The ONN is beaten but with honor in their first Champions League match. The team from Nice deserves credit for a fine performance against the Germans, and their defeat can be attributed to a lack of experience in managing difficult situations.
The reality is clear: closely matched in score by their opponents throughout the game, with partial scores reflecting the balance of the two teams in the water, it was only in the very last minutes, when the ball feels like it’s burning in their hands, that Nardon’s players lost the concentration and mental strength needed to win.
And this is where it breaks, and it hurts.
Izdinsky in the first quarter and Laversanne in the second helped Nice stay in the game (Spandau led 3-2 at halftime).
Then Monneret, Laversanne again, and Cakic brought the Nice team back to parity in the third quarter.
In the final quarter, Hansen scored to make it 6-6, but at 2’33’’ from the end, Dedevic delivered the final blow and Cuk responded at 0’50”, and Spandau walked away with the victory in their pocket.
A defeat, certainly, but with bright hopes for a Nice team discovering a world that might one day be their own.
