RIO DE JANEIRO_They could have kicked back and watched the opening ceremony of the Rio Olympics on television. Perhaps even taken a few smiling selfies from the village in their official team gear like other teams did on Friday night.
No one would have blamed the U.S. men's water polo team for sitting it out, especially with a start time of 10:20 the next morning against defending Olympic champion Croatia.
So did showing up on Friday hurt them on Saturday?
Sparked by a strong second half, Croatia defeated the United States, 7-5, in their Group B opener. Maro Jokovic and Andelo Setka each scored twice for Croatia, while five-time Olympian Tony Azevedo had two goals for the United States.
The U.S. players rejected the theory of ceremony fatigue, noting that they were able to leave the stadium well before the end of the event and were back in the Athletes Village by 10:30 p.m.
"In all honesty, I think it was important for us to be there," said U.S. goalkeeper Merrill Moses, who is competing in his third Olympics. "Especially for the (nine) first-timers to be walking in the opening ceremony.
"I don't think that had anything to do with the result of the game. I just think we didn't put away our power plays. I've always said, six-on-five, five-on-six is going to be the difference between winning and losing.
He added, smiling, "I wouldn't have gone to bed until 11 even if I was sitting at home."
Croatia was down by a goal four times but put the game away with four consecutive goals in the second half.
"As far as losing out there, it had nothing to do with our physical shape," Azevedo said. "We made three very stupid mistakes that really finished us in that game. ... There were two calls that were for sure penalties that they didn't call, which is kind of ridiculous. If those aren't penalties, I don't know what are."
He echoed what Moses said about the importance of Friday night.
"With nine new guys, you go into an opening ceremony and there's nothing you can explain," Azevedo said. "The feeling of going in there. Especially when you get stuck in the rhythm of every single day for four years. You're training nine hours a day. You're stuck in your hotel.
"I think it was a great opportunity to understand what the Olympics are about. What the United States is about and I really think this inspired a lot of our guys."
One of the highlights for the Brazilian-born Azevedo was running into the U.S. basketball players, especially DeMar DeRozan of the Toronto Raptors.
"I was with DeMar DeRozan and he's a Moore League (guy)," Azevedo said. "From Compton and I'm from Long Beach Wilson. We talked about old-school Moore League days. That was fun."
