USA is scheduled to play Croatia in the final game of their preliminary rounds on Saturday, March 24, 2007 at 11:40am. If USA wins, they will automatically advance through to the quarter final rounds and play the winner of game 30 on Wednesday, March 28th.
"Our coaches have prepared us well for this bracket. The Southern Cross Cup Tournament was a great stepping stone for us to build our confidence and now we are ready to take the next step and secure our place in the quarter finals," remarked goalkeeper Merrill Moses. "We really want to come out strong and beat Croatia. A win against Croatia will be huge for us, not only because we have a history with Ratko Rudic their coach, but also because they are a very good team."
A good team indeed! Coach Rudic has pulled out all the stops by brining back three players (Hinic, Smodlaka and Vrdoljak) from their 1996 Olympic silver medal team. Fueled with a desire to redeem themselves after a disappointing seventh place finish at the 2006 European Cup and just missing out by finishing fourth at Montreal in 2005, Croatia is looking to grab a medal at this year's championship. Team USA will rely heavily on their imposing goalkeeper Moses and their solid 2M defense in order to keep Croatia's strongest players Hinic, Barac and Buric away from the goal.
Never one to under estimate his opponents, USA Coach Ricardo Azevedo is preparing his team to stay mentally and physically sharp for tomorrow's match. "Croatia is a strong team and we will need to continue to put out a strong defensive effort in order to defeat them," remarked Azevedo. During the first two games of the tournament Azevedo took advantage of his team's strong performances and rotated players in and out of the water. "It is important that they (the players) stay fresh, especially going into such a critical match."
About USA Water Polo: USA Water Polo, Inc. is a non-profit corporation organized for the purpose to serve as the national governing body for the sport of water polo in the United States under the auspices of the United States Olympic Committee (USOC). For more information please visit www.usawaterpolo.com.
