Third time lucky. Two overtimes in major tournaments in Spanish history – both in the Eurocup – one with a draw and the other with a loss. And the good one came against the Netherlands.
In 2017 – the tournament was held in the Netherlands – La Roja faced Austria in the 16th round, one of the revelations of the raid. After a goalless draw in ninety minutes, the duel went into overtime. The result did not change and the draw was determined by penalties. Three for Spain and five for Austria, who lost to England in the semi-finals.
Elimination against hosts England last year hurt more because the transition to the ‘semi-finals’ was a touch away. La Roja won with Esther González’s goal in the 84th minute, and that’s when everything changed. Ella Toone equalized after six minutes and forced overtime. And Georgia Stanway scored the winning goal in 96.
KEY
When Van der Gragt equalized for the Netherlands in 92, the ghosts appeared and the Dutch got bigger. They had the upper hand in overtime and were about to take the game. However, this time, a different aspect of the team, which did not give up the game because they lost, was seen.
“The message from each of them has always been ‘let’s do it’,” Jenni Hermoso admitted, “we knew they were suffering more than us, they were tired. We always knew we could keep coming until Keel scored.” “The key was the winning mentality to believe in it, which was missing before, that’s something we’ve been working on with our clubs,” added Aitana. Cata Coll was clear: “I knew we were going to score.”