Day 10, Group B – Pro Recco (ITA) v Waspo 98 Hannover (GER) 21-4
Recco and Hannover have never been in the same weight-category – since Waspo entered the league, the Italians beat them 8 out of 8 times –, but the difference between the teams’ qualities have never been so painfully visible then this evening.
Recco pushed as hard as they could at both ends, and the reshaped German side were no match to them. While they could put up some resistance at home on Day 5, losing only 8-11 to the title-holders, this time the encounter was turned into one of the most one-sided contests in the season.
While most of Recco’s possessions were real threats, Hannover couldn’t really penetrate the Italians’ defence, they could force a single man-up in the entire first half, as an example. It was inevitable that the gap was growing as home side entertained the capacity crowd with a flawless performance. They led 4-0 after eight minutes and 9-0 at halftime.
Though the game didn’t offer too many excitements, the atmosphere in the pool was still magnificent, as Recco’s initiative of a kind of Tour de Champions League – visiting cities around Liguria – always guarantees that a lot of enthusiasts attend the matches. This time the encounter took place in Lavagna, dozens of youngsters cheered for Recco whose players did their best to satisfy the supporters.
By the way, Hannover could break the ice 52 seconds into the fourth period, so after almost 25 minutes, at 14-0. It ended in a 21-4 rout – Recco again ‘only’ equalled the season’s single-game scoring record, but winning by 17 goals is the largest gap so far.
How they saw it
Sandro Sukno, coach, Recco
“We played very well, this is nice result, a nice presentation from the team. After the break it was important to find the right gear and we played a really good game. It was great to see this atmosphere and the lot of young children around the pool.”
Karsten Seehafer, coach, Hannover
“It was hard, very hard… We were lucky to score four goals at least in the fourth period. We had a lot of problems this season and this game was not even like the first one where we had some resistance. What happened today wasn’t good for our self-confidence, but we work on and look forward.”
