{"id":350891,"date":"2025-08-17T05:16:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-17T05:16:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/350891\/"},"modified":"2025-08-17T05:16:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-17T05:16:11","slug":"usa-rumbles-spain-for-record-extending-fifth-u20-crown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/350891\/","title":{"rendered":"USA rumbles Spain for record-extending fifth U20 crown"},"content":{"rendered":"

Final Placings<\/strong><\/p>\n

1. United States of America
2. Spain
3. Greece
4. Italy
5. Hungary
6. Netherlands
7. Croatia
8. Brazil
9. Australia
10. China
11. New Zealand
12. Israel
13. Canada
14. Argentina
15. South Africa
16. Mexico<\/p>\n

Awards<\/strong><\/p>\n

Image Source: Awardees \u2014 Iva Rozic (CRO), Anahi Bacigalupo (ARG), Olimpia Sesina (ITA), Lucy Haaland-Ford (USA), Emily Ausmus (USA)\/Satiro Sodre\/CBDA\/World Aquatics<\/p>\n

Most Valuable Player
<\/strong>Emily Ausmus<\/a> (USA)<\/p>\n

Best Goalkeeper
<\/strong>Olimpia Sesena<\/a> (ITA)<\/p>\n

Highest Goal-Scorers
<\/strong>Anahi Bacigalupo<\/a> (ARG) \u2014 23
Iva Rozic<\/a> (CRO) \u2014 23<\/p>\n

Player of the Final
<\/strong>Lucy Haaland-Ford<\/a> (USA)<\/p>\n

Image Source: World champion USA\/Satiro Sodre\/CBDA\/World Aquatics<\/p>\n

Media All Star Team<\/strong><\/p>\n

Goalkeeper:<\/strong>
Olimpia Sesena (ITA)<\/p>\n

Field Players:<\/strong>
Emily Ausmus (USA)
Julia Bonaguidi<\/a> (USA)
Anahi Bacigalupo<\/a> (ARG)
Dionysia Koureta<\/a> (GRE)
Isabel Piralkova<\/a> (ESP)
Iva Rozic (CRO)<\/p>\n

Image Source: World champion USA\/Satiro Sodre\/CBDA\/World Aquatics<\/p>\n

Overview<\/strong><\/p>\n

In the gold-medal final, United States of America shrugged off Spain in the final quarter by going three ahead and holding on for the fifth crown. USA is the queen of the finals, winning five of six and now has a 5-1-3 record as the best nation at this level. BY taking silver, Spain proved itself as the second best nation with 2-4-1.<\/p>\n

In the bronze-medal final, Greece was 3-1 down to Italy midway through the second quarter but a 6-1 third period set it up for the 10-7 success. Greece now has a 1-2-2 record and Italy has to rue losing its third successive bronze-medal final since winning bronze over Greece in 2019.<\/p>\n

In the classification 5-6 encounter, outgoing champion Hungary had the better of Netherlands 19-11 and Croatia secured seventh position, downing Brazil 17-11.<\/p>\n

Match Reports\u00a0\u00a0 <\/strong>
\nClassification 1-2 <\/strong>
\nMatch 50, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA 16 SPAIN 15 (3-3, 3-3, 6-5, 4-4)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Image Source: Lucy Haaland-Ford (USA) and Queralt Anton (ESP)\/Satiro Sodre\/CBDA\/World Aquatics<\/p>\n

In a match where the scores were locked at two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine and 10, USA held its resolve and moved out to 14-11 and held on for victory. There were standout performances from Lucy Haaland-Ford<\/strong> (USA) and Irene Casado<\/strong><\/a> (ESP) who scored eight of the last 11 goals in the sharpest end of the tournament.<\/p>\n

