Both sides are very familiar with each other, having met several times across the course of the Olympic cycle, with the Aussie Sharks defeating the European powerhouses at the Aussie World Cup in 2018 which put them through to the finals.

Head Coach Elvis Fatovic represented Croatia at the Olympics and was assistant coach for his home nation at the London Olympics when they won gold.

Having led the Aussie Sharks since 2013, his allegiances are firmly to the green and gold.

But tonight will be a difficult one for his family, as his son Loren lines up at his first Olympics, playing opposite to his father.

“For us it is a normal day in the office, he will be focused on his things and I will be focused on my things, how to play against them. We have had at least 7 or 8 games playing against each before this, so we have experience there.

“I am definitely proud that this is his first Olympic Games and to play in such a great team is a really great achievement. I think it is a bigger issue for the rest of the family because I don’t think they know which one to support.

“The first time in 18 months that I have seen him is here in Tokyo, at the pool. All things WhatsApp, Zoom, Skype help a lot, so we have talked a lot so there were no new topics to talk about, but it was great to see him again. We were so happy we were coming here, it was probably emotional and after just one chance to drink coffee and that is it. Now it’s time to play,” said Fatovic.

There is a Croatian flavour to the Aussie Sharks outfit, with rookie Olympian and newly minted Australian Goran Tomasevic, a Croatian native.

He played his first game for Australia at these Olympics, but his dedication to the Aussie Sharks is palpable.

“Amazing, special, unreal and it is pretty indescribable to be part of this team.

“I’m incredibly excited to get in the pool again, and we are going to come back together and hopefully this time manage to take the game.

“In this moment, I don’t care who is on the other side so long as we are together, playing together and hopefully we will take the victory,” he said.

For Fatovic he has used the rest day to get his side ready for a crucial second game.

“The first game was normal… we didn’t have a game for almost two years and also we saw Aaron (Younger; Captain) 10 days before the Olympics which is an absolutely unusual situation, but this is the situation, and we can’t change that.

“So we can just work on us, on how to improve and how to be better. If we want to be successful we need to play better in defence, because defence is our strength and when you have confidence in your defence it is much easier to play better on the other side as well.

“Goran is a great guy, for me it was amazing to see how the team accepted him. I think he will be like me, playing against his native country… he will be focused,” he said.

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