Fabiana Sparanno, Italian goalkeeper, had a decisive role in the victory against the USA (8-6) with a penalty shot saved when the score was 6-6: “Today we have been great against a team which is physically stronger than us. Sometimes, it is not necessary to be physically imposing, we had a stronger mindset, especially after having scored the 6-6… That has been a very emotional moment as we are the hosts and need to keep up the honour of the Italian flag. To me, playing at an international level in my hometown, Naples, has been very thrilling, I have never done it before. The audience was amazing! The stadium was full of people, I am very glad. I will be waiting for them at the second match of the round (against China, c. n.), hoping to see an even bigger crowd.”.
Sara Centanni, Italian striker: “As a Neapolitan I was thrilled to enter the San Paolo Stadium for the Opening Ceremony. I am a Sports Science student and handling my studies and sport at the same time is not easy. However, since I was a kid my mother taught me that it is important to keep on the things we engage in. I always tried to keep on studying as well, which is very important, despite of my unstoppable passion for water polo. I hope that other students will be happy about Naples hosting the Games and that they will be able to promote water polo and all Olympic sports”.
