MADRID, January 16 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Spanish women's field hockey team faced Canada this Tuesday (1-5) in its third match of the Pre-Olympics, which take place in Valencia and during which three places for the Paris 2024 Games are distributed, and the place was It's guaranteed: to reach the semi-finals as first after having achieved an impeccable group stage.

The “RedSticks” recovered from the Canadians' initial goal in the first quarter of the duel held at the Virgen del Carmen-Beteró sports center with an exceptional final quarter in which they scored all five of their goals, allowing them to finish the first phase undefeated, with three victories.

Spain started the match dominating and reaching the Canadian box. It took the North Americans 12 minutes to worry the locals with a penalty corner that Anna Mollenhauer failed to convert. However, a minute later, on the second arrival in the area, Carrie Trumpy's team managed to open the scoreboard on a new PC.

During the second quarter, the Iberian team retained possession of the ball and the match was played most of the time on Canadian territory. Far behind, Canada defended itself against the attacks of the “RedSticks”, who came up against an effective Rowan Harris. After the break, Canada once again thwarted three new corners from the Spanish team.

It was in the fourth quarter that they managed to break away. In the 47th minute, Blanca Pérez assisted Lucía Jiménez, who, diving to the ground, equalized. Shortly after, in the 51st minute, Sara Barrios returned to the match and, a minute later, her twin sister, Laura Barrios, made it 3-1. Belén Iglesias scored the fourth goal in the 52nd minute and, with a few seconds left before the final whistle, Patricia Álvarez closed out the victory.

The MVP of the match, Lucía Jiménez, showed her joy after the match. “We couldn't be happier with today's result and qualification for the semi-finals. I'm very proud of the team. It hasn't been easy, but we showed our good play and this “I'm lucky to be able to play here in Valencia with our supporters and our family in the stands,” he said.

From now on, Carlos García Cuenca's team is only one match away from qualifying for the Paris 2024 Games. The rival in the semi-final duel that they will play on Thursday at 12:30 p.m. will be Ireland, number 14 in the world rankings and who also went undefeated in their group by drawing against Belgium and beating South Korea and Malaysia.