< DUBRAVKO ŠIMENC
Perth 1991: World Champions for the Second Time In January 1991, Yugoslavia won the gold medal in Perth (Australia), for the second time in a row at the World Championships. They defeated the Spaniards by 8:7 in the finals, who were led at the time by a Croat, Dragan Matutinović. The bronze medal went to the Hungarians, who, in a duel for third place were better than the USA by 13:12. In the semi-finals, Stamenić’s players overpowered the Americans (7-6), but the previous victory was crucial over Rudić’s Italians 9:6, who subsequently lost the semi-finals. Six Croats played in the winning team: Dubravko Šimenc, Perica Bukić, Vitomir Padovan, Mislav Bezmalinović, Mirko Vičević and Renco Posinković. The other players were: Igor Milanović of Mladost, Aleksandar Šoštar, Goran Rađenović, Vaso Subotić, Anto Vasović, Duško Popović and Viktor Jelenić. It is interesting that Stamenić’s chosen men began and ended the championship with the Spaniards. In the beginning they won 8:3 (three goals by Bukić), and Matutinović, with things slightly backwards said: – What use is it knowing the qualities of the Yugoslav water polo players when I do not have players who could defeat them. After that, Yugoslavia defeated Romania 16:6 (five goals by Bukić), China 25:9, and then, in a match that was “life or death” for both opponents, they lost to the USSR 9:8. The match with the Italians became the decisive match and was attended by two and a half thousand people. Former colleagues Ratko Rudić and Nikola Stamenić stood one against the other. The winner was decided by the then 21-year-old Vitomir Padovan. Vito put Yugoslavia in the lead 7:6 from a counterattack, and than skilfully scored for 8:6. Even Monica Seles, who had won the Hopman Cup (an unofficial tennis world championship for mixed doubles) with Goran Prpić a few days earlier congratulated him after the match on those goals and on an excellent match. In the semi-finals, Yugoslavia overpowered the Americans 7-6, although they had “traditionally” taken the lead by
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5:2 ... The zone in front of Šoštar was very unstable, and the American rifle-shooters aimed with precision. The Yugoslav water polo players, even with an extra player in the offence, could not score a goal. It was not until the fifth exclusion of an American player that Popović punished them with a goal. After that, the Blues, through Šimenc and Subotić scored two goals within only two minutes and entered the final quarter with a tie at 5-5, and then defeated them. The Spaniards were better than the Hungarians, so Stamenić and Matutinović met again in the finals. However, the quiet Spanish lamb from qualifications turned into a cunning wolf, so Yugoslavia had a very difficult job in defending the world crown. In the heat of the match, Matutinović was even excluded due to vehement protests against the referees, and both coaches lost their voices after the match. Stamenić insisted on focusing the play on the centre player although by using the outer shooters he could have decided the winner sooner. But the Yugoslav coach played it safe and did not want to risk too much. The Blues’ game strategy was more rigid with a more difficult opponent. Around 3,000 spectators watched the match, most of them emigrants from the region of Yugoslavia at that time. Although the Croats in Perth were deeply divided into „the Yugoslavs“ and “the Croats“ amongst themselves, they formed the majority on the stands, many waving Croatian flags. However, in the audience, and later at the dinner with the consul, there were indications that the federation in the far away Balkans was in its last days. The President of the YWPF, Celestin Sardelić, as a member of the top leadership of the League of Communists of Croatia, deeply involved in political events, the final outcome of which would be the break up of Yugoslavia, stepped down after Perth. Since a Croat held the position of Federal President at that time, Stjepko Bradarić was elected president. He held the office for the following few turbulent months, until the disintegration of the league during a session of the Assembly in Herceg Novi on 31 August 1991.