After losing their first two matches of group play, the United States men’s water polo team needs to get things turned around soon if they’re to advance to the quarterfinal round. Wednesday morning the Americans face France in a Group B matchup, with the French also having lost their first two matches.
France has lost both of their games by three-goal margins, 7-4 to Montenegro and 11-8 to Italy. As for the Americans, a 7-5 loss to Croatia was followed by a 10-9 defeat at the hands of Spain. Bret Bonanni scored four goals in the loss to Spain, with Alex Bowen adding three goals, and both will be asked to produce similar results for an American team in need of a victory.
WATCH LIVE: United States vs. France — 10:40 a.m. Eastern
The United States vs. France match is the third of six taking place at the pool Wednesday, with the Group A match between Australia and Japan getting things going at 8 a.m. Eastern. In Group A hosts Brazil, who currently lead the group on four points, face Serbia in what should be an entertaining contest. Greece vs. Hungary is another key Group A match, and in Group B Montenegro vs. Italy and Spain vs. Croatia will be key when it comes to determining which teams will have a shot at advancing into the quarterfinal round.
The top four teams in each of the two six-team groups will advance to the quarterfinals, with the two teams in each group that don’t make the cut being placed into the classification bracket.
WATCH LIVE: Men’s Water Polo, Day Five — 8 a.m. Eastern