Hungary came from behind to defeat Serbia and Montenegro 8-7 and win the men’s Olympic water polo gold yesterday.
Hungary, the defending champions, trailed throughout until center forward Gergely Kiss slammed home the winning goal with just over two minutes left.
Kiss, a left-hander, scored four times. Aleksandar Sapic, the tournament’s top scorer, put in two goals for Serbia and Montenegro.
It was Hungary’s eighth Olympic title since 1932.
Brazil Cement Status as World’s Best With Gold
World champions Brazil cemented their status as the undisputed best men’s volleyball team in the world with an imposing victory over second-ranked Italy in the Olympic final yesterday.
Brazil’s 25-15, 24-26, 25-20, 25-22 win gives them the rare honor of holding all four major volleyball titles at once, with their trophy cabinet already full following the 2002 world championships, the 2003 World Cup and this year’s World League.
Gilberto Godoy Filho, Brazil’s 1.92m (6ft-4in) wing spiker, was the stand-out attacker and top scorer for the match with 20 points. He received strong support from Gustavo Endres, with 14 points, and Andre Nascimento, 11 points.
The powerhouse front-line trio had combined to score 185 points leading into the final. The victory, Brazil’s fourth gold of the Olympics, was a justified reward for a near total dominance of the tournament. Their only loss in Athens was to the United States in their last match of the preliminary rounds.
But that was a “dead” rubber for the Brazilians after having already qualified for the knock-out stages and they avenged the loss with a 3-0 thrashing of the Americans in the semifinals. Yesterday’s victory gave Brazil their second Olympic title in men’s volleyball, adding to the gold they won in Barcelona 12 years ago and silver at the 1984 Los Angeles Games.
How much the gold meant to them was evident when nearly all of the 12 players were in tears on the podium as they accepted their medals.
Earlier in the day, Russia defeated the United States 25-22, 27-25, 25-16 to win the bronze medal.
