Beach soccer final not for the Poles. They will play for bronze
Polish women’s beach soccer team lost to Spain in the semi-finals of the 3rd European Games Kraków-Małopolska 2023. Despite an ambitious performance, the hosts lost 2:3. On Saturday, they will play against the Portuguese for the bronze.
For the Poles, it will be a chance to get a revenge on the Portuguese for Thursday’s defeat at the end of the group stage. The hosts lost 1:2, losing the decisive goal one second before the end of the match.
– “We want to bite back for that defeat and win a medal. Bronze will taste like gold to us. But today it will be hard to digest losing to the Spaniards…”, said right after the semi-final captain Dagmara Suskiewicz.
There was a lot of unhappiness in the Polish team after Friday’s match. The red-and-whites played a very good match against the main favourites of the tournament. Although it was their rivals who first took the lead thanks to Sara Gonzalez’s overhead kick goal, in the 17th minute the Poles turned the match’s fate around – first Dominika Dewicka led to a draw, and a few seconds later Wiktoria Kaczmarek scored for 2:1. Unfortunately, even before the end of the second period, the Spaniards returned to the lead.
A devoted fight in the third period did not bring an equalising goal for Poland. The Spanish women advanced to the final of the tournament. They will play for gold against the Ukrainians, who beat the Portuguese 3:1 in the second semi-final.
In the men’s tournament, both semi-final matches ended in surprises. First, the main favourites, the Portuguese, lost after a penalty shootout to the Swiss, and then the Spaniards were beaten by Italians 5:6 in extra time, although they were leading 5:2 earlier.
The Polish national team also let the victory out of their hands. The red-and-white team led 6:4 against Moldova, only to lose 6:8. On Saturday, they will play for the 7th place in the tournament against the Ukrainians.
Beach soccer – June 30:
Women’s
5th place: Czech Republic – Italy 2:3
Semi-final: Portugal – Ukraine 1:3
Semi-final: Poland – Spain 2:3
Men’s
5th-8th place: Poland – Moldova 6:8
5th-8th place: Azerbaijan – Ukraine 7:6
Semi-final: Portugal – Switzerland 4:4, 3:4 after penalties
Semi-final: Spain – Italy 5:6 after extra time
Schedule July 1:
12:30 Poland – Ukraine / men, 7th place
14:00 Azerbaijan – Moldova / men, 5th place
15:30 Portugal – Poland / women, bronze medal
17:00 Portugal – Spain / men, bronze medal
18:30 Ukraine – Spain / women, final
20:00 Switzerland – Italy / men, final
