutes: 5-3, 4-2, 3-3, 3-2
- Hellas: Zerdevas, Genidounias 5, Skoubakis 2, Giuvetsis, Fundoulis 1, Papanastasiou 1, Dervisis 1, Argyropoulos Kanakakis 1, Alafragkis 1, Kakaris 1, Nikolaidis, Vlachopoulos 2, Tjortza
- Netherlands: Huismans, Gbadamasi 1, Van den Burgh, Castrop, Van Iperen, Van der Weyden 1, Te Riley 4, Nispeling 1, Muller, De Werd 1, Koepman, Ten Broek 2, Westerfeld
The results of the playoffs
- France – Serbia 10-14
- Montenegro – Germany 10-5
- Greece – Netherlands 15-10
- 11/01 20:00 Georgia – Romania
Schedule of Quarter Finals
- 12/01 14:00 Hungary – Serbia
- 12/01 15:30 Spain – Georgia or Romania
- 12/01 17:30 Croatia – Greece
- 12/01 19:15 Italy – Montenegro
Pairs of semi-finals
- Winner 2 – Winner 4
- Winner 1 – Winner 3
The minor final will be held on Tuesday at 17:30 and the final at 21:15 on the same day.
