Montenegro upends Croatia in Olympic water polo

BEIJING (AP) Croatia now can shave off those Olympic mustaches.

Nikola Janovic, Aleksandar Ivovic and Vladimir Gojkovic scored two goals apiece and Montenegro upset the mustachioed Croatians 7-6 in the quarterfinals of men's Olympic water polo Wednesday.

Montenegro, which scored just one goal in power-play situations and missed a penalty shot, took a 3-0 lead and never looked back.

The reigning European champions had their advantage cut to 7-6 with 3:28 to play. But goalkeeper Milos Scepanovic blocked two shots in the final 2 minutes to preserve the slim lead.

Montenegro advanced to play two-time defending Olympic gold medalist Hungary in the semifinals Friday. The winner of Spain-Serbia will play the United States in the other semifinal.

The Croats, who entered the Olympics as the world's No. 1 team, decided to grow their mustaches as a sign of team unity. They said they planned to shave after the disappointing end to the games.

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