Water polo at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's tournament

38°2′13.5″N 23°47′2.9″E

Men's water polo
at the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad

Tournament details
Host country	Greece
City	Athens
Venue(s)	Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre
Dates	15–29 August 2004
Teams	12 (from 5 confederations)
Competitors	154
Final positions
Champions	Hungary (8th title)
Runners-up	Serbia and Montenegro
Third place	Russia
Fourth place	Greece
Tournament statistics
Matches	44
Multiple appearances	5-time Olympian(s): 2 4-time Olympian(s): 8
Multiple medalists	3-time medalist(s): 2
Top scorer(s)	Aleksandar Šapić (18 goals in 8 matches)
Most saves	Nikolay Maksimov (62 saves in 8 matches)
Top sprinter(s)	Pietro Figlioli (24 sprints won in 8 matches)
MVP	Gergely Kiss
← 2000 2008 →

The men's tournament of water polo at the 2004 Summer Olympics at Athens, Greece, began on August 15 and lasted until August 29, 2004.^[1]

Squads

Main article: Water polo at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's team rosters

Preliminary round

All times are Eastern European Time (UTC+3)

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Hungary	5	5	0	0	44	27	+17	10	Qualified for the semifinals
2	Serbia and Montenegro	5	4	0	1	37	26	+11	8	Qualified for the quarterfinals
3	Russia	5	3	0	2	32	28	+4	6
4	United States	5	2	0	3	32	37	−5	4
5	Croatia	5	1	0	4	35	41	−6	2
6	Kazakhstan	5	0	0	5	21	42	−21	0

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

15 August 2004 16:30		Russia	5–2	Kazakhstan	Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre Referees: Koratochvil (SVK), Koryzna (POL)
		Score by quarters: 0-0, 1-0, 2-1, 2-1
		Chomakhidze, Gorshkov 2	Goals	2 players with 1

15 August 2004 10:45		Serbia and Montenegro	4–6	Hungary	Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre Referees: Borrell (ESP), Petronilli (ITA)
		Score by quarters: 1-0, 2-3, 1-0, 0-3
		Trbojević 2	Goals	Kiss 2

15 August 2004 22:15		Croatia	6–7	United States	Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre Referees: Tulga (TUR), Bookelman (NED)
		Score by quarters: 0-0, 0-3, 2-1, 4-3
		Štritof 3	Goals	Azevedo 3

---

17 August 2004 16:30		Kazakhstan	6–9	United States	Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre Referees: Patelli (BRA), Bock (GER)
		Score by quarters: 1-1, 3-4, 0-1, 2-3
		Drozdov 3	Goals	Wigo 4

17 August 2004 17:45		Russia	3–4	Serbia and Montenegro	Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre Referees: Tulga (TUR), Petronilli (ITA)
		Score by quarters: 1-1, 1-1, 0-1, 1-1
		3 players with 1	Goals	Trbojević 2

17 August 2004 22:15		Hungary	10–8	Croatia	Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre Referees: Borrell (ESP), Bookelman (NED)
		Score by quarters: 1-0, 4-2, 4-4, 1-2
		Kásás, Biros 3	Goals	Burić, Štritof 2

---

19 August 2004 09:30		Serbia and Montenegro	9–5	Kazakhstan	Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre Referees: Legare (CAN), Sayed Mahmoud (EGY)
		Score by quarters: 3-1, 2-1, 1-1, 3-2
		Šapić 3	Goals	Zhilyayev 3

19 August 2004 10:45		United States	5–7	Hungary	Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre Referees: Margeta (SLO), Tulga (TUR)
		Score by quarters: 2-2, 2-3, 0-1, 1-1
		Azevedo 2	Goals	Varga, Madaras 2

19 August 2004 22:15		Croatia	8–9	Russia	Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre Referees: Stavropoulos (GRE), Kratochvil (SVK)
		Score by quarters: 2-2, 2-3, 1-1, 3-3
		Franković, Fatović 2	Goals	Zinnourov 2

