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HUIZHOU, China, June 24 (Xinhua) -- The United States overcame the surging Australia 16-15 after a tense shootout to enter the top four while Serbia, Italy and Greece breezed past their rivals at the FINA Men's Water Polo World League Super Final here on Friday.
USA started the game 1-0 with a shot from John Mann and kept one goal advantage most of the time until Australia surged to make it 8-8 with 1:26 left of the fourth quarter. During the shootout, USA edged Australia by one goal 8-7 and earned the chance to meet Greece in the top four.
"I did not expect to play such a close game. I just hope our young team could improve from each game. We performed well in the first three quarters but we lost energy in the fourth and was caught by the Australians. We should have won easier than this, Playing the shootout is good for my young team to gain experience towards the Olympic Games," said Dejan Udovicic, head coach of USA.
In other games, Italy trounced Brazil 12-6, Greece beat China 15-5 and Serbia crushed Japan 19-10.
On Saturday, Italy will play Serbia and USA meet Greece in the top four matches, while Brazil face Japan, Australia play against China in the 5th-8th games. Enditem
