'Blood in the water' - Hungary's sporting battle against Soviet oppression

Matthew Knight, CNN

Updated 1608 GMT (0008 HKT) July 12, 2017

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Ervin Zador, Hungary's 21-year-old water polo star, emerges from the Olympic swimming pool in Melbourne with blood pouring from a cut beneath his right eye. The "blood in the water" match against the Soviet Union in December 1956 came to represent Hungary's bloody struggle against its Communist oppressors.
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Ervin Zador, Hungary's 21-year-old water polo star, emerges from the Olympic swimming pool in Melbourne with blood pouring from a cut beneath his right eye. The "blood in the water" match against the Soviet Union in December 1956 came to represent Hungary's bloody struggle against its Communist oppressors.
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Zador is led away after the controversial climax to the match against the Soviet Union.
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Zador is led away after the controversial climax to the match against the Soviet Union.
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The victorious Hungarian team including captain Dezso Gyarmati (back row, center) and Ervin Zador, who didn't play in the final, second from the right in the front row.
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The victorious Hungarian team including captain Dezso Gyarmati (back row, center) and Ervin Zador, who didn't play in the final, second from the right in the front row.
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Dezso Gyarmati won the second of his three Olympic gold medals at the Melbourne in 1956.
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Dezso Gyarmati won the second of his three Olympic gold medals at the Melbourne in 1956.
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Protesters mill around a decapitated statue head of former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin on the streets of the Hungarian capital Budapest.
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Protesters mill around a decapitated statue head of former Soviet leader Joseph Stalin on the streets of the Hungarian capital Budapest.
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A 15-year-old Hungarian girl armed with a machine gun during protests against the country's communist rulers.
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A 15-year-old Hungarian girl armed with a machine gun during protests against the country's communist rulers.
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Soviet army tanks on the streets of Budapest on November 12, 1956. The quashing of the revolution claimed the lives of 2,000 citizens and injured hundreds more.
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Soviet army tanks on the streets of Budapest on November 12, 1956. The quashing of the revolution claimed the lives of 2,000 citizens and injured hundreds more.
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The revolution also created tens of thousands of refugees. Here, a woman and her three children arrive in Swtizerland after her husband was killed fighting the Soviet forces.
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The revolution also created tens of thousands of refugees. Here, a woman and her three children arrive in Swtizerland after her husband was killed fighting the Soviet forces.
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A member of the Hungarian secret police (the AVO) is dragged along the ground by angry protesters during the revolution.
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A member of the Hungarian secret police (the AVO) is dragged along the ground by angry protesters during the revolution.
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Gergely Kiss, Hungary's modern-day water polo hero, is looking to claim his fourth gold medal at the London Olympics later this year.
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