The women's team fulfills its Olympic dream

Spain fulfills its Olympic dream

The women's team beats the Netherlands (3-0) in La Cartuja, qualifies for the Paris Games and for the final of the Nations League

SEVILLE, Feb. 23 (from the Special Envoy of EUROPA PRESS, Ramón Chamorro) -

The women's soccer team broke another barrier this Friday, the Olympic one, and achieved a historic classification to enjoy its first Games in Paris next summer, after winning with authority 3-0 against the Netherlands at the La Cartuja Stadium in Seville and also qualify for the final of the 2023-2024 Nations League.

The world champion did not fail at home. She did not feel the pressure and she had a great game that showed why she is now number one in the ranking to achieve something that until not too long ago seemed unthinkable. It is not only the pass to her first Olympic event but the fact that she will arrive in the French capital as a serious contender to achieve gold, something that only field hockey can boast of, champion against the odds at home, in Barcelona'92.

And these possible new 'golden girls' solved their semi-final with authority, dismantling a rival who did not know how to recover from the two 'hits' that represented the two goals in the final stretch of the first half, although before they had already been able to go for behind on the scoreboard, and which allowed them to play a less busy second half more comfortably. Now, in the fight for a third success in six months, Spain is precisely waiting for this summer's host, a France that won 2-1 in the other semifinal against Germany and that opens a new opportunity for the Dutch and Germans to be in Paris.

Spain took a great haul after the first 45 minutes, although it could well have been greater if Salma Paralluelo had been more careful against a Dutch team, which repeated the three centre-backs but joining Miedema with Bereenstey and Martens and who tried to have more of the ball and He pressed up high to try to make Groenen very uncomfortable on top of Bonmatí so that she could not play comfortably in an area where Laia Aleixandri 'played' Tere Abelleira.

In fact, the first warning came from the visitors with a cross ball to the far post that Brugts narrowly missed. However, the world champion's response was instantaneous and with Salma Paralluelo as the protagonist. The FC Barcelona forward was a torment for the rival defense every time she found space, but she lacked more finesse in her definitions to have shown once again that she can be one of the great dominators of football.

The Aragonese footballer forgave a very clear one-on-one against Van Domselaar, with perhaps too much control and a 'sting' that brushed the post, and immediately afterwards, after an error by the goalkeeper in the release of the ball, she missed the mark nor with the pass from Athenea del Castillo, who shortly after was about to 'catch' a ball in the area.

The Netherlands did not stop looking at Cata Coll's goal despite these warnings and risking leaving spaces behind, but only found a powerful shot from Bereensteyn, well controlled by Irene Paredes and Laia Codina, who found a good and quick foot from the Balearic Islands on his stick. More clear was another one-on-one from Salma Paralluelo, who could have had one more control to spare before crashing her shot over Van Domselaar.

From there, the revolutions slowed somewhat and Spain was able to impose itself more and force the visitors to back off. The world champion was able to better handle the pace of the clash and she found the prize that had eluded her in two 'whips' that left the Netherlands 'groggy'. First, in the 41st minute, by Jenni Hermoso, she finished at the edge of the area to take off a rival and then finish gently. Then, in the 45th minute and with the European champion looking for the locker room, Mariona Caldentey drew a sensational pass into the heart of the area for the classic appearance of Aitana Bonmatí and made it 2-0.

NETHERLANDS PRESS, ONA BATLLE SENTENCE

Andries Jonkers brought in Damaris Egurrola for Miedema in search of solutions and his team's start in the second half was good and forced the Spanish defense to show concentration to avoid greater problems for Cata Coll. Montse Tomé, for his part, did not modify what had worked and kept the same eleven despite the fact that his rival was pushing.

Salma Paralluelo, after another brilliant maneuver by Mariona Caldentey, tested again with a powerful shot, but the clash was increasingly directed towards the Spanish goal because the visitors were now the ones who had the ball. Spain needed to recover it through its midfielders, but Tomé did not change anything there and the first change was that of Alba Redondo for Athenea del Castillo to also try to take advantage of the spaces.

With the match entering a phase in which few things were happening, which interested the locals, the coach allowed the debut of the young Vicky López, for Jenni Hermoso, and brought in Oihane Hernández for Olga Carmona to control the presumed final rally visitor. The entry of the Real Madrid side caused Ona Batlle to change sides, in charge of sealing the ticket to Paris, after a good run and a pass that Alba Redondo did not get right first, nor did she herself on her first attempt. The clash ended there and Spain was able to calmly savor a new feat.

DATASHEET.

--RESULT: SPAIN, 3 - NETHERLANDS, 0 (2-0, at halftime).

--ALIGNMENTS.

SPAIN: Coll; Batlle, Paredes, Codina, Carmona (Hernández, min.73); Bonmatí, Aleixandri, Hermoso (López, min.73); Del Castillo (Redondo, min.62), Paralluelo (Lucía García, min.82) and Caldentey (Eva Navarro, min.82).

PAÍSES BAJOS: Van Domselaar; Dijkstra, Spitse, Janssen (Wilms, min.68); Casparij, Van de Donk (Captain, min.86), Groenen, Brugts (Jansen, min.79); Martens, Miedema (Egurrola, min.46) and Beerensteyn (Snoeijs, min.68).

--GOALS.

1-0, minute 41. Jenni Hermoso.

2-0, minute 45. Aitana Bonmatí.

3-0, minute 73. Ona Batlle.

--REFEREE: Rebecca Welch (ING).

--STADIUM: La Cartuja de Sevilla. 21,856 spectators.