Serbia’s water polo summer ended on a high note. The young players lead by coach Dejan Savić won the gold by beating Russia (14:4). Officially undefeated during the entire tournament.

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Source: Water Polo Serbia

Serbia was defeated by Croatia in a true derby (11:12) of the Budapest World Championship SF. The Dolphins made a good opening, but ended up on the losing side. A strange result for the reigning World Champions, that eventually had to happen.

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Serbia’s National Team are known as the All around champions, uniting World, Europe, World League and Olympic gold medals. Undefeated since 2013. Nobody has done it before. 

One of water polo’s most beloved pairings has officially retired from the National Team. Slobodan Nikić and teammate Živko Gocić have played their last match as Dolphins at the Tašmajdan pool in Belgrade, Serbia.

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Nikić (left) and Gocić (right), enjoying their seats. Photo: J.L.

Olimpijski komitet Srbije, uručio je danas nagrade najzaslužnijim sportistima, tokom dana proslave Komiteta. Godišnje nagrade najboljima, predate su po dvadeset i drugi put. 

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Šampioni u svemu. Foto: Nenad Negovanović.

The Serbian Olympic Committee has named the best athletes of the year. One of the three categories carries the name of the Serbian Water polo National Team for the record eleventh time. 

In a tense match of the Water polo World league between the two National teams, Serbia manages to beat Spain with a last minute goal by Strahinja Rašović, to the assist of Andrija Prlainović.

The Serbian Dolphins have won an important match of the Round two on home grounds in Novi Sad, without a few of the standard team members. A mostly young group of players lead by coach Dejan Savić was facing a very strong rival, that was  defeated during the final 45 seconds of the game. An encounter definitely worth watching.

As the competition goes on, team Serbia is continuing well in their defense of the World league crown.

Družina na sve spremna. Nakon fenomenalne pobede nad Hrvatskom, zlatni reprezentativci Srbije su se okupili da ukratko iskažu svoje utiske o novoj svetskoj tituli.

A short interview after winning the title.  Una pequeña entrevista después de haberse ganado el oro del Mundial.

An amazing game performed by the Serbian National team, after a strong victory against Italy, in the semifinals of the Waterpolo World Championship in Kazan.

The Serbian Dolphins have performed almost perfectly against a well known opponent, giving Italy very little room to breathe. Serbia has started strong from the very beginning, and has enforced its own pace to the other side, while scoring a steady amount of goals, from all of the angles imaginable. Even the Italian fouls were not enough to disrupt the game style of the Dolphins. A routine, but powerful finish in the second half was all that it took to make the difference in this semifinal, official.

A kind of dance in the cold pool that from afar looked so routine to the players of coach Dejan Savić, giving the crowd a chance to see truly beautiful moves and scores by Andrija Prlainović, who scored barely 2 minutes in, Živko Gocić, Duško Pijetlović, and many, many more.  It seemed that all of the game aspects have come together tonight in Kazan, allowing the Dolphins to truly show off their magic.

The next opponent is Croatia, after a penalty shoot of 13-10, against a pleasantly surprising Greece. The final will be played on Saturday, at 21:00 CET, in what is undoubtably going to be a spectacle worthy of a World Championship closing game.

The Serbian Water polo National Team is getting ready for their quarterfinal match, against the United States. The Dolphins have won all of their prior games, and have reached this next phase of the competition as first in their group. The awaited QF match will be played tomorrow, (Tuesday) at 20:30 CET, as the last match of the evening.

One of the biggest favorites for winning this year’s World championship in Kazan has played “a very good preparation match” against Croatia, before the big day.

The team members state that they won’t be falling under pressure after the statements made by the US coach, Dejan Udovičić, as well as the fact that victories aren’t guaranteed.  “We are the favorites, but that means nothing now. There can be no underestimating of the opponent. (…) Nobody will say much to them if they lose against Serbia, while our goal is the medal.”

The Serbian Water polo National team has its rival for the quarterfinals. The Dolphins will be playing against the United States, after their 7-3 victory against Brazil.  The current US coach, and former Serbian NT leader, Dejan Udovičić has pointed out the strength of the Serbian players: Serbia is the only team that we almost certainly cannot win against. This will be an important experience and an honor for us. It is just the reality, and I plan on giving the younger players a chance.

The match between Serbia and the US is to be played on Tue, at 20:30 (CET).

Meanwhile, the Serbian team will be training twice a day, to keep up their fitness before the important game. An element that team captain, Živko Gocić agrees on, while eliminating any possible result calculations: I don’t know if the others were doing it, or wanted to do it… For us, it’s a forbidden subject. We don’t talk about it.

The other QF pairs are:

Croatia vs. Montenegro; Greece vs. Australia; Hungary vs. Italy


Srpska reprezentacija konačno ima četvrtfinalnog rivala. Delfini će igrati protiv selekcije Amerike, nakon njihove pobede nad Brazilom, od 7-3.  Selektor  Sjedinjenih Država i bivši strateg srpske reprezentacije, Dejan Udovičić, istakao je snagu srpskih igrača: Srbija je jedina ekipa koju skoro sigurno ne možemo da pobedimo. Za nas će to biti veliko iskustvo, čast nam je da igramo protiv nje. Realnost je takva i posle toga planiram da razigravam mladje igrače.

Meč između Srbije i Amerike, igraće se u utorak od 20:30. U međuvremenu će izabranici Dejana Savića trenirati dva puta na dan, kako bi održali formu i ostali u neophodnom takmičarskom ritmu. Element čiju važnost ističe i kapiten Živko Gocić, eliminišući bilo kakve teorije o kalkulacijama: Ne znam da li su drugi to radili ili želeli da rade. Za nas je to zabranjena tema, o tome ne razgivaramo.

Ostali četvrtfinalni parovi su:

Hrvatska – Crna Gora (16:30)
Grčka – Australija (17:50)
Mađarska – Italija (19:10)