Winning debuts for Egypt, Spain and France
Egypt, Spain and France kicked off the beach soccer tournament at the 3rd Mediterranean Beach Games in Heraklion with a bang.
In the opening match on Saturday (9/9), Egypt defeated Italy, the gold medal holders of the previous two events, by 3-2, after a thrilling encounter in a Group B match.
The opponents are two out of seven participating teams in the 3rd Mediterranean Beach Games and will also play in the Beach Soccer World Cup, which will be held in Dubai in 2024.
“It was a great win against a very good team and we continue to aim for the gold medal,” Egyptian goalkeeper Ibrahim Eltanani noted after the match. Regarding the Heraklion event, he added that “everything is going perfectly, as always happens in competitions held in Greece. The facilities are excellent and are suitable for high-level competitions”.
Italy’s goalkeeper, Andrea Carpita, admitted that “we were beaten by a passionate team. Now, the match against Portugal is a ‘final’ for us, i order to qualify.”
In the second match of the opening round, Spain had an easy 7-2 win over Morocco, for Group A. A decisive factor was the suspension of Morocco’s goalkeeper, Yasir Abada, in the first period. Before the start of the match, a moment of silence was held, in memory of the victims of the devastating earthquake in Morocco.
“It’s important that we started with a win and we want to win a medal,” Spanish coach Christian Mendez Lacarcel said.
In the other opening game of Group A, France made an impressive start to the tournament, beating hosts Greece 8-1, scoring seven goals in the third 12 minutes!
France had a various ways of attack, as their goals were scored by seven different players.
French coach, Claude Barrabé, commented after the match: “Although we didn’t start the game well, we then found a rhythm and got the win. It’s important that we started the competition in the right way”
Greece’s head coach, Stefanos Soilemis, admitted that “we had a poor performance. Now we have to forget this match and concentrate for the next game against Morocco”.
Source: Mediterranean Games / heraklion23.gr
Saturday 9 September
Group A
Morocco 2-7 Spain
France 8-1 Greece
Group B
Egypt 3-2 Italy
Sunday 10 September
Group A
14:30h – Spain vs France
17:30h – Portugal vs Egypt
Group B
16:00h – Greece vs Morocco
Monday 11 September
Group A
14:30h – Morocco vs France
17:30h – Greece vs Spain
Group B
16:00h – Portugal vs Italy
