The Hungarian women’s water polo team faces a tough quarterfinal, where they must beat the United States, who have won three straight Olympic titles and five of the last six world championships, for a chance at a medal. The U.S. women’s team has finished with a medal at every Olympic Games so far. In the last World Cup final, in February, in Doha, they beat us 8-7, in a very tight match that started the last quarter with the score at 5-5. They played each other twice in summer training camp, with both teams winning one game.
At the Olympic tournament, Hungary finished third in the group behind Australia and the Netherlands with two wins, one in extra time and one defeat respectively.
First Quarter
Hungary's first shot hit the goalkeeper, and the second attempt, already completed with a man advantage, was blocked in the block. Fortunately for us, the world champions USA started with a few mistakes in front of the Hungarian goal. When Rita Kestelly hit the crossbar midway through the quarter, star US goalkeeper Ashley Johnson was helpless, but the score remained 0-0. But Hungary's fifth shot was already blocked, Cristina Garda hitting a good shot from distance, the ball slipping under the goalkeeper's arm, and the score ended 1-0.
Keszthelyi had close contact with the goal post in the first quarter, and his second long-range shot bounced off the post, sending one to the right and one to the left of the goal with great force. The American attack, which started from a lost position, was actually effective, with Maggie Stevens pulling the ball in from a good pass, 1-1.
Dóra Leimeter was left empty-handed in front of goal after an American mistake, and the Americans didn't even realize what had happened – we had won the first quarter 2-1.
Second Quarter
The quarter started with two consecutive American leads, the first a great shot by Magyari towards his own goal, the second came after a very bad American pass. After these heroics, the first post helped and then a ball out of Magyari's reach into the Hungarian goal to prevent another American goal.
The American fifth man advantage she received midway through the quarter was not without a goal, as Tara Prentice found the ball in front of the Hungarian goal for a shot that basically didn't go unanswered, tying the score at 2-2. After a missed Hungarian shot, Joel Romer put it on the other side under the crossbar, turning the game around at 2-3.
Photo: Zsolt Tschiglidi/MTI
Third quarter
We could have started the third quarter with a man advantage, we managed to shoot two shots but neither of them found the back of the net. Our third attempt of the quarter was already done, Camila Farago got away from possession, passed to Keszthely, who was left alone in front of the goalkeeper, from here he doesn't make mistakes, he doesn't do that now, 3-3. Halfway through the quarter Maheu scored for Hungary, then came a two-man advantage that the USA turned into a goal, with a goal by Stevens that put them up again 3-4.
After several offensive errors, a Hungarian man managed to equalize, and Farago scored from long range, leveling the score. The Hungarian player wasted the next Hungarian man advantage, and on the other side Magyari saved, and then Keszthelyi scored his third goal of the quarter-finals. The score was 4-4 at the end of the quarter.
The fourth quarter
In other words, after the World Cup final in February, the Olympic quarterfinal also started with a draw between Hungary and the United States. After more than a minute, with a man advantage, the Americans and Magyari made two saves to prevent the cover board from having a serious impact. Vanda Valli also scored in the last 5.5 minutes, but in the meantime, we managed to overcome another man deficit without scoring a goal.
Then Magyari came out of the goal and scored a shot that resulted in another goal for Keszthely in the other goal, the fourth of the game. The USA got the double man advantage for the second time, and Rachel Fattal took advantage, giving her team a 4-5 lead at the start. At that time, the opposition was 13-6. This improved by one, but because of the Hungarian man advantage, Garda hit the post. Romer did the same, had he scored, the game would have been over. With 80 seconds left, the USA goalkeeper knocked the ball out of Natasa Rybanska’s hands. Meanwhile, the Hungarian second coach, Sandor Cseh, was shown a red card for a complaint. With 49 seconds left, Attila Mihok tried to settle things with a timeout, which also sent Magyari’s goalie on the attack. The man advantage thus created did not work, as Farago’s long shot went wide, Magyari was sent off, and the USA wasted seconds, reaching the semi-finals.
Hungary-USA 4-5 (2-1, 0-2, 2-1, 0-1)
In the semi-finals, there will be Dutch-Spanish and American-Australian duels, and the Hungarian team will continue its confrontation with Greece in the fifth and eighth rounds. For place.
