Spain devastates Portugal and seals its first victory in the European women’s water polo competition

The Spanish women’s water polo team comfortably beat Portugal this Tuesday (7-22) on the second day of the Preliminary Phase of the European Championship, which is held in Funchal (Portugal), a victory that allows it to regain confidence after its defeat in the debut against Hungary and begin its path in search of the semifinals.

In the swimming pool of the capital of the Madeira archipelago, the current continental runner-up did her homework and did not concede anything against the hosts, clearly overwhelmed by the pressure from Jordi Valls’ team, who will face Romania on Thursday in search of a place for the Main Round.

A goal from Irene González and the same from Bea Ortiz, the Spanish team’s top scorer against the Magyars (3), allowed the current Olympic champion to open a small gap (2-0) that Portugal tried to cut with a goal from María Machado, the most active among the Portuguese.

However, Martina Terré’s saves and counterattacks, the result of Spanish pressure, ended up breaking the game in the first quarter in which Jordi Valls’ team took advantage of one of their two superiorities. Queralt Bertran, Elena Ruiz and Paula Camus joined the party to make it 1-5 at the end of the first eight minutes.

Martina Terré gave way to her sister Mariona between the sticks at the beginning of the second quarter, in which Spain showed its superiority against the team led by the Catalan Ferran Pascual. A partial score of 2-5, with goals from Irene González, Ari Ruiz, Paula Camus, Paula Prats and Elena Ruiz, left almost everything decided at half-time (3-10).

Queralt Anton broke hostilities as soon as the duel resumed, and Paula Camus completed her hat-trick to put the Spanish victory even further on track (3-12). Carolina Fernandes, with a penalty, broke a drought of more than ten minutes for the Portuguese, although again Anton, Elena Ruiz, Queralt Bertran, on two occasions, and Bea Ortiz cut off any reaction (5-17).

Spain did not slow down and continued to attack the Portuguese goal in the final quarter, completing a solid rout before a vital duel. Jordi Valls’ men will jump back into the Funchal pool this Thursday, when they face Romania (1:15 p.m.) on the third and final day of Group B. With the new competition format, the teams carry points from the Preliminary Round to the second group stage.