Posted on: Tuesday, August 24, 2004
American water polo team won't medal
Associated Press
ATHENS, Greece — Ratko Rudic promised one thing to his American water polo squad when it slipped out of medal contention in Athens: The suffering will end.
Aleksander Sapic scored three goals yesterday to lead Serbia-Montenegro to a 9-4 win over the United States, ending American hopes of making the Olympic quarterfinals.
The United States finished pool play 2-3 after opening with wins against Croatia and Kazakhstan. After placing sixth in Sydney, the best finish the Americans can achieve in Athens is seventh.
"This is better than I expected," said Rudic, speaking of his expectations in 2001 when he took over as U.S. head coach. "Not this game, but all our participation was very good. For example, against the best team, Hungary, we played the best game. So, we have a reputation here ... it's a great experience for the players."
Rudic had 10 Olympic rookies, including Punahou graduate Brandon Brooks, and said he expected most would return for the 2008 Beijing Games. Brooks had five saves yesterday, and helped keep Sapic scoreless in the first half.
American hopes unraveled in the second half as Serbia-Montenegro went 4 for 5 on power plays; three of those scores came from Sapic.
"They got a couple lucky shots and the ball started rolling," Brooks said. "Tonight they played more physical."
The U.S. men have a bye for the next round and play Kazakhstan or Australia on Friday.
Athens2004.com contributed to this report.
After three years imposing a brutal conditioning regimen he called "suffering," Rudic thinks the U.S. squad is up to the level of Hungary, Russia and Serbia-Montenegro, despite three straight losses to the top European teams.
