The Portuguese Women National Side came back from a 0-4 to finally clinch the cup from the penalty kick spot over Switzerland
The Portugal Ladies brought on an amazing comeback against Switzerland to end up bagging the cup in the Women exhibition tournament taking place in Espinho. Despite being 0-4 down at the beginning of the third period, the Lusitanians fielded all their breed to equalize the score, and completed their brilliant performance at the penalty kick shootout.
When Switzerland scored three goals in the first minutes of the game, everything seemed destined to a Swiss parade. Portugal seemed unable to counteract the Alpine dominion, and none of their attempts came close to their opponent’s nets.
The Swiss defense were playing at a high level, denying time after time any of the host’s efforts. When Vanessa Meyer added one more, with her second hit of the day, for the 0-4, an eventual reaction by Portugal seemed pretty impossible. But it wasn’t.
A terrific and spirited performance by the Portuguese players turned into a 4-0 run in just 6 minutes, and the 4-4 sent the game to extra time, where the score remained untouched.
The penalty shootout would pass sentence, and would give the Portuguese the win. The hosts did not miss a single attempt, whereas the top scorer of the tournament, Adrienne Krysl, could not send her ball to the back of the net, due to a brilliant save by Ana Rita Oliveira that would have the cup stay in Espinho.
