Greece men's national water polo team

Greece
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 Christos Afroudakis
FINA code GRE
Olympic Games
Appearances 16 (first in 1920)
Best result 4th place (2004)
World Championships
Appearances 13 (first in 1973)
Best result 3rd, bronze medalist(s) (2005, 2015)
World League
Appearances 7 (first in 2002)
Best result 3rd, bronze medalist(s) (2004, 2006, 2016)
World Cup
Appearances 8 (first in 1985)
Best result 2nd, silver medalist(s) (1997)
European Championship
Appearances 16 (first in 1970)
Best result 4th place (1999, 2016)
Mediterranean Games
Appearances 8 (first in 1951)
Best result 3rd, bronze medalist(s) (1951, 1991, 1993, 2013)

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.

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 and three more bronze medals at the World League in 2004, 2006 and 2016.

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.

Palmarès

Competition 1st, gold medalist(s) 2nd, silver medalist(s) 3rd, bronze medalist(s) Total
Olympic Games – – – –
World Championship – – 2 2
World League – – 3 3
World Cup – 1 – 1
European Championship – – – –
Mediterranean Games – – 4 4
Total – 1 9 10

World Championship

World Cup

World League

Mediterranean Games

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 inn Athens, after losing 5–6 to Russia in the bronze medal game. The Greeks have secured a quarter-finals' presence in six occasions.

Year Position
Belgium 1920 5th
France 1924 First round
United Kingdom 1948 First round
Japan 1964 7th
Mexico 1968 14th
West Germany 1972 14th
Soviet Union 1980 10th
United States 1984 8th
South Korea 1988 9th
Spain 1992 10th
United States 1996 6th
Australia 2000 10th
Greece 2004 4th
China 2008 7th
United Kingdom 2012 9th
Brazil 2016 6th
Total16/27

World Championship

Greece has a strong presence at the World Aquatics Championships, where they have been placed third in the world in two occasions. 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.[1] 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.

Christos Afroudakis (left) and Manolis Mylonakis (right) are the two players who have won both the 2005 and the 2015 bronze medals of Greece at the World Championship.
Year Position
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 1973 12th
West Germany 1978 12th
Ecuador 1982 12th
Spain 1986 11th
Australia 1991 10th
Italy 1994 7th
Australia 1998 8th
Japan 2001 6th
Spain 2003 4th
Canada 2005
Australia 2007 6th
Spain 2013 6th
Russia 2015
Total13/16

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.

Year Position
Greece 2002 4th
United States 2003 5th
United States 2004
Serbia and Montenegro 2005 5th
Greece 2006
Italy 2008 8th
China 2016
Total7/15

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.

Year Position
West Germany 1985 8th
Greece 1987 8th
Greece 1993 7th
United States 1995 6th
Greece 1997
Australia 1999 7th
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 2002 5th
Hungary 2006 7th
Total8/15

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
Spain 1970 10th
Bulgaria 1985 8th
West Germany 1989 11th
Greece 1991 6th
United Kingdom 1993 7th
Austria 1995 9th
Spain 1997 7th
Italy 1999 4th
Hungary 2001 7th
Slovenia 2003 7th
Serbia 2006 6th
Spain 2008 11th
Croatia 2010 9th
Netherlands 2012 6th
Hungary 2014 6th
Serbia 2016 4th
Total16/32

Team

Current squad

The following is the Greek roster in the men's water polo tournament of the 2016 Summer Olympics.[2]

Head coach: Thodoris Vlachos

№ Name Pos. Height Weight Date of birth 2016 club
1 Flegkas, KonstantinosKonstantinos Flegkas GK 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)88 kg (194 lb) 17 July 1988Greece Ydraikos
2 Mylonakis, EmmanouilEmmanouil Mylonakis D 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)75 kg (165 lb) 9 April 1985Greece Olympiacos
3 Dervisis, GeorgiosGeorgios Dervisis CB 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)92 kg (203 lb) 30 October 1994Greece Olympiacos
4 Genidounias, KonstantinosKonstantinos Genidounias D 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)87 kg (192 lb) 3 May 1993Greece Olympiacos
5 Fountoulis, IoannisIoannis Fountoulis D 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)90 kg (198 lb) 28 May 1988Greece Olympiacos
6 Pontikeas, KyriakosKyriakos Pontikeas CB 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in)84 kg (185 lb) 9 May 1991Greece Olympiacos
7 Afroudakis, ChristosChristos Afroudakis (c) D 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)88 kg (194 lb) 23 May 1984Greece Vouliagmeni
8 Delakas, EvangelosEvangelos Delakas CB 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)90 kg (198 lb) 8 February 1985Greece Olympiacos
9 Mourikis, KonstantinosKonstantinos Mourikis CF 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in)109 kg (240 lb) 11 July 1988Greece Olympiacos
10 Kolomvos, ChristodoulosChristodoulos Kolomvos CF 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)103 kg (227 lb) 26 October 1988Greece Olympiacos
11 Gounas, AlexandrosAlexandros Gounas D 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)73 kg (161 lb) 3 October 1989Greece Olympiacos
12 Vlachopoulos, AngelosAngelos Vlachopoulos D 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)75 kg (165 lb) 28 September 1991Italy Posillipo
13 Galanopoulos, StefanosStefanos Galanopoulos GK 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in)89 kg (196 lb) 22 February 1993Greece Olympiacos

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

Alessandro Campagna

References

  1. ↑ Το χάλκινο μετάλλιο της Εθνικής ομάδας πόλο των ανδρών στο Παγκόσμιο Πρωτάθλημα του 2005 στο Μόντρεαλ sport24.gr, 30/07/2014 (in Greek)
  2. ↑ Οι αγώνες της Εθνικής Πόλο Ανδρών στο Ρίο [The matches of the national water polo team in Rio] (in Greek). Sport FM. 29 July 2016. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
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