Spain-Hungary is a classic of modern women’s water polo. Both teams, as far as quick memory goes, met in the semifinals of the 2012 London Olympics, the 2013 Barcelona World Cups or the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. All of them won by the Selection. Taking a look at the newspaper library, the data is even more clairvoyant: Miki Oca’s team has won up to seven semifinals against the Magyars. This Monday (12:30) they will meet in the Japanese city in search of those semifinals and the Olympic place, which will be obtained by entering the final.
The duel is balanced despite the fact that Spain has taken the measure of the Hungarian team. “It is where the tournament begins to cook. Hungary is a very powerful team, they have everything, she dominates all phases of the game: a good goalkeeper, a very strong defense. They come out very fast on the counter, they are very fast on the counterattack and in the positional attack they have two very powerful buoys (Rebecca Parkes and Geraldine Mathieu)”, said the Spanish coach, Miki Oca.
Behind the match, there is a rivalry between two leaders who are teammates at CN Mataró, who have tasted the bitter taste of defeat this season by losing the League and Champions League finals against CN Sabadell, and who next season will attempt revenge in the Olympic year. They are Anni Espar and Rita Keszthelyi. “Anni plays two and Rita plays four, they understand each other just by looking at each other. This year we have fostered that relationship. Anni likes to attend more and the Hungarian is a killer, we are privileged to have two players like that”commented Dani Ballart, coach of the Maresme club.
Stopping Keszthelyi will be one of the goals of Miki Oca’s team, who knows that the difference in the match must be made from defense. Hungary is a team full of talent, messy and lacking in attention in the defensive phase, while the warriors become strong over the lair of Martina Terré. “All this requires us to be at the best level, we have to work as a team, with a very collaborative defense”explained Oca, who highlighted for the Efe news agency the potential of the Magyar outer perimeter. The Hungarians have the young talent of 17-year-old Kata Hajdu, the youngest player in Hungarian history to score in a World Cup, recognition that she obtained by beating Keszthelyi.
The other quarterfinals pit the United States against Italy, the Netherlands against Canada and Greece against Australia. Without a doubt, the confrontation between Spain and Hungary is the most balanced and exciting. The last meeting between the two was the World League final last November in Tenerife. Spain won the first tournament in its history on penalties. Those of Oca sign that outcome, even if they end up biting their nails.