Belfius EuroHockey Championship
Men’s Pool A: Spain 5 (P Quemada 2, A Iglesias, V Ruiz, J Romeu) Wales 1 (G Furlong)
Spain bounced back from their opening day loss to Belgium to beat Wales with something to spare, putting them right back in the race for the semi-final places.
They built a 2-0 lead by quarter-time through Alvaro Iglesias and Pau Quemada to be in prime position before moving 4-0 clear via Vincenc Ruiz and Josep Romeu. Gareth Furlong did get one back from a corner but Quemada’s second earned a strong victory.
Iglesias broke the deadlock in the third minute following a beautiful piece of Enrique Gonzalez innovation, popping the ball under his arm to set up the goal.
Quemada’s corner in the 14th minute doubled the advantage as the Red Sticks were controlling most aspects of the game. Quico Cortes was required to scramble for a key save through the second quarter but Spain were three to the good at half-time via Ruiz. It came from a lovely team move, Gonzalez and Quemada combining for Ruiz to finish from around the penalty spot.
Romeu and Furlong exchanged corner goals in the third quarter to extend the scoreline to 4-1 but Wales chances were well and truly ended when Dan Kyriakides was shown a ten-minute yellow. In his absence, Quemada deflected in the last goal from a Romeu crash ball.
Gonzalez played a key role and he was happy with how his side broke down their opponents today
“Wales defended very deep and well,” the Spanish player, on his 100th cap, said. “We had lost against Belgium so we could only try and win to have a chance when we go against England. Belgium was our worst ever match so we tried to find our best form against Wales.
“We know England well, very good players and we need to be aware of Ashley Jackson! We will try only to win, not draw.”
Umpires: P Walker (ENG), S Duterme (BEL)
Spain – Wales
3’ Alvaro Iglesias (FG) 1-0
14’ Pau Quemada (PC) 2-0
28’ Vincenc Ruiz (FG) 3-0
36’ Josep Romeu (PC) 4-0
42’ Gareth Furlong (PC) 4-1
56’ Pau Quemada (FG) 5-1