The Portuguese women’s volleyball team lost this Sunday by 3-0 to Ukraine, in Tábor, in the Czech Republic, and committed ahead of the leaders of Group C to qualify for the final of the European Championship 2023.

Ukraine won 25-17, 25-21 and 25-8 and reinforced its undefeated leader status, with eight points, ahead of Hungary, with seven, who beat Cyprus 3-0, and Portugal, with three, and thus became the longest qualifying match.

The Ukrainian opposite Olesia Rykhliuk, with 25 points, was the best scorer of the game, while Júlia Kavalenka, with 10, and Bárbara Gomes, with 8 points, were the most successful Portuguese players.

They gave that they know and fought for Portugal and for the best for our sport. However, it is still not for our level of play, as teams like Hungary and Ukraine are a few holes above us in competitive terms”, said coach Hugo Silva.

The coach explains that “the good side of this qualifying phase is to see a lot of desire to grow even more on the part of everyone and to feel that the distance has mainly shortened and will shorten more”.

“Nothing can change what is a clear bet on women’s volleyball on the part of those responsible, because the path, even though it is long and hard, has everything to reach a level of excellence. Now, it must continue focused on work and try to maintain this in the games that are missing from this qualification, which is already defined as growth today”, he added.

The defeat against Ukraine, after having lost to Hungary, leaves the Portuguese team further away from being able to guarantee their presence in the 2023 European Championship, within reach of the first two classified in each of the qualifying groups.

“We entered the game, difficult to be received and recognized almost always from the high ball, which allows us to create an advantage of four points. technical of the game, which made Ukraine comfortable”, said Joana Resende.

The captain of the Portuguese team also said that “this is not the image that the group wants to leave”, as “it does not reflect the value of the team for the work that has been done over the last few months” and promised to “fight until the end” shirt of the corners.