Add and continue the Spain of Chus Mateo, which They do not know defeat in the qualifying phase for the 2027 World Cup in Qatar. La Familia easily beat Ukraine in Riga in the duel between the two undefeated teams in the group by 66-86.
Spain the game was scored thanks to a great second halfin which they overthrew a Ukraine that had remained firm until the end of the second quarter.
The Ukrainian centers began to do damage in the paint and Chus Mateo used Isaac Nogués as a defensive card, with rotations more typical of handball, to increase the intensity of his team at the back. ‘La Familia’ accused the lack of offensive continuity, but was grateful for the great start from the bench by Ferrán Bassas, who fueled the attack of the Spanish team, 21-17 (min.10).
The lack of freshness continued at the beginning of the second quarter. Spain was loaded with fouls in the first two minutes and forced Mateo to request a timeout with six down on the scoreboard (25-19). With Jaime Fernández at ‘1’, he did not improve either and stagnated with only five points in the first five minutes.
Ukraine increased its shots from the outside, but the constant failures (3/11) gave air to Spain, which got back on track with an 8-0 run again with Bassas adding from outside, with 11 and 3/3 points from 6.75, (27-28, min.18). With a slight improvement and with Kovliar disabled with only 5 points, the Spanish team left with a minimal advantage at halftime (33-32).
Cárdenas and Oriola make Spain fly
‘La Familia’ came out with a different face after passing through the locker room and added Cardenas and Pierre Oriola, in their reappearance five years later with the national team, as shooters from the perimeter. Spain acquired fluidity on the opposing court but awakened the best version of Kovliar, author of two consecutive triples, 43-44 (min.25).
The struggle of Oriola, who starred in an intense fight with the Ukrainian Dmytro Skapintsev in the paint, cemented Spain’s defense. Mateo’s team went one step further in attack and confirmed their improvement with a run of 13-23 in the quarter after a triple by Álex Reyes, (46-55, min.28).
Francis Alonso, with another success from the perimeter (6/8 as a team), closed the outstanding third period of the Spanish team, with a devastating 14-33 in their favor, 47-65 (min.30).
Spain did not waste its advantage and managed it with a ‘small’ quintet, with four outside players and Oriol Paulí as power forward. Ainars Bagatskis’ men managed to get within 13 with just over three minutes remaining (60-73), but ‘La Familia’ did not relax and certified its complete victory in Group A with a 20-point advantage (86-66). before traveling to Oviedo to play a second round against the Ukrainian team and be able to mathematically certify their classification to the next phase.
