Greece men's national water polo team
The Greece men's national water polo team represents Greece in international men's water polo competitions and it is organized and run by the Hellenic Swimming Federation.
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| FINA code | GRE |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Galanolefki (The Blue-white) Ethniki (The National) |
| Association | Hellenic Swimming Federation |
| Confederation | LEN (Europe) |
| Head coach | Thodoris Vlachos |
| Asst coach | Dimitris Kravaritis |
| Captain | Ioannis Fountoulis |
| FINA ranking (since 2008) | |
| Current | 8 (as of February 2020) |
| Highest | 5 (2017) |
| Lowest | 15 (2011) |
| Olympic Games | |
| Appearances | 15 (first in 1920) |
| Best result | 4th place (2004) |
| World Championship | |
| Appearances | 15 (first in 1973) |
| Best result |  |
| World Cup | |
| Appearances | 8 (first in 1985) |
| Best result |  |
| World League | |
| Appearances | 7 (first in 2002) |
| Best result | |
| European Championship | |
| Appearances | 18 (first in 1970) |
| Best result | 4th place (1999, 2016) |
| Mediterranean Games | |
| Appearances | 8 (first in 1951) |
| Best result | |
| Media | |
| Website | koe.org.gr |
Greece has a long tradition of strong presence at international level, with their major successes being the two bronze medals won at the World Championship in 2005 and 2015. The Greeks have also won a silver medal at the World Cup in 1997, three bronze medals at the World League in 2004, 2006 and 2016, as well as one silver (2018) and four bronze medals (1951, 1991, 1993, 2013) at the Mediterranean Games.
Moreover, they have closely missed a medal in the 2016 European Championship, the 2004 Olympic Games, the 2003 World Championship and the 1999 European Championship, ending up in the 4th place in all four of them. Greece is one of only nine national teams in the world to have won (at least) a medal in the World Championship, currently occupying the eighth place on the medal table, one above Germany. They have qualified at least for the quarter-finals in all their World Championship participations since 1994, winning the two aforementioned bronze medals and never finishing below the 6th place from 2001 and on.
Honours
| Competition |  | | | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Olympic Games | – | – | – | – |
| World Championship | – | – | 2 | 2 |
| World League | – | – | 3 | 3 |
| World Cup | – | 1 | – | 1 |
| European Championship | – | – | – | – |
| Mediterranean Games | – | 1 | 4 | 5 |
| Total | – | 2 | 9 | 11 |
World Cup
Competitive record
Olympic Games
Greece has participated 16 times at the Olympic Games, always present in the tournament since 1980. Their best result is the 4th place at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, after losing 5–6 to Russia in the bronze medal game. The Greeks have secured a quarter-finals' presence in six occasions.[1]
| Year | Position |
|---|---|
.svg.png){kind=small} | 8th |
 | 13th |
 | 15th |
 | 14th |
 | 14th |
 | 10th |
 | 8th |
 | 9th |
 | 10th |
| 6th |
.svg.png){kind=small} | 10th |
| 4th |
 | 7th |
| 9th |
 | 6th |
| Total | 15/27 |
World Championship
Greece has a strong presence at the World Aquatics Championships, where they have been placed third in the world in two occasions.[1] The first was in 2005 in Montreal, after their 11–10 victory over Croatia in the bronze medal game, with Georgios Afroudakis scoring the winning goal, with a spectacular backhand shot, with only 11 seconds left in the overtime.[2] The second one was in 2015 in Kazan, after their penalty shootout win over Italy in the bronze medal game. Greece has qualified at least for the quarter-finals in all their tournament participations since 1994, with the 6th place being their lowest position from 2001 and on.
