The Lionesses began their participation in the Field Hockey World Cup in the best way, with a 4-0 win over South Korea in their debut at the XV Spain-Netherlands World Cup, where they seek the third title of their rich history . The world champions in Perth 2002 and Rosario 2010 prevailed in their presentation at the Olympic Stadium in the Catalan city of Terrassa with two goals from Agustina Gorzelany, one from Victoria Granatto and another from Julieta Jankunas, in a match corresponding to Group C of the tournament .
The Argentines opened the scoring after 4 minutes, with a goal from Agustina Gorzelany in the first penalty corner of the match and a great drag against an angle of the rival goal. Gorzelany herself was effective in scoring practically the same goal – strong at the top corner to the left of the goalkeeper – in the second short shot that those directed by Fernando Ferrara had, at 28 minutes.
The third for Las Leonas came in the 30th minute, when the first half was ending, also after a penalty corner, but through Victoria Granatto who connected after a series of rebounds. Argentina scored the fourth in the third quarter through Julieta Jankunas, who shot the short and went to look for the rebound that the Korean goalkeeper gave.
“It wasn’t noticeable but I was nervous. Happy for this result and for the team. It’s the first tournament of several so I was nervous but now it makes me very excited. We have to continue because Spain is coming and it’s going to be a very hard”, declared Gorzelany, distinguished as a figure of the match against the Koreans, to ESPN.
The Lionesses will play again this Sunday at 4:30 p.m. against the local team and next Thursday they will do so against Canada, starting at 1:00 p.m., in their last match for the qualifying phase. All the games of the Argentine team can be followed on one of the ESPN signals and the Star + platform.
In Terrassa, a city located 30 kilometers from Barcelona, Spain opened Group C on Friday, with a 4-1 victory against Canada. The Spain-Netherlands 2022 World Cup is structured in four zones of four teams and will develop its first phase until Thursday. The winners of each group will advance directly to the quarterfinals, in which they will face the winners of a playoff between the second and third.
Group A, made up of the Netherlands, Chile, Germany and Ireland, and Group B, made up of China, England, India and New Zealand, will be based in the municipality of Amstelveen, north of Amsterdam; while C (Argentina, Spain, Canada and Korea) and D (Australia, Belgium, Japan and South Africa) will be played in Terrassa.
That same Catalan city, which will host two quarterfinal matches, will remain as the final venue for the World Cup from the semifinals, with the duel for the title scheduled for Sunday the 17th, at 4:30 p.m. in Argentina.
