The Swiss and the Euro Beach Soccer Cup hosts were among Friday’s winners.
There were wins for hosts Portugal and Switzerland on the opening day of the inaugural women’s Euro Beach Soccer Cup in Cascais on Friday, the former claiming maximum points in thrilling fashion.
Coached by Portuguese great Mario Narciso, the women’s Selecao endured a difficult start to their maiden competitive outing against the Netherlands as Ten Brinke, Van den Berg and De Pater ensured a 3-1 lead for the Dutch going into the final 12 minutes.
But an own-goal, a missed Netherlands penalty and Ana Patricia Silva’s brace gave the home fans something to celebrate as Portugal moved top of the table ahead of Saturday’s meeting with Spain.
Ten Brinke took just 10 seconds to find the bottom corner and, after Van den Berg’s overhead kick struck the crossbar, her low drive deflected over the goalkeeper and in.
But, with the home crowd behind them, Portugal rallied, hitting the Dutch post before reducing the arrears through Regina Pereira’s free-kick, only for De Pater to put the Netherlands back in the driving seat.
The remainder of the opening period proved keenly contested and that theme continued after the restart despite chances flowing freely at both ends.
It took an unfortunate own-goal from De Hoek to put Portugal back in with a chance before Ana Patricia Silva headed in from close range to restore parity and set up a thrilling finale.
De Bondt missed a penalty for the Dutch and, as momentum swung, it was Ana Patricia Silva who settled the contest when she outmuscled her marker and fired low past Martijn with just over a minute remaining, settling an entertaining contest.
Earlier on Carcavelos Beach, Switzerland claimed the first points of the tournament, moving top of Group B with a 7-3 success against Greece.
A Genovesi double, with further goals from Krysl, Franzi, Stutz and Imhasly, had Switzerland six to the good before Greece responded with three of their own late in the contest.
But the Swiss, who boasted a clutch of players from European champions Grasshopper Club Zurich, were worth the points as they began their title bid in confident fashion.
Skipper Krysl had hit the crossbar straight from kick-off and it didn’t take much longer for her to register the opener, capitalising on an error from Melaki to finish calmly.
Pluss struck the woodwork as the Swiss started strongly and, while Greece rallied, Genovesi found the target from range before a clever finish from Franzi completed the period’s scoring.
Goalkeeper Stutz made it four after the restart as Greece failed to make the most of their chances – Genovesi, Imhasly showing their clinical side before the final period.
Mylona got Greece on the board with a penalty but Meyer quickly responded and, while Kossova and Tsimpoukaki added two more for Greece, Switzerland saw the win out comfortably ahead of both sides’ clashes with England on Saturday.
Friday’s results
Greece 3-7 Switzerland
Holland 3-4 Portugal
Saturday’s fixtures
Switzerland v England
Portugal v Spain
Spain v Holland
England v Greece