Image Source: Silver medallist Spain\/Satiro Sodre\/CBDA\/World Aquatics<\/p>\n

USA went two up thanks to a save of Isabel Piralkova\u2019s<\/strong> penalty attempt after Kamryn Barone<\/strong><\/a> had opened the scoring. USA captain and the tournament\u2019s Most Valuable Player, Emily Ausmus<\/strong>, converted her penalty attempt. Carlota Penalver<\/strong> <\/a>made it two straight goals on extra before Julia Bonaguidi<\/strong> also scored on extra. Penalver<\/strong> sent in a penalty goal a second from the buzzer for her third. Piralkova<\/strong> converted a penalty to open the second quarter. Charlotte Raisin<\/strong><\/a> scored either side of an Casado<\/strong>\u00a0action goal and Allison Cohen<\/strong><\/a> took USA ahead on a one-pass extra play. Julia Cereijo<\/strong><\/a> scored off a cross pass on extra for 6-6 at halftime.<\/p>\n

In the third quarter, goals were exchanged to 8-8 with Bonaguidi<\/strong> scoring twice for USA. Goals were swapped again to 10-10 with Penalver<\/strong> and Piralkova<\/strong> in the mix for Spain. Haaland-Ford<\/strong> then fired up her campaign with a pair, including a skip shot into the bottom left. Piralkova<\/strong> replied for 12-11, leaning to her left to send the ball down the line. It was brilliant play and came just two seconds from the final break.<\/p>\n

Image Source: Most Valuable Player Emily Ausmus (USA)\/Satiro Sodre\/CBDA\/World Aquatics<\/p>\n

The final quarter was teasing us as Haaland-Ford<\/strong> scored her third and Ausmus<\/strong> converted penalty to open a three-goal lead at 5:48. Casado<\/strong>\u00a0scored from the top left and Haaland-Ford<\/strong> responded as she muscled into centre forward for the 15-12 margin. Casado<\/strong>\u00a0scored twice more either side of a Barone<\/strong> cross-cage bomber. Casado\u2019s<\/strong> 16-14 goal was from a \u201clookaway\u201d shot and the last from the top. This left USA with 28 seconds of possession time with Ausmus<\/strong> given the responsibility to maintain for the whole time to secure the gold medal.<\/p>\n

Match Heroes
Haaland-Ford<\/strong> scoring four; Bonaguidi<\/strong> three and pairs to Raisin<\/strong>, Barone<\/strong> and Ausmus<\/strong>. Christine Carpenter<\/strong><\/a> made eight saves. For Spain, Casado<\/strong> fired in five, Penalver<\/strong> four and Piralkova<\/strong> three.<\/p>\n

Turning Point<\/strong><\/p>\n

Image Source: Carlota Penalver (ESP)\/Satiro Sodre\/CBDA\/World Aquatics<\/p>\n

USA had the lead three times and Spain twice, USA maintaining the lead after levelling at eight, holding off ties at nine and 10 to swim away with the victory.<\/p>\n

Stats Don\u2019t Lie
<\/strong>USA went seven from 12 on extra and Spain five from seven. USA scored two penalty goals and Spain two from three. Spain won the steals 7-4 and the shots 32-31.<\/p>\n

Bottom Line
<\/strong>USA went through undefeated, won two matches by one goal and two in penalty shootouts, so it was no easy title. Only the 24-6 blowout against Croatia carried little pressure. Spain beat Hungary in a shootout and Greece by two in the semifinals, so this was the second hardest match.<\/p>\n

Classification 3-4 <\/strong>
\nMatch 49, ITALY 7 GREECE 10 (2-1, 2-2, 1-6, 2-1)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Image Source: Bronze medallist Greece\/Satiro Sodre\/CBDA\/World Aquatics<\/p>\n

Greece beat Italy for the second time in Salvador, following the first day\u2019s 13-11 score. In the first match, Italy had the lead on several occasions and today Italy commanded the match at 3-1 a minute into the second period. Nefeli Krassa<\/strong><\/a> opened the scoring for Greece from the top on extra three minutes into the encounter. Beatrice Cassara<\/strong><\/a> with a clean-up shot at centre, Federica Morrone<\/strong><\/a> from the top right and Margherita Minuto<\/strong><\/a> from deep left in the second-quarter had Italy 3-1 ahead. At 4:31 in the second quarter, Rafaela Saltamanika<\/strong><\/a> converted extra and 30 seconds later Foteini Tricha<\/strong><\/a> went on counter for 3-3. Paola di Maria<\/strong><\/a> backhanded her centre-forward goal for 4-3 at 3:46 with no further goals in the half.<\/p>\n

