Synchronized Spanish mermaids sink into the pool
Canoeing Spain stays two tenths from the top
Basketball Kevin Durant's Gold
Second final of the golden generation of women's water polo in the last three Olympic Games. The generation of
Anni Espar,
the restless star who, tired of winning everything, cannot spend more than three years in a row in the same team. The generation of a daughter from the Sants neighborhood of Barcelona,
Laura Ester
, who becomes a giant under the goalposts. That of a 16-year-old girl from Rubí,
Elena Ruiz
, who has a missile in her right arm. And that of a 35-year-old veteran,
Pili Peña
, who left Madrid to collect an enviable record.
Few times has a nickname (the Water Warriors) been so deserved for a group of women who leave their souls in the pool.
It has been a spectacle to see them win.
It is also when they lose against the best in the world because they do it by a landslide.
The black beast was once again the United States.
As it happened in the final of London 2012.
The Olympic final was repeated with the same outcome.
Admittedly: the Americans have taken a bath in Spain.
Dominance, fast counterattack, aggressiveness, defensive solidity and a wall in the goal.
They have it all.
"With their third consecutive gold, they have shown that they are the best team of all time," shouts an American commentator who is narrating the beating of his team to the Spanish team.
As the commentator said, the American tyranny in this sport already has three consecutive golds in the Olympic Games.
It is a team that has been on the podium at every Games since women's water polo entered the program in Sydney 2000.
Spain has not beat the US since 2013, in the quarterfinals of the world championship in Barcelona.
They then took revenge for the defeat in the Olympic final the previous year.
In Tokyo, the Americans were unrivaled.
They bypassed the team led by
Miki Oca
, Olympic champion in 1996 and silver in 1992, who wanted to make history with a second gold from the bench.
He directed a team that arrived in Tokyo as current European champions and runners-up in the world.
Only in Rio 2016 did they stumble against Russia in the quarterfinals and came home empty.
Tokyo 2020 was by no means a failure.
Winning silver has a lot of merit because few thought that Spain could beat the best team in the world.
THE BEST PLAYER IN THE WORLD
The Spaniards faced the selection of
Maggie Steffens
(28 years old), the highest Olympic scorer of all time in this sport.
Steffens is the captain of a team that had not lost for 13 years until they faced Hungary in qualifying in Tokyo.
It was his first defeat at the Olympics since the 2008 final against the Netherlands.
The first quarter began with Spain locked in defense because the Americans attacked and attacked, testing Laura Ester, who took a couple of balls from the squad, but could not stop cannons like Steffens, who added 18 goals in the tournament.
The Spanish could not react.
The rest of the party, the Americans did what they wanted.
Final score: 14-5
Since Steffens joined the team, the Olympic champions have won every major tournament they have participated in.
The 2012 and 2016 Games. And the last three world cups, the last six world leagues and the last five Pan American Games.
Between the 2016 and 2020 Olympics, they won 128 matches.
They only lost three.
In addition to Steffens, considered the best player in the world, the USA also has the best goalkeeper,
Ashleigh Johnson
, 26, who is one of the few of the team that was not born in California, the birthplace of water polo, but in Florida. Johnson stopped everything. Great game also from
Maddie Musselman
, who was the key that the United States passed over Russia in the semifinals
In the first London final, Steffens, Johnson and Musselman already faced a very young Anni Espar, who scored two goals. The CN Mataró player was now a senior who carried the stripes of being the star of the Spanish team. In addition, he knew well some players from the rival team from his time in the United States. He shared the bench with American forward
Kaleigh Gilchrist
at university in Southern California.
Anni Espar played a sensational tournament guiding Spain through an almost flawless championship to the final.
They passed over the Hungarian in the semifinals (8-6) and the Chinese in the quarterfinals (11-7).
Before, they swept South Africa (29-4) and Australia (15-9) by a landslide, and beat Canada (14-10) with solvency.
The only puncture before the bathroom that the USA has given him had been in the qualifying phase against the Netherlands (13-14).
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
Know more
United States
Spain
London
Hungary
Barcelona
The airlines view the international hub of Sánchez for Barcelona with skepticism
Covid-19Coronavirus live: First sanctions and evictions in the return of the curfew to several communities
Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games Matchday 11 of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, live: Mo Katir, to the final of the 5,000 with authority
See links of interest
Last News
Translator
Tokyo Results
2021 business calendar
Home THE WORLD TODAY
Master investigative journalism
France - United States, live
Egypt - Spain, live