PARIS: Serbia extended their reign over Olympic water polo by beating arch-rivals Croatia 13-11 for a third successive gold in the men's event in front of a roaring crowd at La Defense Arena.
The Balkan battle was spirited and physical, with both teams committing a slew of fouls and occasionally putting an errant hand onto an opponent's head.
In the end, the Serbians were too strong though, leading for all but a handful of minutes on their way to another Olympic triumph.
"It's incredible. This is the power of unity," said Serbia's veteran defender Dusan Mandic, who collected a third gold.
"This is the team spirit. This is defence, defence, defence until the end, sacrificing for each other."
After the final whistle, track-suited Serbian staff jumped into the pool to celebrate with the players.
They all sung a victory song and a Serbian flag was hung from a cross-bar of one of the goal-cages until removed before the medal ceremony.
Croatia came into the competition with confidence after claiming the world title in Doha in February but ended up suffering another final defeat to their longstanding foes.
Eight years ago, their title defence was ended by the Serbians in the gold medal decider at Rio 2016.
The Croatian players were a picture of gloom as they mounted the medal podium with furrowed eyebrows and heavy sighs.
Most applauded the Serbians sportingly, though, when the winners climbed up next to them and raised their arms in triumph.
The United States were delighted with their bronze, having won their playoff with Hungary in a shootout to claim their first medal in the men's event in 16 years.
With the scores locked at 8-8 at the end of regular time, the Americans played the shootout to perfection, with Hannes Daub, Max Irving and Alex Bowen all scoring while the Hungarian trio failed to find the net.
"I'm just super proud of my team," said Daub.
"They kept telling me, 'You got this, you got this', until the fourth quarter, and I happened to deliver for my guys." - REUTERS