Mellado and Barquero star on day one in Nazaré

Alba Mellado, of Madrid CFF and Maria Barquero, of CFP Cáceres Femenino, were the undisputed protagonists of the opening day at the Women’s Euro Winners Cup. With five goals each, the Spanish forwards helped their teams occupy the highest places in Group B, following big wins over New Team Brussels (4-8) and Recreativo Huelva (6-1). There was not a better way to send a message to defending champions Mriya 2006, who were also drawn in this group and will make their entrance in this edition tomorrow against Recreativo de Huelva.  

 

The Spanish dominance in the competition was also reflected at the other groups, with 2019 champions AIS Playas de San Javier and CD Higicontrol Melilla sharing the highest places in Group C. England internationals Rebecca Barron and Molly Clark were in hand for the Melilla side in their 4-1 win over polish Red Devil Ladies, AIS Playas de San Javier relied on their Spanish talent for that mission, with Carol, Andrea and Carmen Fresneda, three of the brightest La Roja stars scoring for the Murcia side. Japanese striker Saki added to that, too, for a final score of 4-2.  

 

In Group A, two big surprises also had teams from Spain commanding the standings. Newcomers AD Roquetas ended up stunning World Winners champions Lokrians in a game the Italians led for most of the time, but a late reaction by the Madrid side turned things around. Another newcomers, Terrassa, beat one of the classic teams in the competition, Marseille BT, for whom the Brazilian powder brought on by Lorena Medeiros, scorer of two goals today, was not enough.  

 

The head of the group though, was for Belgian side New Teams RCS, following a decisive 8-2 win over hosts Oz Nazarenos. Despite the first half of the game being pretty balanced, New Team geared up in the last stage to open up a big gap on the scoreboard and cruise to a convincing victory. 

 

For complete match results and statistics, please visit https://beachsoccer.com/event/womens-euro-winners-cup/