The U-19 women’s national handball team returned to Portugal on Monday with a feeling of “duty accomplished”, after the historic fourth place in the European championship of the category, played in Romania.
Despite not having reached the final of the competition, after losing to Denmark, in extra time, and the defeat, against Romania, in the game for third place, the national coach was “proud” with the performance of the athletes.
“It is a feeling of achievement, but, at this time, it is necessary to have a sense of reality, and say that we achieved a very good level of performance. We exceeded expectations, even leaving the feeling that we could have gone further. “, he told the Portuguese agency José António Silva, about the arrival of the team at the Francisco Sá Carneiro airport, in Porto.
The coach, and coordinator, confessed that his biggest regret was the defeat against the Danes, in the semifinals, by 38-35, already in extra time, in a game in which the Portuguese surpassed themselves against a better valued rival.
“We were 20 seconds from the final, and I felt like we pushed the team to the limit. Then, against Romania, we couldn’t give the answer we had been giving, especially from a physical point of view, but what matters is seeing the global vision, with very good results, which should motivate us to continue evolving”, shared the coach national.
José António Silva considered that this European Championship showed that Portugal has the raw material to pursue a high-level statement in sport, but recognized that there must be a joint effort to raise the bar even higher in the working conditions of the athletes.
“We have four or five players with different characteristics than usual in our country, others with a lot of talent. It is time for the clubs, federation, coaches and managers to be accountable and provide the conditions for them to continue evolving. We have to reflect on how to extract the full potential of these athletes”, said the coach.
Luciana Rebelo, a 17-year-old winger who was considered one of the best players in this Euro Cup, considered that the fourth place achieved, which qualifies for the 2024 World Cup, “was an incredible mark.”
“We did everything we could, despite the last game [frente a Roménia] not having been a reflection of what we are capable of. We had an excellent performance and we showed a very united group”, said the player.
Luciana Rebelo believes that this performance can inspire the new generations of handball players to embark on a successful path and points to more success for this team.
“I think we can inspire the younger generation with these good results. It makes us proud. Now we have to continue working to strengthen the group and give our best to continue with the good performances”, he concluded.
Source: TSF
