“Defeat is a learning experience”
PONTEVEDRA, 2 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish women's soccer coach, Montse Tomé, has assured that they started the second half with one less player, conceding at that moment Italy's first goal in the defeat in Pasarón (2-3), because Aitana Bonmatí warned them “with little advance time” that he could not “continue.
“At half-time we made the change from Athenea to Lucía, and when we were going to start the second half Aitana told us with little notice that she couldn't continue. We don't have time for Esther to warm up, that's why we started the second half with one less player,” she explained at a press conference.
Furthermore, he insisted that the first change was planned, but not that of the Ballon d'Or. “The change of Lucía for Athenea was planned, we were looking to put Italy in its own field,” he stated. “In the second half, with Lucía's first substitution, we tried to have more depth. In the first half, the field was quite slippery and we didn't have many chances. Then, we had three players who could create more depth. We had chances from Tere, from Salma , from Mariona… we tried until the end but we couldn't score,” he said.
On the other hand, Tomé acknowledged that they knew of Sweden's defeat. “We knew Sweden's result. Taking away the first minutes, more scoring chances were generated. We knew that Italy was a strong rival, that on a defensive level they were going to be strong, and we knew that they could generate play. In the second we put them further back” , he stated.
“The qualification has been good. In the first game against Sweden, we won in the 90th minute; the second we won 5-0; the third game we fought to beat Italy 0-1; in the penultimate game against Switzerland, although we won 1- 7, there were things to improve… Defeat is a learning experience. One of the objectives was to get to the semifinals, but also to win all the games. The field was not good, although it is not an excuse. We have to think about the next game against Sweden,” he said.
Finally, he talked about Tere Abelleira's performance in her native Pontevedra. “I know Tere quite well, we met her at the Under-19 European Championship that we won. She had a great World Cup. We are at her house, I said it in the talk, that it was a special day for her and we had to enjoy it. No could have been,” he concluded.