---

21 August 2004 09:30		Kazakhstan	4–14	Hungary	Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre Referees: Koryzna (POL), Patelli (BRA)
		Score by quarters: 1-3, 0-4, 2-4, 1-3
		4 players with 1	Goals	Kásás, Kiss 3

21 August 2004 21:00		Serbia and Montenegro	11–8	Croatia	Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre Referees: Petronilli (ITA), Bookelman (NED)
		Score by quarters: 2-1, 4-2, 3-3, 2-2
		Šapić 5	Goals	3 players with 2

21 August 2004 22:15		Russia	9–7	United States	Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre Referees: Borrell (ESP), Bock (GER)
		Score by quarters: 3-1, 3-3, 2-0, 1-3
		Eryshov, Chomakhidze 3	Goals	Beaubien, Azevedo 2

---

23 August 2004 10:45		Croatia	5–4	Kazakhstan	Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre Referees: Matache (ROU), Rezek (CZE)
		Score by quarters: 2-2, 2-0, 0-0, 1-2
		Smodlaka 2	Goals	4 players with 1

23 August 2004 18:15		Russia	6–7	Hungary	Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre Referees: Margeta (SLO), Stavropoulos (GRE)
		Score by quarters: 1-2, 1-1, 1-3, 3-1
		Eryshov, Garbuzov 2	Goals	Kiss 2

23 August 2004 21:00		United States	4–9	Serbia and Montenegro	Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre Referees: Tulga (TUR), Borrell (ESP)
		Score by quarters: 1-2, 1-2, 1-3, 1-2
		4 players with 1	Goals	Šapić 3

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Greece	5	4	0	1	43	27	+16	8	Qualified for the semifinals
2	Germany	5	3	1	1	40	28	+12	7	Qualified for the quarterfinals
3	Spain	5	3	0	2	35	31	+4	6
4	Italy	5	3	0	2	39	24	+15	6
5	Australia	5	1	1	3	37	35	+2	4
6	Egypt	5	0	0	5	18	67	−49	0

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

15 August 2004 09:30		Egypt	3–14	Australia	Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre Referees: Kiszelly (HUN), Valcarce (ARG)
		Score by quarters: 1-3, 0-5, 1-4, 1-2
		3 players with 1	Goals	Miller 3

15 August 2004 17:45		Italy	4–5	Spain	Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre Referees: Margeta (SLO), Tomic (CRO)
		Score by quarters: 1-2, 1-3, 0-0, 2-0
		4 players with 1	Goals	5 players with 1

15 August 2004 21:00		Germany	5–4	Greece	Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre Referees: Brguljan (SCG), Afanasiev (RUS)
		Score by quarters: 2-2, 0-1, 2-1, 1-0
		5 players with 1	Goals	4 players with 1

---

17 August 2004 09:30		Australia	4–8	Italy	Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre Referees: Tomic (CRO), Chaney (USA)
		Score by quarters: 1-1, 2-2, 0-3, 1-2
		Whalan 2	Goals	Postiglione 3

17 August 2004 10:45		Germany	13–3	Egypt	Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre Referees: Rezek (CZE), Pinker (RSA)
		Score by quarters: 4-0, 5-0, 2-0, 2-3
		Politze 5	Goals	3 players with 1

17 August 2004 21:00		Greece	8–5	Spain	Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre Referees: Kratochvil (SVK), Margeta (SLO)
		Score by quarters: 2-1, 4-1, 1-2, 1-1
		Chatzitheodorou, Schizas 2	Goals	Five players with 1

---

19 August 2004 16:30		Spain	8–4	Australia	Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre Referees: Balfanbayev (KAZ), Tomic (CRO)
		Score by quarters: 2-1, 3-1, 1-1, 2-1
		3 players with 2	Goals	4 players with 1

