Match 47, Men 21.00, 26.07.03
GREECE 3 SERBIA & MONTENEGRO 5
Bronze Medal for 3rd & 4th placings
Quarters: 1-1, 1-2, 0-1, 1-1

Referees: Gyorgy Juhasz (HUN), Marc Levin (ISR)

GREECE: Georgios Reppas, Anastasios Schizas, Dimitrios Mazis, Konstantinos Loudis, Theodoros Chatzitheodorou (1), Argyrios Theodoropoulos, Christos Afroudakis, Theodoros Kalakonas, Georgios Afroudakis, Petre Stefanos Santa, Antonios Vlontakis (1), Nikolaos Deligiannis, Ioannis Thomakos (1)
Coach: Alessandro Campagna.

SERBIA & MONTENEGRO: Nikola Kuljaca, Slobodan Nikic, Boris Zlokovic, Vanja Udovicic (1), Danilo Ikodinovic (2), Viktor Jelenic, Vladimir Gojkovic, Aleksandar Ciric, Vladimir Vujasinovic (1), Predrag Jokic (1), Denis Sefik
Coach: Nenad Manojlovic.

Serbia & Montenegro won its first World Championship medal as a new nation, beating Greece with a controlled game. It started without the services of Aleksandar Sapic and Dejan Savic, who were both banned by FINA today for incidents following the semifinal clash with Italy. Sapic received a nine-month ban and Savic six months. It was a goal apiece in the first quarter with Predrag Jokic scoring early on from right-hand catch. There was no further score until Ioannis Thomakos, Greece’s top scorer, sent in his 11th of the championship on penalty, nine seconds from time. Both goalkeepers made some excellent saves in the first half, with Nikola Kuljaca especially in top form. Danilo Ikodinovic scored on extra and Antonios Vlontakis replied when left unattended on the post.

Vladimir Vujasinovic took Serbia & Montenegro ahead on right-hand catch late in the quarter. Vanya Udovicic took it out to a two-goal margin with a long shot from the top. Greece called a timeout in the final half-minute but lost the ball on the extra-man attack. Greece’s extra-man shooting was hesitant, causing concern to coach Alessandro Campagna. Theodoros Chatzitheodorou scored on extra for 4-3 down but the final goal went to the recently crowned European champion via Ikodinovic when Greece had two men excluded at 0:40.

Match 48, Men 22:30, 26.07.03
HUNGARY 11 ITALY 9
Gold medal for 1st & 2nd placings
Quarters: 2-1, 2-3, 2-1, 2-3, 1-0, 2-1

Referees: Torsten Bock (GER), Peter Bookelman (NED)

HUNGARY: Zoltan Szecsi, Tamas Varga, Norbert Madaras (3), Zsolt Varga, Tamas Kasas (1), Attila Vari, Gergely Kiss (2), Tibor Benedek, Rajmund Fodor, Istvan Gergely, Barnabas Steinmetz (1), Tamas Molnar (1), Peter Biros (3)
Coach: Denes Kemeny.

ITALY: Marco Gerini, Francesco Postiglione (2), Andrew Mangiante, Fabrizo Buonocore, Stefano Tempesti, Roberto Calcaterra, Goran Fiorentini (4), Alberto Angelini, Maurizio Felugo, Alessandro Calcaterra, Bogdan Rath (1), Carlo Silipo (1), Fabio Bencivenga
Coach: Paolo de Crescenzo.

Hungary won its second World Championship, 30 years after the last, when it beat Italy in extra time.

As the crowd swelled to a championship world record 10,800 spectators, Hungary opened with a 2-1 quarter. The first goal came at 4:52 through Tamas Molnar from the post on extra. Goran Fiorentini replied less than a minute later on extra. Peter Biros snapped in a post pass on extra at 0:23 for 2-1. Barnabas Steinmetz took the margin to 3-1, receiving a pass across the 2m line to the far post on the first attack Hungarian of the second quarter. Italian Carlo Silipo fired in a long shot, bouncing off the right post into goal. Norbert Madaras scored off left-hand catch on extra, just his third goal of the championship. Fiorentini took a long cross pass on deep right-hand catch on extra for 4-3 at 2:16.

Three-hundred-game veteran Francesco Postiglione scored his 10th goal in Barcelona from left-hand catch while guarded at 0:34 to 4-4. Silver paper fluttered down from the ceiling of the dome as if in celebration. Bogdan Rath converted on the second pass after an Italian timeout, firing in from deep left-hand catch. Madaras scored again on left-hand catch, just as the excluded Italian was returning to the pool for 6-5. Fiorentini continued his rich vein of goals with a third from the top at 5:46 to level at 5-5. Hungary gained an extra-man play and coach Denes Kemeny called timeout. The resulting shot was blocked but another extra was gained and Biros converted at 4:53 for 7-6.

Another timeout for Hungary and another goal. This time to Tamas Kasas, his 10th. Fiorentini collected a fourth goal on extra at 3:11 and Postiglione made it 8-8 after and exclusion period at 0:42. Molnar shot a backhand with 13 seconds left and it went wide. The game then went to overtime, half an hour before midnight. Extra time started but the 35-second clock didn’t and more of that confetti from the ceiling, used in the opening ceremony two weeks ago, fluttered to the water. The crowd entertained itself with a Mexican wave. Timing was then done manually for 35-second possession time. Biros scored on extra from a near-post shot at 0:39 of the first period of extra time. Italy had just two attacks but was thwarted each time with the last seeing Hungary hold the ball to kill time. Italy gained an extra on the first attack of the second period of extra but lost the ball. A problem with the timeout hooter held up the game for a minute but the 35-seconds clock restarted. Madaras scored on extra at 1:26 and the title was heading to Budapest. Alberto Angelini replied on extra at 0:13 and Italian coach Paolo De Crescenzo called a tactical, illegal timeout. The ploy failed as Gergely Kiss converted at 0:07 for victory, assigning Italy to its second final loss of the weekend.