The biggest European event of 2018 happened in Austria, in Graz, in the central square, a great amphitheater of the biggest sport spectacle practiced in the sand.
Portugal represented by Nelson Pereira (distinguished as the best player in the European Championship) and Miguel Pinheiro, four-time national champions and champions of Europe in 2017, were at a great level, a brand image that this team has been affirming throughout the European continent, only hesitating in the final against the no less valuable French team, from Corsica, made up of Antoine Ottaviani and Lucien Alessandri.
The national representation also had the participation of the teams Filipe Santos / Beto Correia, national runners-up, who reached an honorable 4th place, still the pair Alan Cavalcanti / Ruben Santos that although eliminated in Qualifying was in good level. The National Footvolley Federation was represented institutionally by its Vice President Hernâni Baptista and the national arbitration was represented by Igor Oliveira.
Graz, one of the most traditional European venues in terms of practice, hosted between 7 and 9 June the main national footvolley teams in representation of countries like Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Spain, France, Greece, Holland, Italy, Norway, Portugal, United Kingdom and Switzerland, the main figures in the European scene.
The final and decisive day of the race, June 9th, was the reissue of the 2017 final in Portugal, proving that these are the two countries currently in the highest level of European footvolley, Portugal started better, defending well and attacking better closed the 1st set with the marker to be 18x13. Knowing beforehand that a new setback in the second set would mean defeat, the French team rectified some aspects of their game and with an exciting and very disputed final point closed the 2nd set in the front by the minimum difference with the marker to stop in the 20x18. In the decisive set the French team came in very determined conquering from an early moment an important advantage and that would be decisive to close with the marker to mark clear 15x6, becoming the European champions of 2018.
