Croatian juniors are World Champions in water polo!

The Croatian junior water polo team, players under 18, are the new world champions! In a dramatic five-point shootout in the World Cup final in Rio Maior, Portugal, the team of coach Hrvoje Koljanin defeated the USA 21:20, announced the Croatian Water Polo Federation.

After ten years and the 2016 World Cup in Podgorica, the Barracuda youth team is once again on top of the world.

In the final against the Americans after 32 minutes, the score was 14:14 (6:4, 2:3, 4:4, 2:3), and in the five-point shootout, the young Croatian water polo players were better by 7:6, winning gold and the world title.

Nardo Skejić led Croatia with five goals, Petar Erenda added three, Mihael Mladineo and Nardo Dragaš scored two goals each, and Ivano Lončar and Toma Drobac scored one each.

The captain of the Croatian national team, Nikola Batoš, received the award for the best goalkeeper of the World Championship, and Nardo Skejić was declared the player of the match.

A special award went to the Croatian coach, Hrvoje Koljanin, who received the World Aquatics trophy for the best coach of the competition, which is a novelty introduced by the world organization.

“I don't know where to start. The guys were... I don't know what happened to them in the last 8-10 days. That they got along like this, played so well. I can't say that it was beyond expectations, but what followed us before the tournament, in the preparations, before our arrival was quite difficult. However, when I first saw them here, in Portugal, when I saw them in the water, I immediately had some kind of faith that we could at least be good in the quarterfinals. It turned out that we played practically the entire tournament very well. We presented Croatian water polo in the best possible way, and in the final we were really better, regardless of the fact that it ended in a draw after four quarters,” the Croatian Water Polo Federation quoted the words of coach Koljanin after the Croatian juniors won the world gold.

Source: HRT