Image Source: Asimini Klapsianou (GRE)\/Satiro Sodre\/CBDA\/World Aquatics<\/p>\n

The third period was hard to take for Italy as Greece went on the rampage. Saltamanika <\/strong>scored from the top left; Dionysia Koureta<\/strong> turned at centre forward; Ariadni Karampetsou<\/strong><\/a> slotted a penalty goal and Krassa<\/strong> converted extra from top left for 7-4. Di Maria<\/strong> backhanded another goal but Karampetsou<\/strong> from deep right on extra and Koureta<\/strong> at centre forward, had the score at 9-5 before the final break. Aspasia Fouraki<\/strong><\/a> opened the fourth on extra and nearly three minutes later, Italian captain Emma de March<\/strong><\/a> shot from the top for 10-6. Greece went to a timeout, wasted the time; Italy took a timeout and Lavinia Papi<\/strong><\/a> eased out of centre to four metres to take the pass and score for 10-7 for the final goal.<\/p>\n

Match Heroes
Krassa<\/strong>, Koureta<\/strong>, Karampetsou<\/strong> and Saltamanika<\/strong> all scored twice for Greece. Di Maria<\/strong> scored twice for Italy. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Image Source: Italy v Greece\/Satiro Sodre\/CBDA\/World Aquatics<\/p>\n

Turning Point
<\/strong>The third period where Greece snatched the lead and hammered home the advantage.<\/p>\n

Stats Don\u2019t Lie
<\/strong>Greece scored five from 10 on extra and shut down four from five. Greece scored the only penalty goal, lost the steals 4-3 and the shots 34-26, but still won easily.<\/p>\n

Bottom Line
<\/strong>Greece continues the fine showing by Greece\u2019s national women\u2019s teams to be the best women\u2019s nation on the planet currently.<\/p>\n

Classification 5-6 <\/strong>
\nMatch 48, NETHERLANDS 11 HUNGARY 19 (2-5, 2-4, 4-5, 3-5)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Image Source: Eszter Varro (HUN)\/Satiro Sodre\/CBDA\/World Aquatics<\/p>\n

Hungary played its most free-flowing water polo of the week, probably because there was really nothing on the line in the way of medals. Zoe Lendvay<\/strong><\/a> scored a hat-trick in the first quarter against two Pien Gorter<\/strong><\/a> goals for Netherlands. Amy Kleinlugtebeld<\/strong><\/a> opened the second quarter for the Dutch and goals were traded to 7-4. Dominika Kardos<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0scored twice for Hungary to go 9-4 ahead at the halftime.<\/p>\n

Kleinlugtebeld <\/strong>started the third quarter as well, sending in a penalty goal while senior international Kata Hajdu<\/strong><\/a> lobbed for her second goal. Natasa Lendvai<\/strong><\/a> \u2014 she with the different spelling \u2014converted a penalty. Goals were traded again before Lendvai<\/strong> scored a second from the top right. Amalia Christodoulou-Out<\/strong><\/a> shot from the top right for 14-8 to finish the third period. Dutch captain Robin Jutte<\/strong><\/a> converted extra before a triple from Hungary shunted the score to 17-7. Tess van der Meer<\/strong><\/a> replied; Hajdu<\/strong> and Kleinlugtebeld<\/strong> exchanged extra-player goals and Dominika Kardos<\/strong> went on counter in the last half minute for the handsome 19-11 victory.<\/p>\n

Image Source: Kata Hajdu (HUN)\/Satiro Sodre\/CBDA\/World Aquatics<\/p>\n

Match Heroes
Hajdu<\/strong> was best for Hungary with four goals, Lendvai<\/strong>, Lendvay<\/strong> and Dominika Kardos <\/strong>scoring three each. For Netherlands, Kleinlugtebeld<\/strong> scored four and Gorter<\/strong> and van der Meer<\/strong> two apiece.<\/p>\n

