by innuendo, revealing the club is yet to be co

RIO DE JANEIRO -- Rodrigo Perrone, wearing a blue water polo cap, deftly made his way through the packed stands at the Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre. The 8-year-old Perrone then settled into his fathers lap to watch his uncle and Brazil take on world champion Serbia on Wednesday.I love soccer, the bubbly little boy said through a translator, and its like soccer in the water.Sure enough.Rodrigo is still on the fence -- I will play one day and the next day I will not, he said matter-of-factly -- but Brazils mens and womens water polo teams are hoping the excitement of the Olympics will help them grow the sport in their soccer-crazy country.Winning helps, of course, and Brazils mens team has been the tournaments most pleasant surprise so far. Playing in front of another big crowd -- with green-and-yellow-clad fans waving flags, singing and cheering right to the final horn -- the home country posted an impressive 6-5 victory over the gold-medal favorites. It leads Group B with a perfect 3-0 record.I think all the work we did for this Olympic Games already change a little bit the water polo in Brazil, said driver Gustavo Guimaraes, who connected on a tiebreaking penalty shot with 46 seconds left. The media, the person like `Oh, whats the water polo? A lot of people doesnt know whats this sport, and its an expensive sport.But the most important thing is that if you are able to do always better and do a good example inside the water, its going to change this, and I hope water polo in Brazil becomes like volleyball, soccer, something like this.Brazils players celebrated the victory by waving their caps and applauding to the roaring crowd from the center of the pool.We had to do this. The crowd was amazing, so we have to go there and say thank you for everybody, smiling center back Felipe da Costa E Silva said.Brazil qualified for the Olympics as the host country. Its the first Olympic appearance for the mens team since 1984, and the debut for the womens squad -- underlining water polos status on the sporting landscape in Brazil.While Olympic success is new for Brazil, its more of the same for its coach, Ratko Rudic, who has guided three different countries to a total of four gold medals. It also has the talented Felipe Perrone and big Josip Vrlic, who combined for three goals against Serbia, but its clear the countrys success begins with its veteran coach.Ratko is the best coach in the world, Guimaraes said. He won everything.U.S. captain Tony Azevedo, a Rio native who plays professionally for Sesi in Sao Paulo, also is hoping Brazils success leads to more water polo players in the country.Swimmings a huge sport here. So is water polo, Azevedo said, and now finally they have a team that they can cheer for. They have a team thats good. They have one of the best players in the world with Felipe Perrone. Its exciting, and I think Brazilians, and youll see, its not just water polo, its all sports out there, especially Brazilian sports, but water polo is finally getting its name out there in the country and I love that.Before Brazils win over Serbia, the United States beat France 6-3 for its first victory of the tournament. Josh Samuels scored three times and McQuin Baron made 11 saves.Also Wednesday, Australia edged Japan 8-6, Greece and Hungary played to an 8-8 draw and undefeated Italy earned a 6-5 win against Montenegro. In the final match of the day, Spain beat Croatia 9-4.---Jay Cohen can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jcohenap Byron Murphy Cardinals Jersey . Badenhop was 2-3 with a 3.47 ERA in 63 relief appearances for Milwaukee this season. He is 18-20 in his career with three saves and a 3. Hakeem Butler Womens Jersey . According to a report from the Vancouver Province, the Lions are expected to replace former DC Rich Stubler with defensive backs coach Mark Washington. http://www.thecardinalsshoponline.com/Youth-Adrian-Wilson-Cardinals-Jersey/ . A lawyer for MLB, Matthew Menchel, confirmed Wednesday the league dropped its case against Biogenesis of America, its owner Anthony Bosch and several other individuals. The lawsuit had accused Biogenesis and Bosch of conspiring with players to violate their contracts by providing them with banned performance-enhancing substances. Kurt Warner Cardinals Jersey . -- Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson asked his players a simple question during Fridays morning shootaround: How many of them had ever been on a team 14 games over . Byron Murphy Youth Jersey . During the athletes parade, the 23-strong Ukrainian team was represented by a lone flagbearer in an apparent protest at the presence of Russian troops in Ukraines Crimean peninsula. Manly NRL veteran Steve Matai has slammed reports claiming his phone was seized by police, saying they are baseless.Seven Network and Fairfax Media both reported on Friday that Matais phone had been taken as police investigate allegations of match-fixing in the NRL.My phone has never been out of my possession and I have never been interviewed by police, said Matai in a Manly club statement.I am humiliated by the baseless rumour and this is really upsetting for my family.I cant believe my name has been thrown out there like this.Manly said Matai had his phone when visited by Manly officials on Friday.Steve Matai is a life member who has played over 200 games for the club. Of course we will support such an icon of our club, said Manly CEO Joe Kelly.He has given us no reason to do otherwise over 14 years of service.The club said Matais management would commence legal proceedings for defamation against media outlets who named Matai in reports about his phone being seized by police.NSW police have ramped up their probe into match-fixing allegations this week, establishing Strike Force Nuralda, with detectives expected to interview dozens of players, officials and others as they work in conjunction with the NSW Crime CCommission.ddddddddddddNSW Police released a statement saying their investigation is subject to the secrecy provisions under the Crime Commission Act (NSW).It is important that people, players and officials who may become part of this investigation are not wrongly accused or have their reputations unfairly tarnished on the basis of rumour, read the statement.Initial reports had suspicions raised over three matches involving Manly: one against South Sydney and another against Parramatta last year and a clash with Parramatta this year.However News Corp Australia reported the strike force had now asked betting agencies to reveal every gambling transaction on every market for Sea Eagles game