Important opening match for Germany

It’s been just two months since the World Water Polo Championship was held in Hungary. Now, medals will once again be contested in pool at Split’s Spaladium Arena. Starting on Monday, the European Championships are on the agenda, which should not be inferior to the World Championships in terms of quality, because the best teams in the world in water polo come from Europe.

Germany are regulars at World and European Championships, but they are unlikely to expect much from the tournament as a whole before their first match on Monday. The last 16 will be the minimum goal and probably the maximum achievable. For that, they have to at least finish third in a group with Holland, Romania and world champions Spain. That in itself will be difficult enough.

The German team is newly formed and because the promotion of young talent in water polo in Germany is not at the highest level, the young players will still have to develop in order to be competitive internationally at some point. In our opinion, one should rather think about betting on a defeat of the German team before the match between Germany and Holland.

Germany – Statistics & current form

It has to be said in all clarity that the German water polo players have more than clearly lost touch with the world’s best. Spandau and Waspo Hannover still made one or two exclamation marks in the Champion League, but there is no denying that they usually don’t stand a chance against the best teams in Europe.

Disappointing World Cup

The World Cup has shown that even teams like the Japanese are now rated more highly. Participation in the World League will probably remain just a dream in the foreseeable future. The current form shows six defeats in the last eight games. After defeats in the World League qualifiers against France and Spain, there were three defeats against Japan, Croatia and Greece in the preliminary round of the World Cup in Hungary.

At least Petar Porobic’s team secured 13th place in the losers’ bracket with victories over Brazil and Kazakhstan. In the run-up to the European Championship, the German men tested their mettle once again against world champions Spain and were clearly shown the limits in an 8:17 defeat in Krefeld. In general, their condition is simply not good enough to play the odds on a DSV victory in the duel between Germany and Holland.

At least there are some glimmers of hope. Marko Stamm and Mateo Cuk, two of the stars of German water polo, will return to the squad after missing the World Cup due to injury. So Petar Porobic at least has a very decent starting line-up. Whether the alternatives from the bench will make an impact will perhaps already be seen in the opening match against the Netherlands.

Predicted line-up of Germany:
Schenkel, Götz, Schütze, Kubisch, Rotermund, Schipper, Bozic, Cuk, Jüngling, Stamm, Strelezkij, Dolff, Gansen, Küppers, Korbel – coach: Porobic

Holland – Statistics & current form

The Dutch are anything but a heavyweight in water polo. But the goal is clearly formulated. Just like Germany, Oranje first want to get through the preliminary round and, if possible, reach the quarter-finals. But that will be very difficult. The Netherlands tend to have the strongest team after world champions Spain in this preliminary round group.

Great successes lie long in the past

Now Bondscoach Harry van der Meer doesn’t have a team that can put the fear of God into the competition. The Dutch have not been among the best eight teams at a European Championship since 1993. Since 2001, they have not even managed to participate in a World Cup. From this point of view, it is perhaps worth considering a prediction of a point win for the German team before the encounter between Germany and Holland.

This summer, the Dutch have tested against big teams like Hungary, Montenegro or Greece. There have been defeats, but at times Oranje have done very well against the best teams in the world. The self-confidence is definitely high, even though the Netherlands has three European Championship newcomers in the team.

Harry van der Meer will get first-hand information from three of his players before the Germany game. Luuk Gielen and Jorn Winkelhorst have played in Germany, Bilal Gbadamassi is under contract with Spandau 04 in Berlin. Most of the Dutch, however, are employed by national clubs that are considered second-rate on the international stage.

Predicted squad of Holland:
Wagenaar, Huijsmans, Lucas, Winkelhorst, Gbadamassi, Koopman, Muller, Veenhuis, te Riele, Janssen, van Ijperen, de Weerd, Nispeling, Kastrop, Gielen – Coach: van der Meer

Germany – Holland Direct Comparison / H2H-Balance

Since April 2012, there have been a total of seven duels between the national teams from Germany and Holland. In this period, it has usually been a battle of equals. The direct comparison shows 3:3 victories. One encounter ended in a draw. Five of the six victories for both teams have come by a one-goal margin.

The last encounter took place in February 2021 at the Olympic Qualification Tournament in Rotterdam. In the group phase, the Dutch won 11:10, with Jorn Muller being the Netherlands’ most successful scorer with four goals. Germany finished last in the group and was eliminated early. However, it was not enough for Oranje to participate in the Tokyo Games either.

Germany – Holland Tip

This opening match is extremely important for both opponents. Germany, Holland and Romania will fight for the other places behind world champions Spain. A win on Monday would be more than half the battle on the way to the last 16. The Dutch, who won their last match against Germany a little over a year and a half ago, tend to be a little stronger.

Germany, on the other hand, played a disappointing World Cup in Hungary, and the Dutch did not even qualify there. If there was a win for the newly formed German team, it was only against second-tier teams from Kazakhstan or Brazil.

Coach Petar Porobic has nine European Championship newcomers in the team. Their only international experience came at the World Cup, which was not very successful. The Dutch are not yet ready to compete with the big teams. But we think it should be enough against the German team on Monday. That’s why we’re offering betting odds on a Dutch victory in the match between Germany and Holland.