The Belgians won FIH Women’s Hockey Olympics 2024 Qualifying On Saturday (January 20), they defeated hosts Spain 2-1 in the final in Valencia.
Both teams had already booked their tickets to Paris 2024 with their semi-final victories and were playing for bragging rights.
There were few ties between the two teams in the opening quarters, with Belgium making some inroads with some probing play inside the circle. Belgium won four penalty corners in the first period to Spain’s one, but could not convert their pressure into goals.
It looked like each team would go into the halftime break in an evenly matched situation, but just before halftime Spain made a breakthrough. Sara Barrios He pounced on the deflection and slipped the ball into the narrowest gap between the Belgian keeper and the left goalpost.
The goal in the 29th minute breathed new life into Spain’s attack, pushing further into Spain’s half and giving them a penalty corner. Although they didn’t have as many chances as Belgium in the second and third periods, Spain earned three penalty corners.
The Belgians increased the pressure in the final minutes of the match, winning two consecutive penalty corners with five minutes remaining. They were finally rewarded for their aggressive attacks. Louise Versabel Scored the equalizing goal in the 56th minute.th Minutes.
Charlotte Inglebert Less than a minute later, Belgium took the lead, making it 2-1 with a torpedo reverse shot into the back of the net.
Valencia was one of four Olympic qualifiers (two women’s and two men’s), with the top three countries qualifying for the 2024 Paris Games. Great Britain became the third team to secure an Olympic spot in Valencia with a 2-1 win over Ireland. In the bronze medal match.