Méndez’s team will face Türkiye and China in their first stop
MADRID, 20 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish women’s basketball team will compete in the Vigo Tournament starting this Friday, with a duel against Turkey that will be followed by another against China on Sunday, as the first stop of friendlies in preparation for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Spain is back after sealing its pass for the Games on February 11 with the Sopron Olympic Qualifiers. Miguel Méndez’s team did their homework, with the suspense of the debut with a loss against Japan, then beating Canada and the host Hungary to fight for the medals again this summer.
The women’s team won silver in Rio de Janeiro 2016, its only Olympic medal so far, and the intention is to once again be among the best, as they already achieved in the last European Championship a year ago. It was Méndez’s debut on the ‘La Familia’ bench, with a silver that confirmed a new successful direction.
Now, the team needs to regain its rhythm, first of all, after more than a month since the end of domestic competitions. This was recognized by Paula Ginzo in the preview, after a few days of great physical exertion. “It is the making of contact. Train hard, long, get in physical shape, so that we are all at the same level. It is the week with the most load and preparing tactically to arrive as best as possible,” he said in statements to the media of the Spanish Federation of Basketball (FEB), collected by Europa Press.
“The Spain that is going to play tomorrow and on Sunday is not the Spain we want at all, the pieces are still beginning to fit together. We will try to do our best, but we are not even close to where we want to be. I am delighted. We are many from Galicia,” he added before the premiere at the As Travesas Sports Center.
Ginzo will be one of those who enjoys being at home, like Méndez himself, in a preparation tournament that will begin this Friday against Turkey. The Vigo coach designed a demanding path, like the one they will find in Paris 2024, which will continue on Sunday against China, a rival precisely in the Games.
In mid-July, Spain will travel to Charleroi to face the current European champion and with whom they played in the Eurobasket final last summer, Belgium, on July 12, and a day later they will play against Canada. Before traveling to Paris, the team will play two more games in the Pedro Delgado pavilion in Segovia: the 22nd, against Australia and the 24th, again against Canada.