Water polo at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships – Men's tournament

Water polo at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships – Men's tournament

Tournament details
Venue(s)	Australia (in Melbourne host cities)
Dates	19 March – 1 April
Teams	16 (from 5 confederations)
Final positions
Champions	Croatia (1st title)
Runner-up	Hungary
Third place	Spain
Fourth place	Serbia
Tournament statistics
Matches played	48
Goals scored	943 (19.65 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Anthony Azevedo (19 goals)
Awards
Best player	Guillermo Molina

The men's water polo tournament at the 2007 World Aquatics Championships, organised by the FINA, was held in Melbourne, Australia from 19 March to 1 April 2007. The men's tournament was won by Croatia who won all of their matches and beat Hungary 9–8 in the final game.

Participating teams

Africa	Americas	Asia	Europe	Oceania
South Africa	Canada United States	China Japan	Croatia Germany Greece Hungary Italy Romania Russia Serbia Spain	Australia New Zealand

Groups formed

Group A

• Germany
• Italy
• Japan
• Serbia

Group B

• Australia
• Croatia
• South Africa
• United States

Group C

• China
• Greece
• Russia
• Spain

Group D

• Canada
• Hungary
• New Zealand
• Romania

Preliminary round

	Qualified for the quarterfinals
	Qualified for the playoff round
	Will play for places 13–16

Group A

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GDIF	Points
Serbia	3	3	0	0	35	13	+22	6
Italy	3	2	0	1	31	15	+16	4
Germany	3	1	0	2	27	26	+1	2
Japan	3	0	0	3	16	55	-39	0

20 March 2007
Japan	6 – 20	Italy	09:00 AEDT
Germany	7 – 11	Serbia	11:40 AEDT
22 March 2007
Japan	7 – 17	Germany	10:20 AEDT
Serbia	6 – 3	Italy	13:00 AEDT
24 March 2007
Japan	3 – 18	Serbia	09:00 AEDT
Germany	3 – 8	Italy	13:00 AEDT

Group B

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GDIF	Points
Croatia	3	3	0	0	43	30	+13	6
USA	3	2	0	1	39	27	+12	4
Australia	3	1	0	2	24	25	-1	2
South Africa	3	0	0	3	15	39	-24	0

20 March 2007
Croatia	13 – 5	South Africa	10:20 AEDT
Australia	3 – 9	USA	21:00 AEDT
22 March 2007
USA	14 – 4	South Africa	11:40 AEDT
Croatia	10 – 9	Australia	21:00 AEDT
24 March 2007
Croatia	10 – 8	USA	11:40 AEDT
Australia	12 – 6	South Africa	21:00 AEDT

Group C

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GDIF	Points
Spain	3	3	0	0	35	19	+16	6
Greece	3	2	0	1	28	20	+8	4
Russian Federation	3	1	0	2	26	28	-2	2
China	3	0	0	3	15	37	-22	0

20 March 2007
China	4 – 15	Spain	13:00 AEDT
Greece	10 – 7	Russia	17:00 AEDT
22 March 2007
Russia	8 – 12	Spain	17:00 AEDT
China	5 – 11	Greece	18:20 AEDT
24 March 2007
China	6 – 11	Russia	10:20 AEDT
Greece	7 – 8	Spain	17:00 AEDT

Group D

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GDIF	Points
Hungary	3	3	0	0	51	17	+34	6
Canada	3	2	0	1	24	35	-11	4
Romania	3	1	0	2	35	24	+11	2
New Zealand	3	0	0	3	17	51	-34	0

20 March 2007
Canada	9 – 8	Romania	18:20 AEDT
Hungary	21 – 5	New Zealand	19:40 AEDT
22 March 2007
New Zealand	4 – 18	Romania	09:00 AEDT
Canada	3 – 19	Hungary	19:40 AEDT
24 March 2007
Canada	12 – 8	New Zealand	18:20 AEDT
Hungary	11 – 9	Romania	19:40 AEDT

