Alba Torrens: “We leave with our heads held high; this will serve as additional motivation.”

After a great Eurobasket, exceeding all expectations, Spain broke down in the last seconds and bled through the tears of Mariona Ortiz, devastated by a mistake that does not overshadow her outstanding performance in this competition, which she reached for the first time at 33 years old. Perhaps they lacked what they had sung earlier in the intimacy of the locker room, when they formed a circle and sang at the top of their lungs The Worker’s Waltz, the punk song by Ska-P, the iconic band from Vallecas. “Yes, sir! Yes, sir! We are the revolution, your enemy is the boss.” And after the rap sung by Raquel Carrera, the soloist dressed in red, the team shouted in unison: “Resistance!”.

Elena Buenavida, a 21-year-old debutante and one of the members of the new generation who has come to take over in Spanish basketball, could barely hold back her tears after the defeat against Belgium while trying to explain what had happened. “Sports has this aspect, but it hurts to have it so close and let it slip away.”

The Valencia player offered self-criticism. “We should have played better in the final minutes and maximized our chances. But they have more experience and are more used to these finishes. We wanted to bring home the gold; we feel it. We will take this as a learning experience,” she stated on TVE.

There was no consolation for the Spanish players, not even for the two who made it into the ideal five: the Majorcan forward Alba Torrens, in her sixth final at 35, and the Galician center Raquel Carrera. The other three were the Italian Cecilia Zandalasini and the Belgians Julie Allemand and Emma Meesseman (MVP after nearly achieving a triple double with 16 points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists), who shared a warm embrace with Torrens, with whom she won four Euroleagues in Ekaterinburg. Mariona Ortiz was named the best defensive player.

Torrens did not back down after the defeat and demanded the recognition that the runners-up deserve. “We played a good game. I am very proud of the whole team and the staff. We showed many good things. It was not easy because we built a new team in a few weeks. I value, even at this moment, the way this team has come together. In time, we will be happy with this tournament.”

The captain gave a lot of credit to the silver medal won in Piraeus. “This is a winning team. All of us, young and veterans, had the ambition and believed we could achieve this. It hurts now because it matters to us. I want to convey the value of this medal, how difficult it is to be here. Especially the way we did it. We leave with our heads held high, knowing that we did things right in many ways. This will be more motivation to come back stronger and keep learning.”

Méndez explained that his plan was to conserve possession in the final seconds until receiving a foul that would seal the score. The coach valued what was achieved after a preparation with many challenges and nine new players: “It is not easy to build the team in a month and share the ball or defend as we have done. This is a tough moment, but this is basketball. Tomorrow the sun will shine again.”