Men, for places 15-16th – Turkey v Malta 7-7, penalties: 6-5

Sinan Turunc, head coach, Turkey:
“We played well. At 5-2 my young players thought the game was over. It’s an experience for them. I told them they have to play till the very end. It’s good for us to close the Championships with a victory.”

Oguz Berke Senemoglu, player, Turkey:
“It was a very hard game for us. We were very tired. It’s a nice experience for our young team. We are sill getting used to each other. We were better in the penalties. It’s good for us for the next competitions.”

Karl Izzo, head coach, Malta:
“I am very disappointed. This is a step back from last year. We started playing our game too late into the match. Again, our attack was not working well. I’m sorry. This a bad result for me and my team.”

Men, for places 13-14th – Georgia v Slovakia 8-6

Revaz Chomakidze, head coach, Georgia:
“Well, for us this was like finals. This is a very young team. We have six players under 20, this is very important. It was a nervous game, we missed chances in attack. The importance of the game brought the better out of my young players. Our defence was good, we managed to hold out till the end. I would like to congratulate my team.”

Andria Bitadze, player, Georgia:
“It was our last game at the Championships. Two years ago in Belgrade 2016 we lost to them by one goal in the same match so we had double motivation. We prepared the tactics well but still missed a lot of chances. At the end we finished at the 13th place. It’s the first time we won two matches at the Europeans so we are very happy. We wanted to beat Germany and play for 9-12th place but we didn’t succeed. We then had to reset our goals and minds to prepare for this game and fulfil the minimum of our objectives.”

Karol Baco, assistant coach, Slovakia:
“We wanted to win, it was important for us to finish with a positive result. But, just as before at this Championships, we missed too many man-ups. It’s as if we were scared of winning and the opportunities we had. It’s a very young team without experience. It was the first time they had to carry this kind of responsibility on their shoulders. At the end we are 14th. We wanted more and to be better. I think this is a good experience for them. We, on our part, have to continue working hard to improve.”

Juraj Zatovic, captain, Slovakia:
I am disappointed that we lost the game. We missed too many man-ups, we couldn’t finish our attacks. At the end Georgia used the opportunities they were given and I congratulate them. We are 14th. In the end it’s good for us.”

Men, for places 9-12th – Netherlands v Romania 12-7

Robin van Galen, head coach, Netherlands:
“I am happy both with the result and the performance of my team. In general: very good. In the games we lost to top teams Croatia, Greece and Hungary we also did play fairly well. I had people come up to me with compliments which is good to hear. We are rising and have to keep doing that.”

Ruud van den Horst, captain, Netherlands:
“Our goal was to be in top 10 and we have accomplished it. We played a solid game with good defence, lots of actions especially in the second part of the game. The team played a fine game through the end. It’s a good win for us, we are happy.”

Dejan Stanojevic, head coach, Romania:
“It was a well-deserved victory by the Netherlands. They are better than us at this moment. They outplayed us in all segments of the game so I congratulate them. We have yet to see in terms of energy levels, physical form but also motivation, why we continue to play all the way against strong teams like Russia, Montenegro but give up halfway against the Netherlands.”

Men, for places 9-12th – Germany v France 12-5

Hagen Stamm, head coach, Germany:
“Today we played well with discipline. Our extraman was good today, a plus for us which wasn’t the case in the last games. We made built a strong lead and maintained it. Next is the Netherlands, we will see.”

Moritz Schenkel, goalie, Germany:
“We started well right from the beginning, played with concentration and did a good job in both offence and defence. We didn’t stop pushing after the first two quarters so we won. The Netherlands? We know them well. We aim to reach the 9th place.”

Nenad Vukanic, head coach, France:
“We lost to a better team. We tried, gave our best, all we had. The goal difference is not pretty to see. We were hoping for the better…”

Men’s Quarter-finals – Serbia v Hungary 8-5

Dejan Savic, head coach, Serbia:
“As planned, the quarter-finals are behind us. I am satisfied. Especially in the first two quarters we demonstrated excellent defence. A lapse in concentration followed, especially in man-up. Hungary went for all or nothing, were stronger in physical play. I don’t choose who we face in the semi-finals. We’ll be ready. I hope it will be a great water polo presentation, ‘el classico’.”

