Head coach Kostas Vamvakaris insists Great Britain’s women’s water polo team should finish seventh at the European Championships but, after their latest defeat, knows that is easier said than done.
Britain fell to their third successive defeat in the group stages to hosts Hungary, knowing they needed to win to progress to the semi-final play-offs in Budapest.
Hungary won 16-5 despite Britain enjoying more possession during a single game than any other team in the tournament and having the most shots on goal of their three matches so far.
Instead of the semi-final play-offs Britain now face France, who also lost all three of their group matches, in the seventh-eighth place classification match on Tuesday.
Ciara Gibson-Byrne and Pippa Temple both scored twice against Hungary and Fran Clayton once but head coach Vamvakaris has warned against complacency next time out.
He said: “It was our worst game of the tournament. We went out knowing we needed to score but we gave the Hungarian team too much respect, which led to too many easy goals on the counter attack.
“On paper we are the better team but if we are not serious about the game we will have a problem.”
© Sportsbeat 2014