| Year | Position |
|---|---|
.svg.png){kind=small} | 12th |
| 12th |
 | 12th |
| 11th |
| 10th |
 | 7th |
| 8th |
 | 6th |
| 4th |
.svg.png){kind=small} | |
| 6th |
| 6th |
 | |
 | 4th |
| 7th |
| Total | 15/18 |
World Cup
Greece had qualified for the FINA Water Polo World Cup in all but two occasions between 1985 and 2006, winning the silver medal in 1997 in Athens, losing 5–8 to the United States in the final.[1]
| Year | Position |
|---|---|
| 8th |
| 8th |
| 7th |
| 6th |
| |
| 7th |
%3B_Flag_of_Serbia_and_Montenegro_(2003%E2%80%932006).svg.png){kind=small} | 5th |
| 7th |
| Total | 8/15 |
World League
Greece had a regular presence at the FINA Water Polo World League during the first years of the competition, starting from 2002. They have won three bronze medals so far in 2004, 2006 and 2016.[1]
| Year | Position |
|---|---|
| 4th |
| 5th |
| |
| 5th |
| |
| 8th |
| |
| Total | 7/15 |
European Championship
As one of the most competitive European nations in water polo, Greece is a regular contestant at the European Water Polo Championship since 1989, although they have yet to win a medal, with their best results being the 4th place in 1999 in Florence and in 2016 in Belgrade.
| Year | Position |
|---|---|
| 10th |
 | 8th |
| 11th |
| 6th |
| 7th |
 | 9th |
| 7th |
| 4th |
| 7th |
 | 7th |
 | 6th |
| 11th |
 | 9th |
 | 6th |
| 6th |
| 4th |
| 5th |
| 7th |
| Total | 18/34 |
Team
Current squad
Roster for the 2020 Men's European Water Polo Championship.[3]
Head coach: Theodoros Vlachos
| No | Name | Pos. | L/R | Date of birth | Height | Weight | Caps | Club |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Emmanouil Zerdevas | GK | R | 12 August 1997 | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | 89 kg (196 lb) | | |
| 2 | Konstantinos Genidounias | W | R | 3 May 1993 | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) | 92 kg (203 lb) | | |
| 3 | Dimitrios Skoumpakis | DF | R | 18 December 1998 | 2.03 m (6 ft 8 in) | 109 kg (240 lb) | | |
| 4 | Marios Kapotsis | W | R | 13 September 1991 | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) | 84 kg (185 lb) |  | |
| 5 | Ioannis Fountoulis (C) | W | R | 25 May 1988 | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) | 89 kg (196 lb) | | |
| 6 | Alexandros Papanastasiou | FP | R | 12 February 1999 | 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) | 86 kg (190 lb) | | |
| 7 | Georgios Dervisis | CF | R | 30 October 1994 | 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) | 100 kg (220 lb) | | |
| 8 | Stylianos Argyropoulos | DF | R | 2 August 1996 | 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) | 100 kg (220 lb) | | |
| 9 | Konstantinos Mourikis | CF | R | 11 July 1988 | 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in) | 115 kg (254 lb) | | |
| 10 | Christodoulos Kolomvos | CF | R | 26 October 1988 | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) | 106 kg (234 lb) |  | |
| 11 | Alexandros Gounas | W | R | 3 October 1989 | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | 75 kg (165 lb) | | |
| 12 | Angelos Vlachopoulos | W | R | 28 September 1991 | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | 80 kg (180 lb) | | |
| 13 | Konstantinos Galandis | GK | R | 1 September 1990 | 2.02 m (6 ft 8 in) | 110 kg (240 lb) | |
World Championship medal-winning squads
The following are the bronze medal-winning Greek rosters in the men's water polo tournaments of the 2005 and the 2015 World Championships:
Notable coaches
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References
- "HistoFINA – Water polo medalists and statistics – Download" (PDF). fina.org. FINA. September 2017. pp. 5, 15, 25, 45. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 May 2019. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
- Το χάλκινο μετάλλιο της Εθνικής ομάδας πόλο των ανδρών στο Παγκόσμιο Πρωτάθλημα του 2005 στο Μόντρεαλ sport24.gr, 30 July 2014 (in Greek)
- "2020 European Championships roster" (PDF). wp2020budapest.microplustiming.com. p. 6. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
External links
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| National teams | |
| League Competitions | |
| Cup Competitions | |
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