Spain beat Japan 10:18, despite their good efforts, during the opening day of the World League Superfinal in Belgrade with Granados Ortega as the match MVP.
Spain was showing greater initiative, with the starting goal coming from their first attack of the match. Scored by Granados Ortega.
After a quick equalizer from Japan’s Atsushi Arai, Spain was back in the lead, once again through Granados Ortega.
Japan was able to lower the difference to 3-2, and then bring the situation to an equalizer, which was only exacerbated by the Spanish lack of shooting precision as the first quarter was drawing to a close.
During the second quarter of the match, Japan was feeling greater confidence, shown through a greater amount of goal attempts, and another lowering of the difference, this time to 4-5.
However Spain was holding an active grip of the match, with two consecutive goals of Sergi Cabanas Pegado for a much more comfortable advantage, 4-6.
We got to 6-9 in favor of La Roja, which marked the halftime and a well deserved break for both sides.
The second half brought an increased lead for Spain, to 6-10, while the rest brought a continuing stream of goals for the players of coach David Martin. Despite Japan putting up a good fight and showing effort even after it became clear they wouldn’t be able to reach a win.
By the end of the third quarter, Spain was doubling the result, with a 7-14 and a clear image of what was to be expected during the final quarter that left the final result at 10:18.
Japan will play Canada on Wednesday, at 3pm while Spain will face off Hungary in a true water polo classic, two hours later.