Spain-Portugal, final of the European Roller Hockey Championship

Yesterday’s game had little to do with Spain’s victory last Wednesday in the last match of the group stage (4-7). Although the hosts took the initiative from the beginning, were much more aggressive and followed one after the other, Italy held on without conceding a goal. The initial bullying led to increasing parity when Andrea Malagoli, after intercepting a horizontal pass in the middle of the pitch, shot towards Carles Grau and beat him one-on-one (0-1, min.15).

The Spanish answer came after 15 seconds through Pau Bargall, who forced a direct free kick and coolly took it (1-1, min.15). Immediately after that, the duel entered the phase of constant interruptions, and Italy took the lead again with Giulio Cocco’s shot from distance (1-2, min.21). After the break, it was difficult for Spain to attack fluently against Italy, who did not make mistakes, were well positioned behind and who, after the ball returned, decided on long attacks if they did not see the possibility of running.

With no goals in stoppage time, the tie was decided by penalties, where the Spanish efficiency was absolute. Carles Grau saved Italy’s first three shots, while César Carballeira, Sergi Aragonès and Xavi Barroso scored their shots (3-0) to confirm qualification.

Thus, Spain and Portugal (which defeated France yesterday with 5-2) will repeat the most repeated final in the history of the competition.