The Portuguese female footballers started the European Championship in Switzerland on Thursday with a heavy defeat. The Portuguese lost 5-0 to world champions Spain on an emotional day.
It was an emotional day for Portugal due to the death of Diogo Jota. The Liverpool forward and Portuguese international died in a traffic accident in Spain on Thursday morning at the age of 28.
Before the match in Bern, the players and fans honored Jota with a moment of silence and applause. However, Spain showed no mercy to the Portuguese. After ten minutes, it was already 2-0 with goals from Esther González and Vicky Lopez.
It didn’t stop there, as Alèxia Putellas and González extended the lead to 4-0 before half-time. That seemed to be the final score, but deep into injury time, substitute Cristina Martín-Prieto made it 5-0.
Ten minutes before the end, star player Aitana Bonmatí made her appearance for Spain as a substitute. Last week, the two-time World Footballer of the Year was still in the hospital due to meningitis, but she recovered quickly and joined the Spanish team earlier this week.
For Spain, the 5-0 victory is a dream start to the European Championship. The reigning world champion is a huge favorite for the European title, which the country has never won. Portugal has never made it through the group stage of a European Championship. Belgium-Italy, the other match in Group B, ended earlier in the day in a narrow 0-1 victory for Italy.