Spain starts the defense of the European title by crushing Israel

The Spanish men’s water polo team began the European Championship this Saturday, which is held in Belgrade and in which it defends the continental title, with a resounding victory over Israel (3-28), a duel in which it did not give a chance to an opponent that it left without scoring in the entire second half.

David Martín’s men, who had Álvaro Granados -six goals- and Alberto Munarriz -5- as top scorers, had no mercy on the weakest opponent in Group C, who saw how the Spaniards arrived and converted most of their attacking options almost without opposition.

Already in the first quarter, which ended with a crazy 0-9, Alberto Munárriz found the net on three occasions, all in a quarter in which those from the Middle East were inferior in the first minute and faced three penalties.

In the second eight minutes, Spain increased its lead with a 0-4 run, stopped by the Israelis’ first goal, the work of captain Ido Goldschmidt (1-13). In fact, the three Asian goals came in that period, and the match went 3-15 at halftime.

Israel would no longer see the goal and the European champion took absolute command of the match. A 0-6 in the third quarter and a 0-7 in the last, where Unai Aguirre replaced Edu Lorrio between the sticks, precipitated the final bulky 3-28.

Spain will return this Monday to the Stark Arena (8:30 p.m.) to face its second match, the most demanding of the phase, which will face the current Olympic champion and host of this European Championship, Serbia. The group is completed by the Netherlands.