Ferencváros, Champions League winners, defeated the Euro Cup-winning Italian side Pro Recco 15-14 on Wednesday evening at the Komjádi Swimming Stadium, claiming the Men’s Water Polo European Super Cup for the second consecutive time and the sixth time in the club’s history.
The Super Cup has been won by the reigning Champions League winner 22 times since 2002. The only exception was Ferencváros themselves, who won the trophy in 2018, by defeating Olympiacos.
This was Ferencváros’s sixth Super Cup title, with previous victories in 1978, 1980, 2018, 2019, and last year.
For Pro Recco, who have dominated European water polo for years, this is a bitter loss in a match they were close to turning.
Photo: MTI/Illyés Tibor
After the match, Balázs Nyéki told M4 Sport that several players took to the pool carrying injuries. Stylianos Argyropoulos, who had a broken rib, was mostly just a “decoy” in the water, Dušan Mandić is now expected to be out for about a month and a half, and Krisztián Manhercz was struggling with a back issue.
I am very proud of my players because they gave a superhuman performance today. Pro Recco was in better shape than we were, even compared to themselves. This match was even tougher than the Champions League final because we faced an incredibly hungry Recco,”
said the coach, highlighting his team’s disciplined play.
Gergő Fekete (Ferencváros, right) and Alvaro Granados Ortega (Pro Recco). Photo: MTI/Illyés Tibor
One of the best players of the match was Gergő Fekete: “It was a huge match. We have been preparing for this since the World Championships, we built our entire pre-season around it. I am happy about the win. I am glad things worked out for me so many times during the match, and I also prepared a lot mentally for this. I hope there will be many more matches like this – or even better,” said the national team player, who scored four goals.
Via MTI, M4 Sport; Featured image: MTI/Illyés Tibor
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