19 August 2004 17:45		Italy	10–5	Germany	Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre Referees: Brguljan (SCG), Afanasiev (RUS)
		Score by quarters: 2-0, 1-2, 3-2, 4-1
		Postiglione 4	Goals	Nossek 3

19 August 2004 21:00		Egypt	4–15	Greece	Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre Referees: Matache (ROU), Zhong (CHN)
		Score by quarters: 0-5, 0-2, 2-3, 2-5
		4 players with 1	Goals	Thomakos 5

---

21 August 2004 10:45		Egypt	4–13	Italy	Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre Referees: Rezek (CZE), Pinker (RSA)
		Score by quarters: 1-3, 1-0, 2-5, 0-5
		El-Sammany 2	Goals	Calcaterra, Angelini 3

21 August 2004 16:30		Germany	11–5	Spain	Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre Referees: Tulga (TUR), Brguljan (SCG)
		Score by quarters: 3-2, 2-0, 4-3, 2-0
		Wollthan 3	Goals	5 players with 1

21 August 2004 17:45		Greece	10–9	Australia	Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre Referees: Balfanbayev (KAZ), Kiszelly (HUN)
		Score by quarters: 2-2, 3-2, 3-2, 2-3
		Chatzitheodorou 3	Goals	3 players with 2

---

23 August 2004 09:30		Germany	6–6	Australia	Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre Referees: Kratochvil (SVK), Brguljan (SCG)
		Score by quarters: 1-3, 2-1, 1-0, 2-2
		Politze, Nossek 2	Goals	Woods 3

23 August 2004 17:00		Spain	12–4	Egypt	Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre Referees: Valcarce (ARG), Zhong (CHN)
		Score by quarters: 4-1, 3-0, 2-1, 3-2
		Hernández, Gómez 3	Goals	El-Helw 2

23 August 2004 22:15		Greece	6–4	Italy	Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre Referees: Balfanbayev (KAZ), Bookelman (NED)
		Score by quarters: 1-0, 1-2, 2-1, 2-1
		6 players with 1	Goals	Bencivenga 2

Medal round bracket

Quarterfinals

Semifinals

Gold medal

A1

Hungary

7

B2

Germany

5

A3

Russia

5

A3

Russia

12

Hungary

8

Serbia and Montenegro

7

B1

Greece

3

A2

Serbia and Montenegro

7

A2

Serbia and Montenegro

7

B3

Spain

5

5th & 6th

Bronze medal

5

Germany

6

Russia

6

6

Spain

5

4

Greece

5

	9th–12th					7th–10th					7th & 8th
						A4	United States	6
	B5	Australia	10			B5	Australia	5
	A6	Kazakhstan	5								8	United States	9
											7	Italy	8
						B4	Italy	11
	A5	Croatia	12			A5	Croatia	7
	B6	Egypt	1
						11th & 12th					9th & 10th
						11	Kazakhstan	15			9	Australia	8
						12	Egypt	7			10	Croatia	7

Classification 7th-12th

25 August 2004 09:30		Kazakhstan	5–10	Australia	Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre Referees: Matache (ROU), Patelli (BRA)
		Score by quarters: 2-2, 1-4, 1-3, 1-1
		Elke 2	Goals	Figlioli, Thomas 2

25 August 2004 10:45		Croatia	12–1	Egypt	Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre Referees: Zhong (CHN), Pinker (RSA)
		Score by quarters: 4-0, 2-0, 4-0, 2-1
		Burić 3	Goals	Rezk 1

Quarterfinals

25 August 2004 17:00		Russia	12–5	Germany	Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre Referees: Petronilli (ITA), Bookelman (NED)
		Score by quarters: 2-1, 2-1, 5-0, 3-3
		3 players with 3	Goals	5 players with 1

25 August 2004 18:15		Serbia and Montenegro	7–5	Spain	Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre Referees: Tulga (TUR), Chaney (USA)
		Score by quarters: 3-2, 2-0, 0-2, 2-1
		Šapić 3	Goals	5 players with 1

