Men's water polo team eyes gold medal at Rio Olympics

BELGRADE - Last weekend's gold medal at the European Water Polo Championship in Budapest takes the Serbian men's national water polo team another step closer to the main objective - winning the gold medal at the Olympic Games, says head coach Dejan Savic.

"Winning the Olympic gold is our sole objective. Other competitions are just stepping stones to that objective," Savic said in an interview to Tanjug, noting that every medal is hard-earned.

Serbia defended their European title late Sunday with an impressive 12-7 win in the final against hosts Hungary.

"As far as I can remember, no one has outplayed Hungary like that on their own turf. It is a great victory and a great success for the national team," Savic said.

The Hungarians were under great pressure, which gave us the psychological advantage and we played free of any pressure, Savic added.

The match against Spain in the last round of the group stage and the quarter-final game against Greece were the turning points for Serbia at the European Championship, Savic said.

In the semi-final, Serbia managed to overcome a huge deficit against Montenegro, and eventually won the match 10-9.

"When we were losing 5-1, nothing crossed my mind, but already at 8-4 it all looked a bit more ominous. Still, I did not lose hope for a single moment, and neither did the players," Savic said.

Savic also reflected on the difficult situation the Serbian water polo clubs have been in for quite a while.

The European success of Partizan, Red Star and Radnicki has failed to bring the desired step forward in terms of finances and marketing, he said.

After winning the 31st European Championship in Hungary, the Serbian water polo team...