Women's European Championship 2025: Spain impressively beats Portugal
Spain's world champions impressively underscored their title ambitions at the European Football Championship with a goal-scoring gala at the start. In Group B, head coach Montserrat Tomé's team, which at times played furiously, defeated a completely overwhelmed Portuguese team 5-0 (4-0) at Bern's Wankdorf Stadium.
Esther González (2nd and 43rd minutes), Vicky López (7th), two-time World Player of the Year Alexia Putellas (41st), and Cristina Martín-Prieto (90th+3) scored the goals in front of 29,520 spectators in a largely one-sided match. World Player of the Year Aitana Bonmati, who was diagnosed with meningitis shortly before the European Championship, was also able to play from the 81st minute.
Before kickoff, fans and players remembered Portugal's international Diogo Jota and his brother André Silva, who died in a traffic accident. Portugal's fans applauded the two footballers, held up placards, and created an emotional moment with chants.
After that, only Spain found their way into European Championship mode. The world champions, with their technically advanced play, dismantled their neighbors at times. Captain Putellas and Mariona Caldentey, in particular, distributed the ball cleverly, often creating gaps in the Portuguese defense with their passes, thus ensuring extreme dominance. Appropriately, a Mexican wave swept through the stadium. In the end, the Portuguese team, coached by Francisco Neto, was well served by the result.
In the first Group B match in Sion, Bayern Munich's Arianna Caruso scored in the 44th minute to give Italy a 1-0 (1-0) win over Belgium. Belgium faces a near-impossible challenge on Monday against world champions Spain, while Italy then faces Portugal.
RND/dpa
rnd