Classification 11th-12th

27 August 2004 09:30		Kazakhstan	15–7	Egypt	Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre Referees: Rezek (CZE), Patelli (BRA)
		Score by quarters: 6-0, 1-2, 5-3, 3-2
		Zaitsev 7	Goals	Mashhour, Khalil 2

Classification 7th-10th

27 August 2004 10:45		United States	6–5	Australia	Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre Referees: Matache (ROU), Legare (CAN)
		Score by quarters: 2-0, 1-1, 2-2, 1-2
		Azevedo 3	Goals	Figlioli 3

27 August 2004 17:00		Italy	11–7	Croatia	Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre Referees: Afanasiev (RUS), Koryzna (POL)
		Score by quarters: 2-1, 3-4, 1-1, 5-1
		Bencivenga 3	Goals	Franković 3

Semifinals

27 August 2004 18:15		Hungary	7–5	Russia	Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre Referees: Chaney (USA), Bock (GER)
		Score by quarters: 2-2, 3-3, 2-0, 0-0
		Kásás 3	Goals	Garbuzov 2

27 August 2004 21:00		Greece	3–7	Serbia and Montenegro	Olympic Aquatic Centre Referees: Petronilli (ITA), Tulga (TUR)
		Score by quarters: 1-2, 1-3, 1-1, 0-1
		Three players with 1	Goals	Jokić 2

9th place match

29 August 2004 09:30		Australia	8–7	Croatia	Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre Referees: Kiszelly (HUN), Sayed Mahmoud (EGY)
		Score by quarters: 2-0, 3-4, 1-1, 2-2
		Whalan 5	Goals	Franković 3

7th place match

29 August 2004 10:45		United States	9–8	Italy	Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre Referees: Afanasiev (RUS), Margeta (SLO)
		Score by quarters: 2-2, 2-0, 2-3, 3-3
		Azevedo, Smith 3	Goals	Angelini 3

5th place match

29 August 2004 12:00		Germany	6–4	Spain	Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre Referees: Stavropoulos (GRE), Bookelman (NED)
		Score by quarters: 2-2, 3-1, 0-0, 1-1
		Nossek 2	Goals	Hernández 2

Bronze-medal match

29 August 2004 16:00		Russia	6–5	Greece	Olympic Aquatic Centre Referees: Borrell (ESP), Brguljan (SCG)
		Score by quarters: 1-1, 3–1, 1–2, 1–1
		Tchomakhidze 4	Goals	Afroudakis 3

Gold-medal match

29 August 2004 17:30		Hungary	8–7	Serbia and Montenegro	Athens Olympic Aquatic Centre Referees: Balfanbayev (KAZ), Petronilli (ITA)
		Score by quarters: 2-3, 3-2, 0-2, 3-0
		Kiss 4	Goals	Šapić 2

Ranking and statistics

Main article: List of men's Olympic water polo tournament records and statistics

See also: National team appearances in the men's Olympic water polo tournament

Final rankings

Rank[1] Team  Hungary  Serbia and Montenegro  Russia 4.  Greece 5.  Germany 6.  Spain 7.  United States 8.  Italy 9.  Australia 10.  Croatia 11.  Kazakhstan 12.  Egypt

2004 Men's Olympic champions  Hungary Eighth title

Multi-time Olympians

Main article: List of players who have appeared in multiple men's Olympic water polo tournaments

Five-time Olympian(s): 2 players

•  Spain: Salvador Gómez,^[2] Jesús Rollán (GK)^[3]

Four-time Olympian(s): 8 players

•  Croatia: Dubravko Šimenc^[4]
•  Greece: Konstantinos Loudis^[5]
•  Hungary: Tibor Benedek^[6]
•  Italy: Carlo Silipo^[7]
•  Russia: Dmitry Gorshkov,^[8] Nikolay Kozlov^[9]
•  Spain: Daniel Ballart,^[10] Sergi Pedrerol^[11]

