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.

“I can’t be annoyed with these players. They gave everything they know and fight for Portugal and for the best for our sport. However, it is still not for our level of play, because teams like Hungary and 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, especially on the part of everyone and to feel that the distance has shortened and will shorten more”.

“Nothing can change what is a clear bet on women’s volleyball on the part of our officials, not least because the path, even though it is long and hard, has everything to reach a level of excellence. Now, everyone must continue to focus on work and look for this growth in the games that are missing from this qualification, which will already be defined as of today”, she 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.

“Between the points they will not create the reception well and the obligation to create the high ball, the points that will create an advantage of four. Ukraine stabilized their game and from there we were almost always behind on the scoreboard. We fluctuated in the various technical aspects of the game, which made Ukraine comfortable”, said Joana Resende.

The captain of the Portuguese team also added 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.