PLAY-OFF LIFELINE FOR DEFEATED IRISH
Spain won 3-0 in penalty shoot-out
SPAIN 0 IRELAND 0
IRELAND manager Sean Dancer said he was proud of his team after they suffered the agony of a penalty shoot-out defeat to Spain in Valencia yesterday. It means that the team have one chance left to book their place at the Paris Olympics — in tomorrow’s third-place play-off against Great Britian (2.30pm Irish time), who lost 3-2 to Belgium in the other semi-final.
Dancer praised another outstanding defensive performance from his team, who have only conceded one goal in four matches in the Olympic qualifying tournament, although admitted they could have been a little more clinical.
‘We are proud of how we defended. But we also dominated possession today and in attack. We created a lot of chances, we just need to start putting more of them away.’
Perhaps the big regret for Ireland was their failure not to take advantage of any of the three penalty corners that they won, each routine breaking down without troubling Clara Perez in the Spanish goal. Perez made a couple of excellent saves to deny Katie Mullan and then Deirdre Duke.
The penalty shoot-out was a typically nervy affair. Ayeisha McFerran saved Lara Vidosa’s first effort for Spain but the home side would score their next three, Maria Lopez booking their place in Paris with a brilliant lob over McFerran’s head while Ireland had no joy as Perez saved from Roisin Upton, Sarah Hawkshaw and Hannah McLoughlin.
Meanwhile, Spain also stand between Ireland’s men and a place at the Olympics with the nations resuming hostilities in Valencia this morning at 11.30am. They will also get a second chance if they lose, with the play-off. IRELAND: A McFerren, R Upton, N Carey, S Hawkshaw, K Mullan (C), H McLoughlin, N Carroll, E Curran, C Beggs, K McKee, B Harper. SUBS USED: S McAuley (4 mins), M Carey (6 mins), S Torrans (7 mins E Neill (4 mins), C Watkins (5 mins), D Duke (7 mins), L Murphy (GK) SPAIN: C Perez (GK), L Jiminez, M Lopez (C), Marta Segu, C Amundson, B Perez, B Garcia, X Gine, L Vidosa, A Torres-Quevedo, P Alvarez. SUBS USED: L Barrios (11 mins), S Barrios (4 mins), B Iglesias (4 mins), L Riera (7 mins), B Perez (5mins), J Strapatto (4 mins), M Tello (GK)