Final round

Finals

	Play-off 26 March 2007					Quarterfinals 28 March 2007					Semifinals 30 March 2007					Final 1 April 2007
						Serbia		8
	Greece		8			Greece		3
	Romania		7								Serbia		7
											Croatia		10
						Croatia		13
	Russian Fed.		17			Russian Fed.		3
	Canada		13													Croatia (AET)		9
																Hungary		8
						Spain		7
	Italy		12			Italy		5
	Australia		11								Spain		11			Third place
											Hungary (AET)		12
						Hungary		13								Spain (pen)		18
	Germany		6			Germany		6								Serbia		17
	USA		3

5th-8th place

	5th-8th place				5th/6th place
	30 March 2007 – 11:40 AEST
	Greece	9
					1 April 2007 – 10:20 AEST
	Russian Fed.	8
					Greece	15
	30 March 2007 – 16:00 AEST
					Italy (pen)	16
	Italy	6
	Germany	5
					7th/8th place
					1 April 2007 – 09:00 AEST
					Russian Fed.	11
					Germany	8

9th-12th place

	9th-12th place				9th/10th place
	28 March 2007 – 21:00 AEST
	Australia	15
					30 March 2007 – 10:20 AEST
	Romania	9
					Australia	9
	28 March 2007 – 11:40 AEST
					USA	10
	USA	16
	Canada	11
					11th/12th place
					30 March 2007 – 09:00 AEST
					Romania	15
					Canada	13

13th-16th place

	13th-16th place				13th/14th place
	26 March 2007 – 09:00 AEST
	Japan	7
					28 March 2007 – 10:20 AEST
	South Africa	9
					South Africa	12
	26 March 2007 – 10:20 AEST
					People's Republic of China	13
	People's Republic of China	11
	New Zealand	8
					15th/16th place
					28 March 2007 – 09:00 AEST
					Japan	9
					New Zealand	10

Final ranking

	Croatia
	Hungary
	Spain
4	Serbia
5	Italy
6	Greece
7	Russia
8	Germany
9	United States
10	Australia
11	Romania
12	Canada
13	China
14	South Africa
15	New Zealand
16	Japan

2007 FINA Men's World champions
Croatia First title

Team Roster Samir Barać, Miho Bošković, Damir Burić, Andro Bušlje, Teo Đogaš, Maro Joković, Igor Hinić, Maro Joković, Aljoša Kunac, Pavo Marković, Josip Pavić, Mile Smodlaka, Frano Vićan, and Zdeslav Vrdoljak Head coach: Ratko Rudić

Medalists

Gold	Silver	Bronze
Croatia Samir Barač Miho Bošković Damir Burić Andro Bušlje Teo Đogaš Igor Hinić Maro Joković Aljoša Kunac Pavo Marković Josip Pavić Mile Smodlaka Frano Vićan Zdeslav Vrdoljak (c) Head coach Ratko Rudić	Hungary Tibor Benedek (c) Péter Biros Rajmund Fodor Tamás Kásás Gábor Kis Gergely Kiss Norbert Madaras Tamás Molnár Viktor Nagy Zoltán Szécsi Márton Szivós Dániel Varga Dénes Varga Head coach Dénes Kemény	Spain Iñaki Aguilar Ángel Andreo Iván Gallego Mario García Xavier García David Martín Marc Minguell Guillermo Molina Iván Pérez (c) Felipe Perrone Ricardo Perrone Svilen Piralkov Xavier Vallès Head coach Rafael Aguilar

Croatia, Hungary and Spain qualified for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, PR China

Individual awards

• Most Valuable Player

• Guillermo Molina (ESP)

• Best Goalkeeper

• Alexander Tchigir (GER)

• Topscorer

• Anthony Azevedo (USA) — 19 goals

External links

• 12th FINA World Championships 2007 FINA Water Polo website
• Records and statistics (reports by Omega)
• Melbourne 2007
• Men Water Polo World Championship 2007 Melbourne www.todor66.com