Greece's golden men's water polo team returns Tuesday

The Greek men's national water polo team is set to return to Greece on Tuesday, July 28, following their historic triumph at the World Cup in Sydney. The team clinched the nation's first-ever gold medal in the competition, marking a significant achievement in Greek sports history.

Their victorious campaign concluded with a dramatic 15-14 win against Hungary in the grand final. The team, nicknamed 'the sky blue and whites,' will be bringing the World Cup trophy back with them. The 15 players who earned this historic victory are Stelios Argyropoulos-Kanakis, Kostas Kakaris, Panagiotis Tzortzatos, Zannis Alafrapatzis, Manolis Andreadis, Aristidis Chalyvopoulos, Dimitris Chatzis, Kostas Giouvetsis, Nikos Gardikas, Stathis Kalogeropoulos, Dimitris Nikolaidis, Alexandros Papanastasiou, Dimitris Skoumpakis, Vangelis Pouros, and Semir Spahic.

Accompanying the players are head coach Thodoris Vlachos, his assistant Tasos Schizas, fitness coach Manolis Vassiliadis, physiotherapist Alexandros Koliatos, and video analyst Katerina Tankeeva. International referee Natalie Markopoulou is also part of the delegation. A warm reception from fans and state representatives is anticipated at the airport as the newly crowned world champions arrive.