Multiple medalists

Main article: List of Olympic medalists in water polo

Three-time Olympic medalist(s): 2 players

•  Russia: Dmitry Gorshkov,^[8] Nikolay Kozlov^[9]

Leading goalscorers

Rank	Player	Team	Goals	Matches played	Goals per match	Shots	%
1	Aleksandar Šapić	Serbia and Montenegro	18	8	2.250	54	33.3%
2	Tony Azevedo	United States	15	7	2.143	31	48.4%
	Revaz Chomakhidze	Russia		8	1.875	25	60.0%
4	Tamás Kásás	Hungary	14	7	2.000	30	46.7%
	Gergely Kiss	Hungary		7	2.000	31	45.2%
	Thomas Whalan	Australia		8	1.750	36	38.9%
7	Nikola Franković	Croatia	12	8	1.500	27	44.4%
	Heiko Nossek	Germany		7	1.714	28	42.9%
	Marc Politze	Germany		7	1.714	33	36.4%
10	Alberto Angelini	Italy	11	7	1.571	32	34.4%
	Elvis Fatović	Croatia		8	1.375	26	42.3%
	Ratko Štritof	Croatia		8	1.375	32	34.4%
	Ivan Zaitsev	Kazakhstan		7	1.571	22	50.0%

Source: Official Results Book (page 184)^[12][13]

Leading goalkeepers

Rank	Goalkeeper	Team	Saves	Matches played	Saves per match	Shots	%
1	Nikolay Maksimov	Russia	62	8	7.750	104	59.6%
2	Denis Šefik	Serbia and Montenegro	60	8	7.500	102	58.8%
3	Brandon Brooks	United States	58	7	8.286	108	53.7%
4	James Stanton	Australia	57	8	7.125	108	52.8%
5	Alexandr Shvedov	Kazakhstan	54	7	7.714	111	48.6%
6	Ángel Andreo	Spain	50	7	7.143	92	54.3%
	Stefano Tempesti	Italy		7	7.143	86	58.1%
8	Amr Mohamed	Egypt	41	7	5.857	135	30.4%
	Frano Vićan	Croatia		8	5.125	81	50.6%
10	Zoltán Szécsi	Hungary	40	7	5.714	75	53.3%

Source: Official Results Book (page 180)^[12][13]

Leading sprinters

Rank	Sprinter	Team	Sprints won	Matches played	Sprints won per match	Sprints contested	%
1	Pietro Figlioli	Australia	24	8	3.000	27	88.9%
2	Sergey Garbuzov	Russia	20	8	2.500	21	95.2%
3	Tobias Kreuzmann	Germany	17	7	2.429	22	77.3%
4	Goran Fiorentini	Italy	15	7	2.143	22	68.2%
5	Aleksandar Ćirić	Serbia and Montenegro	14	8	1.750	20	70.0%
6	Tihomil Vranješ	Croatia	9	8	1.125	24	37.5%
7	Tamás Kásás	Hungary	7	7	1.000	9	77.8%
8	Christos Afroudakis	Greece	6	7	0.857	15	40.0%
	Tony Azevedo	United States		7	0.857	10	60.0%

Source: Official Results Book (page 183)^[12][13]

Awards

The men's all-star team was announced on 29 August 2004.^[14]

Most Valuable Player

• Gergely Kiss (left-handed, 14 goals)

Media All-Star Team

• Goalkeeper
  • Denis Šefik (60 saves)
• Field players
  • Theodoros Chatzitheodorou (8 goals)
  • Revaz Chomakhidze (centre forward, 15 goals)
  • Tamás Kásás (14 goals, 7 sprints won)
  • Gergely Kiss (left-handed, 14 goals)
  • Aleksandar Šapić (18 goals)
  • Vladimir Vujasinović (centre back, 3 goals)