On Monday’s main lunchtime news bulletin on RTVE, Spain’s state broadcaster, there was a reminder of how far Spanish women’s football has come in a short space of time.
It was an image of Vicky Losada scoring Spain’s first goal at a Women’s World Cup. That was just eight years ago in Canada, in a tournament to which only four Spanish journalists travelled.
Eight years on, Spain are world champions and Monday’s Marca gave over its first 19 pages to the triumph of Jorge Vilda’s team over England. A newspaper which routinely makes Real Madrid the main story, did not mention Jude Bellingham’s “player of the week” feats in La Liga until page 20. “Que si, somos campeones!” – Yes, we’re champions! – shouted the front page.
Spain’s success on Sunday made them only the second nation after Germany to have won both the men’s and women’s World Cups and a group of players who were far from household names a few weeks ago had 5.6 million Spaniards tuning into the final – along with another 20,000 waiting to celebrate with them back at Madrid’s Puente del Rey on their arrival home.
And if abroad, the post-final focus was on the kiss that Luis Rubiales, president of the Spanish FA, planted on the mouth of forward Jenni Hermoso during the medal presentation – of which more later – it was not the only story as Spain’s women basked in their moment of glory.
There was the poignancy of match-winner Olga Carmona learning about the death of her father after the final, and reflections on the huge strides taken by the women’s game in Spain, where a professional top flight arrived in 2021, three years after the WSL in England went fully professional.
And yet just as Spain had entered the tournament shadowed by the controversy of the players’ rebellion against Vilda that meant 12 players made themselves unavailable for his World Cup plans, so they flew home with another – that of Rubiales and his “beso”.
Spain’s acting minister of culture and sport, Miguel Iceta, who was at the final, said: “It’s unacceptable to kiss a player on the lips to congratulate her.” Spain’s equalities minister, Irene Montero, said: “It’s a form of sexual violence.” The Association for Women in Professional Sport called for his resignation.
Hermoso herself had said “I didn’t like it” – albeit in a seemingly jocular tone in the dressing room after the final. She later said: “It was the emotion of the moment. There’s nothing more in it.”
However, Rubiales, who had initially dismissed the incident as “a kiss between two friends celebrating something”, issued an apology on Monday.
“I have to apologise and learn from this,” said Rubiales, who has caused further controversy with the image of him grabbing his groin when celebrating the final whistle.
Controversies aside, it was under Rubiales that the Spanish FA set the goal of overtaking basketball as the most popular female sport for girls up to the age of 16. Sunday’s glory will surely help.
Spain are reigning world champions at U20 level and have won the last two U17 titles. In teenager Salma Paralluelo, scorer of two goals in the knockout stage, they have the Best Young Player of the Women’s World Cup. The much-maligned Vilda spotted her potential early, calling her into his squad for last year’s Women’s Euro, albeit injury eventually ruled her out.
What comes next for Vilda has not been confirmed but after previously overseeing three major tournaments without winning a knockout match – and earning accusations of not preparing his team properly for the Euro quarter-final loss to England – he is now firmly in credit and expected to remain in place until the Olympics. The federation has earned praise too for providing more support staff for this campaign and spending €15,000 (£12,800) on bringing players’ families over.
Vilda praised Spain’s “footballing DNA” after the final, saying that working with “the same philosophy for nearly 15 years means our players can play on memory almost”. Domestically, the Liga F may lack the depth and resources of the WSL – three teams last season played their games on artificial pitches, while the minimum salary is reportedly €16,000 – they do have the best club team in Europe in Barcelona.
from Football - inews.co.uk https://ift.tt/6kN1lhQ
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