Spain vs. Australia Olympic Preview

Australia v Spain (W)           

Two medal favorites will meet today in a pivotal match in Group A that could be the determiner for seeding in the quarterfinals. Holding wins over Canada and the Netherlands already, a win here for Australia would likely win the group for the squad with only an expected win over South Africa remaining. The Spanish side has their own designs on the top spot in the group, but a close loss to the Netherlands in their last game has made that more difficult. Still, with 4 points already for wins over Canada and South Africa a victory in this game is necessary to stay in contention for first place in Group A going into quarterfinals. 

  • There's no shortage of scoring for Spain. 4 of the top 5 goal scorers in the tournament thus far (Espar, Tarrago, Ortiz and Leiton) are from Spain

  • The Australian defense will need to be up to the task to fend off this Spanish assault. Luckily, the Australian goalie play has been superb. In their decisive win over Canada, Australian goalie Yanitsas recorded 14 saves and a .737 save ratio while only conceding 5 goals. 

  • While both these teams are perennial medal contenders at international events, it has been several years since they played at an international tournament. That game, played in January of 2018 at the FINA World League Super Final, was an 11-8 victory for Spain. 

Statistical Keys to success from CB Scorers Table software stats table.cbwaterpolo.com

Aus Power Play Conversion: 5/16 

Aus Opponent Power Play: 10/21

Goalie save %: 55%

Aus Shooting %: 40%

Keys For Australia: Australia needs to convert on 6/5 to have a chance at victory.  They need to limit exclusions defensively and They Aussie goalie needs to continue to have a high save % if they want to come away victorious.

Spain Power Play Conversion: 9/21

Spain Opponent Power Play: 14/23

Goalie Save %: 36%

Spain Shooting %: 48%

Keys for Spain: Spain needs to continue to draw exclusions and convert on power play situations at a high rate. The Spanish goalie needs to step up and make some saves against the deadly aussie shooters if they want a chance at winning this game


Joey Gullikson