Portugal’s women’s beach soccer team won the bronze medal at the 2023 European Games in Krakow this Saturday, beating hosts Poland in Tarnów on penalties, following a 2-2 draw in regular time and extra time.
Katarzyna Nowak, capping the goalkeeper in the third minute, opened the scoring, but Ema Toscano equalized in the second period, with a free kick deflected by the sand, in the 22nd minute, after Wiktoria Kaczmarek was sent off sent.
Dominika Dewicka made it 2-1 for the Poles in the 23rd minute, but Inês Cruz restored the score in the 25th minute, with no extra time.
In the penalty shoot-out, Portugal won 3-0, with Jamila Marreiros defending two shots, and climbed to last place on the podium in a tournament of only six teams of this modality that is not part of the Olympic program.
It is the first medal for the women’s team at the European Games, right on the debut, while the men’s team, which is still playing for third place this Saturday, has two podiums, a gold in Minsk2019 and a bronze in Baku2015.
Portugal now has 15 podiums in Kraków2023, having already won three gold, seven silver and five bronze.
The third edition of the European Games runs until Sunday in Krakow and in the Polish region of Malopolska, with 30 sports on the program and 48 participating countries, including Portugal, with a delegation of more than 200 athletes.
Source: DN
