The teams were almost the same, the theoretical favoritism did not change much either. After the initial edition of the European Women’s Futsal Championship in 2019, which ended with Spain’s 4-0 victory over Portugal in a match marked by three goals in the first ten minutes, Gondomar once again hosted the Final Four of the second chapter of the competition. What changed? The opponents of the Iberian formations in socks. And if in 2019 the National Team had beaten Ukraine before the decisive match, now he would face Hungary, Team that returned to fishing for this phase after the elimination of Russia (which in 2019 lost to Spain in the semifinals) due to the sanctions applied after Ukraine’s invasion of this country in February.
Portugal loses the final against Spain and remains European runner-up in women’s futsal
“We will have to be prepared for a rival who will defend lower down and give the initiative. We will have much more ball and we need patience to build final situations and score goals. The game will be very similar to this: us attacking, them defending and trying one or another exit in transition. The moments will be very similar to these but we will be prepared. It is a very important moment for them, since it is very difficult to get here. Hungary will want to give their best and make life difficult for us”, coach Luís Conceição had mentioned in the preview, placing Portugal as the natural favorite to triumph over the Magyars while still considering Spain as the favorite to retain the title.
On the Hungarian side, the main objective was… to do the best they could. And the same conditions of arrival at this stage explained this way of seeing the meeting. “Two months ago we didn’t even know we were going to participate… Our players are amateurs, they had to take time off from their jobs in order to participate. Portugal is the favorite but we will try to make them sweat”, highlighted the Hungarian coach Tamás Frank about a team that had never played in front of as many people as it did in Gondomar, with a full house for the two days of competition with around 2,500 people.
Bringing the noise????#WEUROFutsal pic.twitter.com/1343nFVall
— UEFA Futsal (@UEFAFutsal) July 1, 2022
The differences between the two teams were not even hidden, with Portugal thrashing a fragile Hungary as they did in the preparation of the previous European Final Four (6-0 and 9-0, also in Gondomar) and guaranteeing a new presence in the event decision of the match, where will find Spain again who also thrashed Ukraine 9-0 and with goals from eight different field players.
back to back #WEUROFutsal Finals ?????????✅ pic.twitter.com/nVg6deewge
— UEFA Futsal (@UEFAFutsal) July 1, 2022
In a first leg match in which Ana Catarina spent the entire first half without stopping (at the break there was a 44-3 difference in shots, which brought in Odete Rocha in the second half), Portugal made an effort to open up the goal, all with Carla Vanessa as the main reference in offensive terms, but goalkeeper Lilla Torma had a dream night, blocking all the shots from outside or in the Magyar area. Thus, we had to wait until 12 minutes to celebrate the opening goal of the match, with Pisko taking advantage of a second ball after a combination between Cátia Morgado and Cátia Vanessa to make it 1-0 with her left foot. stabilized the performance of the Selection.
The ‘engines’ are already warming up in Gondomar! ??????????? #WEUROFutsal pic.twitter.com/UdipXMoLdA
— Portugal (@selecaoportugal) July 1, 2022
Hungary did not break emotionally despite the disadvantage, but Portugal showed less anxiety in the search for the opposite goal, later increasing the advantage in two strategic plays that followed a timeout requested by Luís Conceição: Carolina Pedreira, in a first shot from time after a corner from Cátia Morgado, made it 2-0 (17 ‘) and Fifó, after a throw-in from the right, finished off with force from half to fix the 3-0 registered at the break (18’).
⏰ ????????????????-???????????????? ⏰
????????? Despite Torma’s exploits as a goalkeeper, Portugal have found their rhythm #WEUROFutsal
— UEFA Futsal (@UEFAFutsal) July 1, 2022
As expected, the characteristics of the match would be maintained in the second half, which began with a 4-0 own goal by Folk after another great play between Cátia Morgado and Cátia Vanessa (23′). The Magyar team still managed to hit the post in the best quick start that Nóra Tóth had, but Lilla Torma continued to be the star of the team, avoiding another series of goals with the help of the irons in this mission. Cátia Morgado, in a shot from mid-range that was still deflected in the opposition’s defense (35′), and Maria Lopes Pereira, to culminate another great team move (37′), closed the accounts of Portugal’s thrashing in their debut in the Final Four out of a total of 85 shots.
????????? GOAL! Portugal 4-0 Hungary#WEUROFutsal pic.twitter.com/V5G00p0HxA
— UEFA Futsal (@UEFAFutsal) July 1, 2022
???? 34 & # 39; From the middle of the street! What a GOAL from Cátia Morgado! ????#PORHUN | 5-0 | #Let’s go with everything #WEUROFutsal pic.twitter.com/qT0AeOOlwY
— Portugal (@selecaoportugal) July 1, 2022
Source: Observadora
