TEAM USA'S EXPLOITS AT THE BEIJING OLYMPICS IN AUGUST, 2008

USA WATER POLO WEBSITE
COMPLETE WATER POLO OLYMPIC SCHEDULE

IMPRESSIONS OF AZEVEDO:
From Andy Bull, Sportsblog
"The final score may have read China 4-8 USA, but it was really Tony Azevedo 5-4 China. Azevedo is the US team's star player, (you can see him here with his dogs) and he near single-handedly destroyed the Chinese defence. When he was in the water, he scored goals; when he was out of it, China did. I've rarely seen one person make such a difference to a match.

Azevedo is bewitching to watch. Brazilian-born, he's clearly an utter hero in American water polo. Until last year his father was the national team coach. When he was four, he fell on a metal cage and crushed his trachea. His heart stopped beating for four minutes. After he came to, doctors assured his mother Libby that "he would never play sport".

And of course now he is one of the finest water polo players in history."

READ ABOUT THE AMERICAN'S RUN
IN A DIFFERENT POOL, WATER POLO MAKES A SPLASH
U.S. WATER POLO PUTS GROWING PAINS ASIDE

GAME BY GAME AT THE OLYMPICS:

DATE
OPPONENT
RESULT
AZEVEDO
GOALS
NOTES
5-2
17
 Silver Medal at the Olympics, first medal since 1988.
8/9/08
vs. China
W 8-4
5
Azevedo opened the Olympics with five goals, outscoring the Chinese himself in the Olympic opener for both teams. He scored the first two goals as the U.S. built a 3-0 lead, before China came back to tie it at 3-3. Azevedo's goal made it 4-3 at the half, before Azevedo's lob shot made it 5-3, his fourth goal of the contest, putting the contest out of reach.
QUOTE FROM THE MATCH: "I got out there and try to do what needs to be done, credit my teammates for make some great passes to get me shots and to get me open. Defense was key, Merrill (Moses) played a great game, out of all the four goals only one was on him, he was awesome. On offense we struggled but the defense is what will carry us through this tournament." --Tony Azevedo
8/12/08
vs. Italy
W 12-11
2
The Americans used a balanced scoring attack and a timely defensive effort to remain undefeated in the Olympics. Azevedo put the Americans up 3-1 early in the second period, before Italy came back to tie it. His penalty shot made it 6-5 early in the third, before Italy quickly tied it at 6-6. The U.S. went up for good early in the fourth, 9-7, and then held on for the win.
QUOTE FROM THE MATCH: I think that this one was critical, it puts us in control of our own destiny. It is just a huge win for us, we did give up some goals there at the end that we shouldn't have but overall it's a good win." --Terry Schroeder - Head Coach
8/13/08
vs. Serbia
L 2-4
0
Missed opportunities were the sentiments of the U.S. Olympic Team for Men's Water Polo post match as they lost a tight 4-2 contest with Serbia at the Ying Tung Natatorium, their first defeat in Group B play. Merrill Mosses made 11 saves in net. Serbia led 2-1 at the half, before the Serbs tacked on two goals in the third.
QUOTE FROM THE MATCH: "The game played to our favor, we talked about going end to end on this team and keeping it low scoring and we were in it the whole way, we had our shot. It was a game we should have won, maybe we were a little tentative and rushed our shots early. That said in these big games we have to make these shots if we want to compete for a medal. You need to win the 6x5 and 5x6 battle and today we lost." --Terry Schroeder - Head Coach
8/16/08
vs. Croatia
W 7-5
3
The U.S. Olympic Team for Men's Water Polo garnered their biggest win thus far of these Olympic Games toppling the number one ranked team in the world in Croatia 7-5 earlier today at the Ying Tung Natatorium. On the heels of a tough loss to Serbia where offense was an issue, the goals came early and often in this one as Team USA improved to 3-1 in Group B play with one crucial remaining against a Germany. Team USA must win or tie Germany in their next game to move on to the quarterfinals. Azevedo scored on three of six shots, including twice in the first quarter to twice tie it, 1-1 and 2-2. His goal in the third gave the Americans a 6-4 lead.
QUOTE FROM THE MATCH: "The exhibition win over Croatia was a good stepping stone for us as we had to have that belief we could win. That was a good starting point and put that seed in their minds that we could beat them here. This is huge, we haven't been able to win these big games in the past and we did today." - Terry Schroeder, Head Coach
8/18/08
vs. Germany
W 8-7
0
A return to the podium just got one step closer for the U.S. Olympic Team for Men's Water Polo as they defeated Germany 8-7 earlier today at the Ying Tung Natatorium and in the process won their group with a 4-1 record. Team USA earns a bye and advances to the semi-finals on August 22 and are assured of playing for a medal. Their opponent for August 22 at 7:40pm will be the winner of the Spain/Serbia quarterfinal match held on August 20. A return to the medal round is a first for Team USA since the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain.
QUOTE FROM THE MATCH: "It's one of the greatest feelings,'' said U.S. captain Tony Azevedo, a three-time Olympian. "For 10 years, I've been working as hard as I can and have sacrificed so many things. To come out today and be in that final four, it's a great feeling. We're definitely the underdog story.''--Tony Azevedo
8/22/08
vs. Serbia
W 10-5
3
The beat rolls on for the U.S. Olympic Team for Men's Water Polo as they are bound for the Gold Medal game for the first time since the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul following a 10-5 defeat of Serbia in the semi-final round earlier tonight at the Ying Tung Natatorium. The fourth quarter of the game is tentatively scheduled to air on Friday evening in the United States at some point after 8pm both pacific and eastern on NBC. Team USA continues their improbable run that has seen them enter the tourney as the ninth ranked team in the world and now be assured of no less than a Silver Medal leaving these Olympic Games.
QUOTE FROM THE MATCH: "Ryan Bailey and I started in 1998 together, and the first Olympics in 2000 we go out and then again in 2004 we go out and just us and this team coming together like we have today, I couldn't be happier."'--Tony Azevedo
8/24/08
vs. Hungary
L 10-14
4
The U.S. Olympic Team for Men's Water Polo officially went back to the podium earlier this evening at the Ying Tung Natatorium as they accepted Silver Medals following a tough defeat to Gold Medal winners Hungary 14-10. The Silver medal represents the first medal for the men's team since the 1988 Olympics in Seoul where a Silver was obtained as well. Azevedo's goal in the first gave the U.S. a 3-2 lead and tied the contest in the second to make it 8-8. Hungary increased their lead in the fourth, extending an 11-9 lead to 14-10.
QUOTE FROM THE MATCH: "For us this is an amazing accomplishment, in 2001 we were in 11th place and nobody quit, we stuck together and our only goal as been to get back to the podium and that was accomplished with all of us playing as a team."'--Tony Azevedo

