FIH Nations Cup: Ireland defeated by Spain in Valencia opener

Ireland went down to defeat by Spain in their first Pool A game in Valencia

Ireland began their Nations Cup challenge with a 2-0 defeat by hosts and favourites Spain on Sunday.

Spain struck in Valencia after just two minutes from a penalty corner with Clara Ycart slotting home a slick drag flick.

Both sides had chances before Spain made it 2-0 early in the second half.

It came from another penalty corner with Alejandra Torres-Quevedo deflecting on the backhand into the roof of the net.

Ireland applied good pressure throughout the match, forcing Spain to play a lot inside their own half and regularly winning possession.

However, the final pass was missing for the girls in green as they failed to find the Spanish net.

The defeat means Ireland will most likely need to win their remaining two pool games - against Italy on Monday and Korea two days later - to finish in the top two of their group and progress into the semi-final matches.

The team that wins the final of the inaugural FIH Hockey Nations Cup wins a spot in the 2023 FIH Pro League.

"Spain and India are the two highest ranked teams here and both are going to be very hard to beat - I think it helps us for Monday's game that we played well against Spain," said Ireland coach Sean Dancer.

"Italy are a different opponent but with the Italian and Argentinian influence there are similar plays to what Spain did, so we're looking forward to the opportunity to take a step up again and keep doing the things we did well against the Spanish."