Nikola Jaksic, player, Serbia:
“Well, we went into the game at full speed, aware of its importance. We quickly went 5-0 up and then kept the result. Later we somewhat slowed down our rhythm. We’ll stay and watch the next quarter-final of Croatia and Montenegro. I don’t know, we’ll see who wins. I just hope the outcome of the last year’s semi-finals in Budapest won’t happen again (when Serbia lost to Croatia).”

Tamas Marcz, head coach, Hungary:
“At the end of the day, I should tell that this is the reality: three goals between the current teams. I know that this Serbian team would beat our current line-up 8 or 9 out of 10, we wanted to turn this one to the 10th one. We should have done much better at the beginning where we indeed lost this game. I liked what I saw after the first period, we could keep up with them, even if they didn’t seem to slow down. I think my players need more experience, matches like this – and some of them need to play more in his club as there were a couple of guys who had more playing time in the national team in the past month than in his club in the entire spring.”

Viktor Nagy, captain, Hungary:
“We tried, we gave what we had, it was enough for this result. We have to analyse a bit what happens to us in the beginning of the matches as this is not the first time we fell behind in the first period and not even against the so called weaker sides you can allow this. Once you are 0-5 down, it’s a mission impossible against almost any team, but against Serbia you are done, for sure. We wanted to start aggressively, to fight but it didn’t happen in the pool. I guess, this might come with experience later.”

Men’s Quarter-finals – Croatia v Montenegro 9-7

Ivica Tucak, head coach, Croatia:
“It was a fantastic match. We showed heart, character, strength. It didn’t go easy but it just shows why we are the world champions, why we won the Europa Cup recently. We are The Team, we stick together and pull each other through good and difficult moments.”

Marko Bijac, goalkeeper, Croatia:
“It was a very difficult game. The stake was huge. We were down, it didn’t go as we planned but we never lost our heads. At the end the quality prevailed. It was a well-deserved victory.”

Vladimir Gojkovic, head coach, Montenegro:
“We expected the game to be like this, difficult. We were ahead at the start. Then we didn’t pull away to go +3 and lost control of the match during the third quarter. Our man-up was bad for a quarter and a half and they took control of the game in the last period. I can’t even say that we didn’t have our chances. Our defence lapsed and we lost.”

Sasa Misic, player, Montenegro:
“It’s difficult to say much when you lose in the quarter-finals. We lost, maybe we didn’t have a little bit of sports luck on our side today to enter the medal round. We move forward. The younger players were good and showed that we can count on them to be the core of our team in the future. We have to focus now to secure the 5th place.”

Men’s Quarter-finals – Italy v Russia 11-1

Alessandro Campagna, head coach, Italy:
“It was a difficult match at the beginning, Russia played very well. It could have been different, but once we were 3-4 goals up we were certain we would win. The semi-finals? Whoever comes our way it will be difficult.”

Nicholas Presciutti, player, Italy:
“It was an excellent match. We played the defence really well, we have been playing it well throughout this Championships. Now we have to keep our feet firmly on the ground, continue this way, with concentration primarily on the defence, which is our force, then the attack. For the semi-finals we’ll see who comes. They are both good teams. Spain is playing on home ground and we have a long history of ‘battles’ against Greece.”

Sergey Evstigneev, head coach, Russia:
“I don’t know what to say… Our attack was bad today, we made mistakes in the defence too. We have to think how to prepare the team psychologically to go forward.”

Men’s Quarter-finals – Spain v Greece 10-6

David Martin, head coach, Spain:
“I am very happy today. I think our last semi-final at a major event was the Rome 2009 World Championships. This match was very important for us. We want to go further now and win a medal. Now we face Italy who showed maybe the best level of water polo at this Europeans but we are playing at home ground where everything is possible with the support of our fans.””

Felipe Perrone, player, Spain:
“We are very happy. Greece has been playing the semi-finals at top events for the last 5 or 6 years. It’s a new feeling for us, playing this kind of matches in front our fans. Semi-finals? Italy is playing maybe the most beautiful water polo at the moment. They play the strongest pressing. We have to work a lot both mentally and physically for that match.”

Theodoros Vlachos, head coach, Greece:
“For us the 3rd quarter was definitely the end. We let them score easy goals. We, on the other hand, couldn’t conclude our attack successfully. Suddenly, they were at +4. At that point we lacked both time and strength to pull ourselves together and react properly. They were better today. We didn’t deserve something more with the way we played the second half of the match. Now we have to continue to play. We have two more games for the 5th place.”

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Fonte Gergely Csurka
LEN Media Manager
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