Heartbreak for Spain who have to settle for EuroBasket silver

Spain's basketball team return home with silver medals despite putting up a good fight against tournament favourites Belgium in the final of the EuroBasket Women in Ljubljana on Sunday evening.

The dream was very much alive for Miguel Méndez's side until the very end, when a catastrophic final quarter saw Belgium, led by Emma Meesseman and Kyara Linskens (with 40 points between them), go for broke and finally break down Spain's stubborn defensive resistance.

Belgium had had an exemplary tournament, sweeping through to the final with barely a blip. However, no team had been able to defend them until they came up against Spain who, despite their physical inferiority, were able to keep their opponents largely at bay for three-quarters of the showpiece game.

Spain won the first two quarters, 17-13 and 15-12, respectively. But then the tide started to turn in the third (16-18) and the fourth was a complete disaster (10-21), gifting the title to the Belgians.

Despite this disappointment, Spain can be very proud of their showing in Slovenia, where, after losing to Latvia in the opening game, they really hit the accelerator, sweeping aside Montenegro and Greece, before booking their place in Pre-Olympic qualifying with a win over Germany in the quarter-finals.

They then over overcame the muscle of Hungary in the semi-finals to set up a clash with Rachid Meziane's team.