This Saturday, February 7, the national futsal team failed to win its third European championship by losing the European Championship final against Spain, 5-3, in a match played at Arena Stozice, in Ljubljana, capital of Slovenia.
Ten years later, the Spanish won the eighth European title in their history, interrupting Portugal’s dominance, which had won the last two editions.
The match started very badly for the national team, which after two minutes was already down 0-2, due to goals from Antonio Pérez and José Raya.
However, the reaction to the disadvantage was very good and the national team responded with accurate shots from Afonso Jesus and Rúben Góis, which restored the tie. But a minute before half-time Antonio Pérez scored again and put the Spanish back in front.
In the second half, the three-ball draw was achieved by Pauleta on a pass from Pany Varela, but at the start of the last five minutes Spain, who had four balls hit the posts by Bernardo Paçó, took the lead again with Antonio Pérez’s hat-trick.
National coach Jorge Braz then risked everything by giving up the goalkeeper, but the Spanish defense did not waver and even ended up increasing the lead to 5-3 with a goal from Adolfo Fernández, which allowed the Spanish to regain the European title they had been evading since 2016.
The national team lost a European final for the second time in its history, after being defeated by Spain in 2010, but by 4-2.
Antonio Pérez, Barcelona’s regular, ended up being the great figure of the final with a hat-trick, but also of the tournament, as he became top scorer with seven goals.
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