Last Sunday, a knowledgeable colleague called me and told me that the captain of the men’s national water polo team, Tamas Marcs, would be resigning after the World Cup match at home against Montenegro in the early afternoon. Thanks for the info, I went for it, there’s nothing surprising in this, because at best we can only be 7th, which in the case of the Hungarian polo shirt is blatantly bad. So much so that in the next half-century of World Cup history, there was only one worse than this: ninth place in Madrid in 1986. With a very unlucky draw, in the same group of Olympic champion Italy and host Spain, but Dezs Gyarmati made no excuses, it was This is the last international competition in his brilliant career. In the history of the European Championship written since 1926, the ninth place in 1989 and the sixth place at the Olympics in 1992 were the low points.
But in the end, Tamas Marcs not only left – neither voluntarily nor under duress – but also stated that he had already written the names of the twenty players with whom he would begin preparing for the European Championship. I wouldn’t be in such a hurry if I were you. I also emphasized this on Sportrádió’s Friday afternoon talk show, “Sportkör,” which some people have pointed out: What’s wrong with Märcz? My short answer was that there is nothing wrong with that, my problem is ‘only’ the 7th. And the team undoubtedly “suffered” under his management, moreover, as I said last time, in the haven of world polo, Margitszeget.
The logical, calm and controversial coach almost mentioned this fact as a flaw in his assessment of the World Cup, saying that if the venue was not Hungary, and he was given the authority to do so, he would surely have put it together. A different, sharper team. I do not understand this at all. Obviously the advice or suggestion was not that we should pick a few sloppy tesetosza characters, but that we should start the tournament with the strongest group possible at the moment, not to prepare for Paris and 2024, but for Budapest and 2022, not for let’s build a future when it is The present in our hands, the domestic World Cup, is not a tool, but a sacred goal. In front of seven thousand galactic fans, the only limit is the starry sky. That is why the proposal is so surprising: Can there be a better performance than what was seen at the World Cup? If so – I’d be curious to see the names of the missing winners – it was a huge mistake not to use them. If not, why did we achieve a higher rank in a weaker combination? I will not resolve this contradiction – I am afraid of it, and no one else will – but it is worth asking to what extent the outcome determines the judgment and fate of the coach or captain of the national team.
He chooses his sport. When there is no pressure to achieve results, because neither “noble rank” nor current opportunities are binding, there you can easily catch yourself after the fall, the people involved dump themselves and each other, and everything goes before. In the qualifiers for the Women’s World Cup last year at Hidekote Stadium, we defeated the Spaniards 7-0, but no one demanded the head of the national team, captain Margaret Kratz, he is considered an excellent and conscientious coach. (The European Championship is being held in England, and no one has missed out on our players yet, although the stadium doesn’t look insanely crowded.) And in the sport’s basics, neither the true experts nor the self-proclaimed dissect it alive. .
However, in water polo, it is not enough to be prepared, intelligent, sympathetic and reliable. Unfortunately, all this is not enough without results. As well as yesterday’s result to save today’s inefficiency.
At least it has been so until now. We’ve already discussed the “fate” of Germatti, Casas and Conrad, and four Masters at the helm of the men’s national team have followed in the past two decades. György Horkai led the team to the 1993 and 1995 Euros finals, which finished as the top of their group at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics with a 100% performance, defeating the Greeks 12-8 to reach the quarter-finals. However, he had a poor semi-final match, failing to neutralize one Spanish player, Gomez, who scored four goals – the bronze was also due to this shock – so he finished fourth, so there was a general opinion: Horkai couldn’t Remains. An application for the position was published, and the captain indicated that his candidacy had been the work of the past four years, but it turned out to be not enough. Not the four years, but the last minute of it, fourth place.
Dénes Kemény came. And with it the revival of Hungarian polo, its brightest golden era with the three Olympic championships. But after Sydney, Athens and Beijing, London took fifth place, and Kimiani, the second “house-founder” after Bella Kumjadi, made no effort or indicated previous merits.
He left, and was replaced by Tibor Benedek. And in 2013, he immediately opened by winning the World Cup. However, in 2016, in Rio, his team failed in the quarter-finals with a minimum margin, a five-meter duel, and another fifth place created a crisis situation again. I asked Kemeni, who was already sitting in the chair of the president at the time, whether Tepe deserved more confidence, and he replied: Of course, based on his football career and his performance as a captain, but if he can continue now spontaneously, we can say that everything is fine Even fifth place can fit us. Benedik Kimiani can also apply again and has a good chance of winning, but he does not have a passport to Tokyo.
Tamas Marks became the runner-up. Aside from the fiasco at the 2018 European Championships in Barcelona, he served confidence. He won a silver medal in the first World Cup in Budapest in 2017, gold in the European Championships 2020, Hungary as well, and bronze with the team last year in Tokyo. Hungary regained its first Olympic medal since 2008, and the top of the podium in the continental championship after 1999.
Hats off. However, all this is already in the past, and in water polo it was the present that was important until now. This is the seventh place. in the World Cup at home. Without the slightest intent to offend, I would add that there are indeed seven, at most eight teams that are serious about competing. After all, the Russians were left out, Montenegro is huge, but not the old one, the Australians have recently been less than on the map. There was a duel between Japan and Georgia for ninth place. This is a whole different level, almost entertainment in nature, so don’t look down on the bottom.
All in advance. The European Championship will start in Split on August 27, Marks said, in this matter, the names of twenty candidates are already in his head. The only question is how important it is. After all, any national team captain, regardless of sport or nation, can basically only decide to stand off the bench in a particular situation. But how long he sits, he can sit on, does not depend on him. By not offering his resignation, Marsh did not use the authority vested in him; From now on decide the presidency.
Not only about him, but also about the seventh place in the water cycle.
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