Hanover, May 10 - Greece and Yugoslavia hammered out a thrilling 8-all draw. This was a class act and the best match of the tournament.
Yugoslavia took a 2-1 lead by the quarter, but Greece leveled at two, went ahead 3-2 and then led 4-3 at halftime. Veljko Uskokovic nailed a penalty to level at four soon after the restart and went 5-4 up through Vladimir Vujasinovic but Thomas Chatzis leveled at five.
Amid the confusion of the clock, Dejan Savic scored on extra for Yugoslavia before Greece was stranded at three-quarter time. With the match reaching fever point, Theodoros Chatzitheodorou scored on extra to level at 6-all at 5:35. At 3:33, Kostas Loudis was ejected and Yugoslav Aleksandar Sapic scooped the ball under defender and goalie alike to go 7-6 up.
Georgios Afroudakis earned a kickout at 3:33, gained the pass immediately and flipped it over his head into goal as Yugoslavian goalkeeper Alexander Sostar came out to the four-metre to foul - 7-all. Soon after, with the clock reading 1:35, Uskokovic was ejected and Greek coach Koulis Iosifidis called timeout.
Within 18 seconds Loudis scored off the near post for an 8-7 lead. Yugoslavia lost the ball on attack but Greece was just prepared to play out the time without a shot, leaving Yugoslavia 26 seconds to set up an attack after a timeout of its own. Loudis was ejected and Uskokovic quickly scored from left-hand catch giving Greece just 15 seconds to gain the winning goal. However, Yugoslavian Vujasinovic stole the ball and shot the length of the pool, being stopped by Reppas.
Next match Yugoslavia will play against Romania, on May 11.
OLYMPIC GAMES MEN'S WATER POLO QUALIFICATION
TOURNAMENT, Group E, Round 1, Hanover, Germany, May 10
YUGOSLAVIA - GREECE 8-8 (2-1, 1-3, 3-1, 2-3)
Swimming pool in Hanover. Attendance: 300.
Goals in man up: Yugoslavia 5/6, Greece 5/13.
YUGOSLAVIA: Sostar, Trbojevic, Kuljaca, Zimonjic, Savic 1, Ikodinovic, Jelenic, Uskokovic 3 (1), Ciric, Sapic 2, Vujasinovic 2, Vukanic, Vasovic.
P R E V I O U S . . .
Group B, Round 1, May 6: YUGOSLAVIA - Slovenia 13-4
Group B, Round 2, May 7: YUGOSLAVIA - Holland 10-5
Group B, Round 3, May 8: YUGOSLAVIA - Brasil 14-4
