Bonn 1989 and Athens 1991

19th European Championship – Bonn (Germany) 1989

“Golden Goal” in the final
The so-called “Golden Goal” rule was introduced in water polo after the final of the World Aquatics Championships in Madrid, which was extended eight times. Thus, a rule was developed that, in case of a tie, extra time is played until the first team scores a goal. Therefore, this rule is also called the “Golden Goal”. In Bonn, the final was decided in this way for the first time, in which Germany defeated Yugoslavia (10:9) and ended the gold medal series of the Soviet Union. The bronze medal went to Italy.

European Champions 1989 (men) – Germany: Ingo Bormann, Thomas Huber, Frank Otto, Lars Tomanek, Dirk Schütze, Andreas Ehrl, Rene Reimann, Carsten Kusch, Hagen Stamm, Dirk Theismann, Rainer Osselmann, Uwe Sterzik, Peter Rohle, Jörg Dressel

European Champions 1989 (women) – Netherlands: Hellen Boering, Hermine Perik, Lieneke Van Den Heuvel, Greet Van Den Veen, Esmeralda Van Den Water, Patricia Libregts, Anita Nijenhuis, Ilse Sindorf, Monique Kranenburg, Janny Spijker, Hedda Verdam, Irma Brander, Astrid Van Den Meer, Alice Lindhout

20th European Championship – Athens (Greece) 1991

Yugoslavia won gold and fell apart
It was not until the 20th European Championship that the Yugoslav national team managed to win its first gold. After losing in the previous 7 finals of the European Championships, the Yugoslav team finally managed to win. However, just a few months later, this state no longer existed.

The first Spanish final
Another water polo superpower accomplished something historic in Athens. Spain entered the final for the first time. Before Athens, Spain had won only one medal, a bronze in Rome in 1983. The bronze medal in Athens went to the team of the USSR. Another state that fell apart a little later.

Estiarte’s absolute record
Manuel Estiarte became the top scorer of the tournament in Athens with 36 goals, which is still the highest number of goals in the European Championships. Estiarte was the top scorer in no less than 6 European Championships.

European Champions 1991 (men) – Yugoslavia: Aleksandar Šoštar, Dušan Popović, Vaso Zimonjić, Mirko Vičević, Vitomir Padovan, Predrag Zimonjić, Igor Milanović, Viktor Jelenić, Veljko Uskoković, Igor Gočanin, Dušan Ćirković, Goran Rađenović, Nikola Ribić

European Champions 1991 (women) – Hungary: Orsolya Szalkay, Laura Gruber, Katalin Dancsa, Noemi Toth, Edit Vincze, Mercedesz Stieber, Ildiko Takacs, Iren Rafael, Katalin Nagy, Zsuzsanna Kertesz, Ildiko Kokai, Csila Szamosi, Ildiko Ronaszeki, Szuszanna Huff