Whetting the AppetiteWith a win over Yugoslavia, former water polo power Hungary is poised to make a run at its first gold in 20 yearsby Peter King
Twenty years ago, as he stood on a medal stand in Montreal with gold draped around his neck, Gyorgy Horkai had no doubt that Hungary's water polo dynasty would last forever. "So different than today," Horkai, now Hungary's coach, said yesterday at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center. "In Montreal we play, we win. We play, we win. We didn't understand. Then the rest of the world caught us. Any of seven teams could win gold here."
For half a century Hungary was like the Yankees of the 1950s, the Celtics of the '60s, the Steelers of the '70s. Then came the Eastern bloc's boycott of the 1984 Games in Los Angeles, which ended Hungary's run of winning medals in 12 Olympics. Many of the country's premier players started leaving for professional leagues far from home. Hungary was fifth at the 1988 Seoul Games and in Barcelona four years later.
Mirko Vicevic (blue) of Yugoslavia battles Hungary's Tamas Kasas for possession.
photograph by
Today the stars are staying home to rebuild their nation's water polo program, and under Horkai's tutelage this team has emerged as one of the two gold medal favorites in Atlanta. Hungary clinched the Pool A title yesterday with a surprisingly easy 12-8 win over archrival Yugoslavia. Hungary and Italy, the dominant Pool B team, both finished round-robin play 5-0 and are on a collision course to battle for the gold on Sunday. "Everybody's thinking about it," Horkai said of the Hungarians' quest for a gold, "but no one's talking about it."
Everyone seems to fear Italy, and with good reason. The Italians won the gold in Barcelona and at the quadrennial world championships in 1994. They're physical, quick and smart, and they have something that many great water polo teams have: a knack for working the officials in a sport in which the judgment call is king and one-man advantages often lead to easy goals.
"Italy's game was to provoke us, and obviously they succeeded," Dubravko Simenc of Croatia said after a teammate was ejected for kicking an Italian in Italy's 10-8 win on Monday. "Unfortunately, Italy has a reputation, and we are the small country of Croatia."
Tibor Benedek, Hungary's 24-year-old star, admits that his team's road to the gold would be a lot smoother if it didn't have to cross paths with the Italians. "All of our group does not want to play Italy," he said yesterday. Italy, however, can't be too excited about the prospects of facing Benedek, who may be the hottest player in the water. He has scored 12 goals at the Olympics, including three against Yugoslavia. His shots curve and skip off the water like fast knuckleballs. "Starting at age 14," he said in broken English, "I practiced my shot 10 hours in the pool a day. But it will matter only if we win."
One Hungarian assistant coach estimated that about a third of his country's citizens watched the telecast of the match against Yugoslavia. But Horkai said there was no dancing in the streets of Budapest. Not yet, anyway. "No, not at all," he said. "The people are starting to expect this again." Just like the good old days.
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