A Water Polo Match to Remember Caps Pro Recco 2025 World Tour

NEW YORK, NY. In a fitting finish to two weeks of lavish, Euro-style treatment of the continent’s best professional water polo clubs, Pro Recco, the world’s most celebrated team, dropped a thrilling 16-14 (penalties) decision to Ferencvaros, reigning Champions League titleholder.

Leading the way for Ferencvaros with three goals was Krisztián Manhercz, a three-time Olympian for Hungary, and 2024 Olympian Gergo Fekete, who scored the decisive goal in the shootout. Pro Recco was captained by Francesco Di Fulvio, who also registered a hat trick. The match, played at Asphalt Green’s Upper East Side location, was the high point for the teams of a fortnight-long training session in New York and Princeton, New Jersey, and it made an exceptional intro for professional polo in this region.

In a measure of how seriously the match was viewed, referee Alex Stankevitch called a brutality in the middle of period two, leaving Ferencvaros to kill off a four-minute powerplay. The physical play and high quality of action—there were entertaining goals, circus-quality saves and exceptional defense—underscored the intenseness of the rivalry between the two, no matter where they meet. In contrast to the comparatively lethargic play on Wednesday night, when Pro Recco easily beat UCLA, the country’s top collegiate program, and Ferencvaros dominated Princeton, every quarter of Thursday night’s action was a back-and-forth affair that thrilled the packed stands at Asphalt Green.

[Pros Vs. College Kids: A Warm-Up for Pro Recco/Ferencvaros]

“Even in a friendly game, when two of the top clubs in Europe face each other, the level of competition is always high,” said Recco Head Coach Sandro Sukno. “The players have pride, they want to test themselves, and both teams see these matches as opportunities to prepare for the season at the highest standard. The intensity is part of who we are—every time Pro Recco goes into the water, we play with full commitment.”

Ferencvaros Head Coach Balaz Nyeki agreed, adding “Yes, of course it was an exhibition match, but we were thinking about this [as] a chance to play against Recco and improve our play because soon we will meet them in the Super Cup, and we want to give a sign that we can win the match.”

[On the Record: Balaz Nyeki of Ferencvaros]

Recco got off to a fast start, scoring three times in the first four minutes, including a goal with the man advantage—this after they previously failed to score on a two-man advantage. Ferencvaros rallied back and got on the board on a rocket by Stylianos Argyropoulos-Kanakakis, then scored twice in the last two minutes of the quarter. The goals were wrapped around a skirmish initiated by a hard foul from Pro Recco’s Matteo Iocchi Gratta, a carry-over of bad blood from previous contests.

With four seconds to play in the opening period, Francesco Condemi, strategically ensconced near the offensive zone, took a long pass from goalie Gianmarco Nicosia to score on a breakaway, putting Recco in front 4-3.

The second quarter saw lots of action and physical play. Recco’s Di Fulvio scored 30 seconds in, but then Ferencvaros exploded. Three straight goals put Ferencvaros up 6-5 before Argyropoulos-Kanakakis was ejected for elbowing Iocchi Gratta in the face. Max Irving, the former UCLA standout, hit the ensuing penalty shot to tie the score. The Italians were then awarded four minutes with the man advantage—seemingly an eternity—to create separation between the two teams.

But it was Ferencvaros who scored during Recco’s advantage, as Vince Varga registered a short-handed goal. Recco had numerous good scoring chances but was defensively smothered for the rest of the period, which ended with the Hungarians leading 7-6.

The two teams traded goals in the third and fourth periods, but when Fekete scored at 2:34 remaining in the final frame, things looked bleak for Recco. But with two minutes to go, an exclusion was called on Varga, allowing Recco a man-up opportunity that Luke Pavillard converted with 1:52 to go, knotting the score at 13-all. The tie held up through regulation, but in the penalty phase Recco goalie Nicosia and Dániel Szakonyi of Ferencvaros traded saves until Fekete and Jansik hit on penalties to finally settle the matter in Ferencvaros’s favor.

“We wanted to win the match,” said Coach Nyeki. “For this team, this is the most important thing—that all the players every day want to be better. And I think this is our secret.”

In comments post-match, the players rated the event a success. “That the two best teams of Europe met here was fantastic, it showed to the audience and to America what water polo in Europe is all about,” said Dusan Mandic, a three-time Olympic Gold medalist with the Serbian national team who now plays for Ferencvaros. “Hopefully this will trigger something in [the] USA, so also here a professional league develops. That would be the best conclusion of all this promotion and this trip.

“America needs to be involved so that this sport grows even more.”

Alvaro Granados, MVP of the 2025 World Aquatics Championships, who has spent the last few weeks in the New York region training local athletes, considered what it will take to grow polo in the New York region.

“I would like to have the answer to the question to make this sport bigger, but I think that projects like this, like Recco is doing in New York, are [what] is needed right now,” he said. [If] European water polo clubs start to invest here because this is a nice market, an amazing market, little by little, this will make the sport grow here.

“I’m so happy to be part of it with Recco.”

GOAL SCORING:
Pro Recco: 3 Di Fulvio, 2 Iocchi Gratta, 1 Cannella, Condemi, Granados, Fondelli, Irving, Mladossich, Patchaliev, Pavillard, Presciutti

Ferencvaros: 3 Manhercz, 3 Fekete, 2 Vámos, 2 Jansik, Argyropoulos-Kanakakis, Di Somma, De Toro, Molnár, Varga, Vismeg,