FROM THE NBC WEBSITE ON AZEVEDO:
Riding in first class
Tony Azevedo is considered one of the best water polo players in the world. He has been a member of Team USA since he was selected as an 18-year-old to play for the 2000 U.S. Olympic team for Sydney. He went on to a spectacular collegiate career at Stanford University (2001-04), where he became the first water polo player to win the Peter J. Cutino award as NCAA player of the year four times. He led Stanford to two NCAA championships (2001, 2002) and is the school's all-time leading scorer with 252 goals.

Runs in the family
Azevedo was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. His father, Ricardo (Rick), was a member of Brazil's national water polo team for six years (1974-80) before moving his young family to Long Beach, Calif., in 1982. He coached Tony from his early years through high school, was assistant coach of the U.S. Olympic team in 2004 and served as U.S. head coach from December, 2005 until June, 2007. His sister, Cassie, was a four-year All-American at Cal State Long Beach and currently plays professionally in Italy. His mother, Libby, is very involved in her children's sport as well, working for the men's national team for several years. Four other family members have competed in the Olympics: aunts Piedade (volleyball, 1932), Maria (volleyball, 1936) and Lucy (basketball, 1952) and uncle Carlos (swimming, 1972) all represented Brazil.

At the 2007 Pan Am Games, held in the Azevedos' hometown of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, played the U.S., in the gold-medal match. Tony confided that his father was hoping for an American victory. "He coached us to where we are today. He was 100 percent cheering for us." Rick replied, "I couldn't root against Tony. As a parent, you're always proud, no matter what happens. But there was something extra to this, to watch him come full circle." Tony scored four goals in the 9-2 U.S. win.

Fourth, not third Olympics
Many people believe that Azevedo will be at his third Olympic Games in Beijing. Such is not the case. Besides competing at the 2000 and 2004 Games as a member of the U.S. Olympic team, Tony was poolside at the 1996 Games in Atlanta. While his father was serving as assistant coach of the U.S. team, 14-year-old Tony helped out by shagging errant balls and pitching them back in the pool. Once, he hit an unsuspecting Alberto Angelini of Italy in the head with a ball and received a return bullet by the playful Italian, smack in the back. Watching the Spanish team's elation at winning the gold medal later in the tournament was enough to set Azevedo on the path toward Olympic glory.

Goal-scoring machine
Azevedo has distinguished himself as the go-to score for the U.S. At the 2007 World Championships in Melbourne, Australia, he was the tournament's leading scorer with 19 goals. He burst out with six-goal performances in wins against South Africa and Canada. He also led the team in goals at several tournaments, including the 2007 Pan Am Games (15), 2005 FINA World League (18) and the 2005 World Championships (13) and 2004 Olympic Games (15)

Globe-trotter
Being the best player in the United States, Tony has attracted offers from some of the best professional clubs in the world. Following his collegiate career, Azevedo signed with Latteria Sorensia (Italy) and led them in scoring in the 2005-06 season. He moved to Bissolati (Italy) where he played until January, 2008, when he signed with Jug (Croatia).

The beautiful face of water polo
In 2002, Tony Azevedo and several of his Cardinal teammates appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated, as part of the "America's Best Sports Colleges" issue. In 2003, Azevedo's status reach legendary proportions, as a Men's Journal ranking of the top 20 greatest athletes in the world put him No. 7, ahead of such superstars as Lance Armstrong and Tiger Woods. The magazine motivated its decision by claiming that Azevedo could "carry three opponents on his back and still score with his free hand." Azevedo calls his sport "wrestling in water."

Busy-body
Azevedo trains five days a week, eight hours a day, both on land (running, weight training) and in water (swimming, set play training). His lucky charm is a pair of swim trunks that he wears under his rubberized suit during competitions. He has a degree from Stanford in International Relations. In his free time, he enjoys playing the guitar.

Near death
At age 5, Azevedo nearly died after a backyard accident. He badly damaged his esophagus when he fell on his throat climbing a metal fence, and he had to be revived on the operating table twice after being airlifted to a Long Beach hospital. Within three years he was playing baseball, basketball, football and volleyball. He focused on water polo once he got to high school.