Del Río delighted with winning start

It may have been the most emphatic scoreline in the opening round of matches at the 2010 UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship, but midfielder Irene del Río stressed that patience was key to Spain's 6-0 win against the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on Monday.

Ángel Vilda's charges looked unlikely to rack up half a dozen goals at the halfway stage, when María Galán's 38th-minute volley was the only difference between the teams. Cheered on by a competition record 8,000-strong crowd at the National Arena Filip II of Macedonia, the hosts made an energetic start to their tournament debut at this level, only for Del Río to double their deficit shortly after half-time. Spain then added another four goals in the final nine minutes as FYROM tired.

"They started very quickly and we had to wait a long time to get going and get our first goal," said Del Río, one of several players to spurn good openings before the interval. "Things changed in the second half because we started to concentrate on the game and we gradually got stronger and stronger. Everything began to go well for us and we were able to get the other five goals."

There was also an element of venturing into the unknown, against an unfamiliar FYROM side. "We knew it would be difficult at the start," explained Del Río. "This is their first tournament and the first time a lot of us played them, so we didn't know anything about their players. I was impressed with their No10, though – Natasa Andonova."

The 18-year-old is hoping to get to know the host nation a bit better too, her team having arrived a day later than their rivals after missing their flight from Madrid on Saturday. "We haven't been here long," she said. "We went for a short walk by the river on Monday morning but we didn't get a chance to see much. Hopefully we'll be able to see a lot more in the next few days."