Water polo: the Blues fall with arms in hand at the gates of the final, against Croatia, and will now aim for bronze

Les Bleus se sont inclinés 17-16 aux tirs au but. MAXPPP – YURI KOCHETKOV

L'équipe de France masculine de water-polo, novice à ce stade de la compétition, s'est inclinée contre la Croatie 17-16 aux tirs au but jeudi en demi-finale des Championnats du monde de Doha.

The Blues will now try to get the first medal in the history of French water polo on Saturday against Spain in the match for bronze.

Slightly dominated at the start of the match, Florian Bruzzo's players managed to stay in contact until the middle of the third quarter, when the Croatians began to widen a gap.

Leading 9-6 at the start of the last quarter, the Blues managed to equalize 10-10 with 2 min 30 sec remaining, then 11-11 with sixteen seconds left to play to snatch the shooting session. This turned to the advantage of Croatia, a regular on international podiums.

"We've done a good part, there's still a little missing. That's all, reacted Florian Bruzzo.

"We're going to go back to work and tomorrow we'll have to prepare for the match against Spain for third place." The final will pit the Croatians against the Italians, winners of Spain earlier in the afternoon.