Spain’s women came within one possession of defending their IFAF European Championship crown in Limerick past summer.
Tied at 19-19 against Great Britain in a repeat matchup of the 2019 final that saw them claim a first continental gold medal, Spain desperately needed the ball back in the hands of quarterback Monica Rafecas Barcelo to take a last ditch shot at victory. But the Brits, beaten 28-14 four years earlier, managed the clock and wrestled away the continental title with a narrow 26-19 win.
Returning home with the silver medal did not appear to be on the cards when Spain opened the group stages with a 19-35 loss to Austria. They looked more like the defending European champions by responding with convincing wins over Switzerland (40-12), Finland (47-7) and Ireland (46-6). In a repeat of the 2021 IFAF World Championship game that had been for ninth place, Spain beat Germany 33-24 to close out the group action.
Italy was beaten by four points in a tricky quarterfinal before one of the games of the tournament saw Spain book their place in the championship game. Germany was poised to avenge their only loss of the competition, but Spain had other ideas and raced to a 27-point lead, which was gradually chipped away, but proved unassailable.
In the final there was little to choose between the two teams as GB scored first but Olga Sotillo replied with a touchdown. Both defenses held firm before the Brits edged ahead again. Sotillo’s second touchdown grab leveled things again and the finely poised contest stood at 13-13 at halftime.
Having fallen behind in the second half, Emma Garcia Trueba scored to level the score at 19-19, but Great Britain managed the clock inside the final two minutes and Spain had to be content with the silver medal.
Going into this summer’s IFAF Flag Football World Championships in Lahti, Finland, Spain is ranked sixth in the world and will aim to be among the contenders and to qualify for the first time for The World Games, to be played in Chengdu, China, in 2025. Spain boasts an explosive offensive playmaker in Olga Sotillo who also starred for the women’s national tackle team as they were crowned 2023/24 IFAF European Champions.
Spain’s men hold 17th place in the IFAF Flag Football World Rankings and headed to Ireland last summer having finished tenth on the world stage in Israel.
Back then in 2021, Spain had beaten India and Chile in the group stages while losing to eventual champion the United States and fifth place finisher France. Japan had also posted a 2-2 record, so were the opponents in the 9th-11th placement bracket. Spain won by a point, 26-25, but were unable to tame free-scoring Israel in the ninth-place game and lost 59-19.
In Limerick, a disappointing opening loss to the Netherlands (28-33) was followed up by Spain recording the first day’s biggest men’s points score in a single game as they beat Slovakia by 66-13.
A 33-48 loss to France on day two set up a must win clash with Great Britain, with the winner advancing to the quarterfinals, but Spain fell to a narrow two-point defeat. Finland was dispatched 56-25 in the placement game to end the tournament on high note.
Photo: Ian Humes