Turning Point
<\/strong>Hungary turning 2-0 to 4-1 and 5-2 by the first break.<\/p>\n

Image Source: Netherlands captain Robin Jutte\/Satiro Sodre\/CBDA\/World Aquatics<\/p>\n

Stats Don\u2019t Lie
<\/strong>Hungary nailed all three extra attempts and defended five from 10. Both scored a penalty goal, Hungary made six steals to four and the Dutch shot 35-30.<\/p>\n

Bottom Line
<\/strong>Hungary relinquishes its world crown after three losses in the rounds, but bounced back in the crossovers against Australia, downed Brazil and now Netherlands. Netherlands goes home with four wins from six matches, losing out to Spain and Italy.<\/p>\n

Classification 7-8 <\/strong>
\nMatch 47, CROATIA 17 BRAZIL 11 (5-5, 5-3, 2-3, 5-0)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Image Source: Leticia Lorieto (BRA)\/Satiro Sodre\/CBDA\/World Aquatics<\/p>\n

Croatia beat Brazil for the second time in Salvador with a similar result from day one\u2019s 18-9. Croatia collected a fifth win, with losses to eventual champion USA and Netherlands. It was a whirlwind of goals with both teams wanting to play open water polo and take chances whenever they eventuated. Brazil held sway for much of the first half before Croatia took over and went for the victory. The match was tied twice at five and 10. Leticia Lorieto<\/strong><\/a> opened with the first two goals for Brazil and goals were traded to 5-3. Two more Croatian goals levelled the match by the first quarter. Lorieto<\/strong> started the second quarter as well for 6-5 but Nika Alamat<\/strong><\/a> and Iva Rozic<\/strong> snatched away the advantage, the first on lob and the second from a rare six-metre, free-throw shot. Dandara Sampaio<\/strong><\/a> equalised but Ria Glas<\/strong><\/a> and Nina Medic<\/strong><\/a> \u2014 penalty and lob \u2014 had Croatia in charge. Brazil challenged for a penalty and won, giving captain Maiah Nascimento<\/strong><\/a> her second goal. Rozic<\/strong> closed the scoring with a lob.<\/p>\n

Image Source: Leticia Lorieto (BRA) and Iva Rozic (CRO)\/Satiro Sodre\/CBDA\/World Aquatics<\/p>\n

Karen da Silva<\/strong><\/a>, one of the many players returning to this event, converted extra for her second goal and 10-9 at the top of the third period. Nascimento<\/strong> also threw a six-metre throw, from at least eight metres, for 10-10 after Glas<\/strong> had her penalty attempt saved. Alamat<\/strong> and Jelena Butic<\/strong><\/a> on penalty had the score at 12-10 before Ana Neves<\/strong><\/a> converted extra from deep left for 12-11 by the final break. Alamat<\/strong> and Rozic<\/strong>, both on lob, eased the margin to three. Croatia won a challenge and Glas<\/strong> sent in a penalty shot. Rozic<\/strong> on penalty and Butic<\/strong> on extra, closed the match at 17-11.<\/p>\n

Match Heroes
Rozic<\/strong> with five goals and Alamat<\/strong> with four. Latica Medvesek<\/strong><\/a> made eight saves in goal. For Brazil, Nascimento<\/strong> and Lorieto<\/strong> shot three each. Both goalkeepers took in 10 saves. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Image Source: Nika Alamat (CRO) defends\/Satiro Sodre\/CBDA\/World Aquatics<\/p>\n

Turning Point
<\/strong>Croatia turning 6-5 down to 10-8 ahead in the second quarter.<\/p>\n

Stats Don\u2019t Lie
<\/strong>Croatia scored its sole extra-player chance and defended eight from 12. Croatia made four from five on penalty and Brazil scored its one chance. Croatia won the steals 5-3 and the shots 36-20.<\/p>\n

Bottom Line
<\/strong>Croatia finishes with its best effort at this level after 11th last time and 16th on debut in 2017. Brazil was 10th last time and equalled its eight position in 2015.<\/p>\n

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