Butić's Six Goals Not Enough to Save Barakudice
Croatia's U-20 national team was defeated by Italy in the knockout stage of the European Championship in Oeiras, despite a stellar performance by Jelena Butić. They will now compete for 5th-8th place.
Croatia's U-20 national team was defeated by Italy in the knockout stage of the European Championship in Oeiras, despite a stellar performance by Jelena Butić. They will now compete for 5th-8th place.
Croatia's women's U-20 water polo team was stopped in the knockout stage of the European Championship in Oeiras, Portugal. On Wednesday, August 5, 2026, Italy proved to be the better side, and the defeat is even more bitter given that the Barakudice had convincingly beaten the same opponent 18:13 at the Pythia Cup in Greece just ten days earlier.
Sportske novosti and HRT Sport report on the defeat, but there is a discrepancy in key details. Sportske novosti report a quarterfinal loss with a score of 18:12, while HRT Sport states it was a round of 16 match with a score of 17:12. Both sources agree on the quarter-by-quarter breakdown (3:4, 5:4, 6:3, 3:1) and the description of the match's flow.
The young Croatian national team opened the match excellently. They took a 3:0 lead early on and held a 4:3 advantage after the first quarter, according to HRT's report. Although Ria Glas, the only player born in 2006 on the roster, missed a penalty shot at 3:1, Croatia kept pace with the favored Italians for a long time. The teams went into halftime with Italy holding a slim lead (8:7), as reported by HRT Sport.
In the second half, Jelena Butić shone. According to Sportske novosti's detailed report, she scored from a penalty to make it 6:7 and then again to give Croatia a new lead at 8:8. Up to that point, she had scored five of Croatia's eight goals. Early in the third quarter, she added her sixth, a spectacular long-range strike that nestled into the top corner for 9:8. Sportske novosti describe it as "absolutely the best goal of the match, and probably the best of the entire European Championship so far."
The turning point came in the latter half of the third quarter. Italy overturned Croatia's 5:4 lead into a 7:5 advantage in just one minute and four seconds. Later, at 11:10 for Italy, with three minutes left in the quarter, three quick goals from the opponents made it 14:10. The decision was made in those few minutes, after which Italy routinely closed out the game.
Besides Jelena Butić, who scored six goals, Ria Glas and Neli Janković each scored twice for Croatia, while Lucija Brkičić and Iva Garić each added one goal.
Despite the defeat, both sources emphasize that the Barakudice, especially in the first part of the match, matched the favored opponents. HRT Sport notes that "they can be satisfied with the performance shown." Croatia now continues in the placement round for 5th-8th place. According to Sportske novosti, the next match is scheduled for the same day at 4:30 PM, and the opponents will be the Russians, officially listed as the "Neutral Team B."
