Portugal’s women’s national basketball team is gearing up for the EuroBasket, set to take place from June 18 to 29 in Brno, Czech Republic. Coach Ricardo Vasconcelos has announced the 16 players called up for the final preparation phase. The team’s Group C opponents include Belgium, Czech Republic, and Montenegro.
The squad includes 13 players who were part of the last two qualifying matches against Ukraine and Serbia. New additions are Raquel Laneiro from Arxil in Spain, Inês Ramos from Esgueira, and Carolina Cruz from Polisportiva Gali in Italy. Notably, the four top players competing in the NCAA – Clara Silva, Inês Bettencourt, Inês Vieira, and Sara Guerreiro – are not among the selected players.
Training and Friendly Matches
The team’s first training phase runs from May 18 to 31, starting in Lisbon. They’ll play four friendly matches: two against Slovenia in Maribor on May 23 and 25, and two against Serbia on May 29 and 30. The squad will be trimmed to 14 players for the Serbia matches.
The team will reconvene in Póvoa de Varzim early June for a triangular tournament featuring Spain on June 10 and Switzerland on June 12. They’ll play another match against Switzerland on June 14. Coach Vasconcelos will then narrow down the squad to 12 players, who will travel to Brno on June 16.
The 16 Called-Up Players
The selected players are divided into three positions:
- Bases:
- Ana Rodrigues (Friburgo, Switzerland)
- Inês Viana (Benfica)
- Joana Soeiro (Zamora, Spain)
- Márcia da Costa (Royal Castors Braine, Belgium)
- Maria Correia (Mallorca Palma, Spain)
- Raquel Laneiro (Arxil, Spain)
- Simone Costa (Panthers Osnabruck, Germany)
- Forwards:
- Inês Ramos (Esgueira)
- Josephine Filipe (Extremadura, Spain)
- Laura Ferreira (Meylan, France)
- Maianca Umabano (GDESSA)
- Mariana Silva (Benfica)
- Post players:
- Carolina Cruz (Polisportiva Gali, Italy)
- LavÃnia Silva (Oaklands Wolves, England)
- Maria Kostourkova (Sosnowiec, Poland)
- Sofia da Silva (Mallorca Palma, Spain)