Australia’s men water polo team, the Aussie Sharks, have produced their best performance in 10 years at the FINA World Championships defeating Germany 8-4 in the elimination round in Barcelona, Spain.
The Sharks led from start to finish to progress to the quarter-finals where they will play European giants and Olympic champions Croatia. The last time the Australian men qualified for the final eight was in 2003 – also in Barcelona – where the boys finished seventh, second only to their fourth place finish in 1998.
Australia was represented by WAIS pair, Joel Swift and Aaron Younger.
The Australians will be brimming with confidence too, with the Sharks sure to receive an edge from their Croatian coach Elvis Fatovic. Fatovic was an assistant in Croatia’s London 2012 triumph, and while playing down Australia’s chances in Tuesday’s quarter-final, he was happy with the Sharks’ win against Germany.
“It was great to win against Germany and now get to progress to the top eight. We have been working hard as a team and all the hard work is starting to pay off,” Fatovic said.
“Our defence was great. At times we may have even been too passive in our attack but this was compensated by our strong defence.
“We will try our best against Croatia but no team in the world compares to them in overall skill so I am worried.
“But I am positive in our progress and the amount of experience we are gaining as a team throughout this tournament.”
Australia had the better defence, the better goalkeeper and better strike power and thoroughly deserved their win over Germany.
Australia controlled the opening quarter through power shots from captain Rhys Howden and Aaron Younger, and when Howden bagged an early double from deep right it was 3-1.
Germany replied soon after to make it 3-2, but that was as close as they got as Johnno Cotterill, Aidan Roach and Younger combined for three straight goals to make it 6-2 midway through the third.
In that time Sharks keeper James Clark was sensational, deflecting anything that came his way en route to superb numbers of 11 saves from 15 attempts.
Germany rallied late in the piece to reduce the margin to 6-4, but with 2:22 left on the clock Joel Swift fired a back hander from centre forward, followed a minute later by a second to Cotterill to seal the game.
Australian vice-captain Richie Campbell was pleased with the victory and said it was satisfying to adhere to the game plan and stick to the coach’s tactics.
“We worked on our defensive tactics especially for this game against Germany and it really paid off. We did exactly what the coach wanted,” Campbell said.
Fellow Olympian Billy Miller agreed with Campbell saying defence was key to the win.
“We have based our game on defence. Today all the team made an incredible effort and our keeper was amazing. All the matches are very important and we need to keep on playing in this way,” Miller said.
-WaterPoloAustralia
