Still the Mann for USA
John Mann still believes Sunday’s clash with Italy is a must-win game for the U.S. Olympic men’s water polo team, even if the stakes for the outside world have lowered considerably.
Team USA was eliminated from quarterfinal contention after Friday’s 8-5 Group B loss to Montenegro dropped the U.S. to 1-3, and fifth place in the six-team group. The final group game against Italy, Sunday at 11:30 a.m. PDT, also will be the final game in Rio de Janeiro for the Americans.
Mann, a two-time Olympian at center who starred at Corona del Mar High and Cal, said the focus now shifts to going out with a win. That’s something Team USA didn’t do four years ago in London, when the Americans did advance to the quarterfinals after a 3-0 start but finished eighth.
“I think I feel a lot of the same feelings,” Mann said Friday night, in a phone interview from Brazil. “The agony of defeat. But I’m looking forward to playing for our captain Tony [Azevedo], Merrill Moses our goalkeeper and Jesse Smith, our older guys. I’ll be playing my heart out for them when Italy comes on Sunday. I want to send them out on a win, because they’ve been great leaders. I hope my teammates feel the same way about me when I’m finished in my career, but I really owe a lot of my career to them. I love them with all of my heart. Sunday is all about fighting for them, their legacy.”
Moses, who turned 39 on Saturday, is competing in his third Olympics. Smith, 33, is in his fourth. Azevedo is 34 and a five-time Olympian who is widely considered one of the best water polo players produced by the United States. He said after Friday’s loss that Sunday will likely be his last game playing for the United States.
The only other returning Olympian on this year’s roster was Mann, who is 31. He said Friday that he wants to be back in the future, and that he is excited about the potential of a team that includes nine first-time Olympians. That list includes Newport Harbor High alumnus Luca Cupido, who, like Mann, plays at Cal.
“The truth of the matter is, the next quadrennium, the next Olympics starts for us right now,” Mann said. “I have no excuses for any of our play. I love my teammates, and we’ll be back. To share this pain with them is very informative and important. I think it’s going to sync them and me even more, and drive us further.”
At 6-foot-6 and 250 pounds, Mann is a handful to guard at two meters. But he also took a leadership role on this team, serving as a mentor to centers Alex Obert, 24, and recent Harvard-Westlake School graduate Ben Hallock. At 18, the Stanford-bound Hallock is the youngest player on the team.
Mann is more than just the elder statesman. When the Olympic team was named last month, Coach Dejan Udovicic said that Mann was one of the top five centers in the world. He has competed with the national team for more than a decade, helping Cal win the 2006 NCAA cChampionship along the way. In recent years he’s competed professionally in Europe, where he helped French-based club C.N. Marseille win that country’s national championship in 2015.
Mann served as U.S. team captain in 2014 when Azevedo was away. In this Olympics, he has come off the bench to score a goal in two straight games, in addition to drawing several exclusions. Mann netted one goal in Team USA’s 6-3 win over France on Wednesday, then another in the loss to Montenegro.
Mann’s strike from center trimmed the Montenegro lead to 4-3 late in the third quarter. But early in the fourth, Team USA’s Alex Roelse was called for a four-minute brutality penalty, hurting the Americans’ chances to complete the comeback. They scored twice more in the game, one goal coming from Cupido on the counterattack, but could never tie the score.
“The brutality call was unbelievable and in no way, I think, a legitimate call,” Mann said. “At the same time, that was the call that was made. We gave them the opportunity to make that call ... It’s just a lot of pain right now. We had the toughest [group] by far. It was a true test and we had a young team, but there’s no excuses. We could have won all those matches. We had our chance and we couldn’t do it, and that’s the thing that will stick with me, one of them.”
The disappointment may fade with time. What won’t is Mann’s commitment to the team. Team USA can play spoiler Sunday against Italy, which won its first three games in Rio before losing to defending gold medalist Croatia on Friday.
Mann said he was proud of the heart the team showed against Montenegro.
“We had all that momentum [early in the fourth quarter],” he said. “We’re an aggressive, physical team that swims really well. We had worn them down at that point, and then for us to go a man down for four straight minutes, we had to use all that extra energy just to stay alive. And we did.
“I’m really proud of our team’s resolve. I’m so proud, as always, to be a part of this team. I love my teammates. I love my country. As painful as this moment is, I know we didn’t roll over and die. Even when the deck was stacked against us, we fought, and I love my teammates for that. That’s something that doesn’t happen with every team.”
