Nacho Herrero |
Sports writing (EFE) in the last quarter and succumbed to the tenacity of Belgium, who clinched their first gold in this European championship by joining the contribution of Kyara Linskens to that of their star Emma Meesseman.
The match started with an even duel between Laura Gil and Meesseman, in which both were somewhat neutralized, but while Belgium offered no other arguments to seize the initiative, in Spain the medium-range shots by Alba Torrens, who became the top scorer in Spain in a Eurobasket ahead of Amaya Valdemoro, and the self-confidence and strength of Raquel Carrera gave her the initiative on the scoreboard (12-6, m.6).
The Belgian defense increased its intensity and Spain had to use the fierce Queralt Casas to stay on top. After a few minutes of rest, Meesseman and Linskens became strong in the rings, but it was not enough to change the script (17-13, m.10).
Casas’ inspiration, and Belgium’s decision to let him shoot, lengthened the Spanish advantage and although the passing of the minutes took its toll on Méndez’s men in the form of fatigue, they knew how to manage it. Carrera’s defense kept Meesseman drowned and a triple by Maite Cazorla allowed the Spanish team to reach the break with a promising lead (32-25, m.20).
Belgium began to find Meesseman
After passing through the locker room, Belgium began to find Meesseman more frequently and, despite a new three-pointer from Casas, the clash began to tighten again. The appearance of a daring Leo Rodríguez gave Spain freshness and frustrated his rival, who saw how he escaped again thanks also to the good finishes of Carrera under the hoop (44-36, m.27).
The Spanish players had up to three shots to close the last quarter with more than ten rental points, but they failed and a basket by Julie Allemand with an additional shot on the buzzer fueled Belgian hope (48-43, m.30).
Linsken’s Help
Linskens helped Meesseman to carry the weight of the comeback and Belgium began to think about taking the lead. Spain got stuck in attack and their good work on the offensive rebound did not get them out of the quagmire this time. Finally, a triple by Meesseman put Belgium ahead (54-55, m.36). Torrens got Spain out of the KO, but couldn’t stop them from coming from behind at the last minute and a half.
Mendez’s men were in a hurry and with four down with thirty seconds to go, they played the last bullet with a past ring by Casas that did not go well and ended with the last options for Spain, which returns to the podium after the frustrating edition of 2021 but with a bittersweet taste.