The French water polo team was beaten by Spain on Tuesday in the quarter-finals of the World Championships in Fukuoka (Japan).
The Blues narrowly lost 7 to 6 (1-2/1-2/2-1/3-1) against the Spaniards, reigning world champions. France led 6-4 in the last quarter before conceding 3 goals in the last four minutes of the match.
“There is a lot of disappointment,” reacted Blues goalkeeper Hugo Fontani. “We attacked this match to win it like all our matches. We knew we could do it and we gave our maximum in this battle, it was very hard.
“I think what played was the high level experience. It’s our third quarter-final only (in international competition, editor’s note), they are the defending champions, that’s what turned in their favor at the end of the match, ”he said.
The French will now play for the seeding spots 5-8 and face the United States on Thursday at 3:30 p.m. (8:30 a.m. Paris time).
Despite this defeat, the French confirm their progress after an encouraging summer of 2022 punctuated by a semi-final in the World League and a quarter at the European Championships, which bodes well a year before the Olympic Games at home.
Asked what this result meant before the Olympic deadline, Fontani saw “hope” in it. “Going 7-6 in a world championship against Spain in the quarterfinals, I don’t know if that has already been achieved by a French team before. So it’s hope, we know why we work, we see the results. We have to continue like this and I think that in Paris, we will pass the quarters, ”he added.
By reaching the quarter-finals, a first since 1986, the Blues had equaled the best result ever achieved by a French team in a world championship.