2023-08-19 13:28:21
BarcelonaSome have dreamed of it and will watch it on television. Others have preferred not to be there out of dignity. And another group will be able to go out to play the World Cup final in Sydney (12 p.m. / La 1), the match that every footballer dreams of playing. For this generation of athletes, however, being in the final of a World Cup is particularly meaningful. When a large part of this batch of players started scoring goals, it seemed impossible to see Spain in a final phase. The national team, in fact, did not debut in a World Cup until very recently, in 2015, and fell in the group stage. In 2019 she reached the round of 16 and is now one step away from becoming world champion. A single match, a final from which a new champion will emerge, as the English women have never won the cup either.
Spain and England meet again just over a year after the quarter-finals of Euro 2022, when the English imposed their law by starting the path that would lead them to lift a title for the first time. Spain lacks an absolute title, although in the lower categories the young women are stepping strong and have won absolutely everything. The players who will come out to play in Sydney are just the tip of the iceberg of a revolution that is coming strong, dominating Europeans in lower categories and winning World Cups. The icing is missing. Now, the English women have also been working well for years. The final rewards the two European federations that have grown the most in the last decade, passing German and Scandinavian, the queens not so long ago. Two selections that have done many things well, although they have been planted in the final with a big difference: the bench. England are led by a woman, Sarina Wiegman, who has done so well that the FA has admitted that she is considering becoming the first woman to manage the men’s national team in the near future. Spain is ruled by the controversial Jorge Vilda, who has faced the rebellion of many players, dissatisfied with his methods and with a Federation that has not always wanted to listen to its players.
In fact, the fire that has burned within state women’s football began in part after that quarter-final of the Euro Cup against England, when the majority of players called for the head of Vilda, whom they accused of not be up to the circumstances. The Federation sided with the coach, and he did not hesitate to remove the most critical players. Some have returned, such as Aitana Bonmatí or Alexia Putellas. Others, such as Mapi León or Patri Guijarro, do not. Each one has decided to go her own way with her head held high, according to her values and her dreams. They are all part of the same revolution, where they compete and fight equally to change things in a Spanish national team that played its first game in 1970. It was in Murcia against Portugal (3-3). They were amateur players and it is said that the president of the Murcian Federation spent a lot of time at the gate of the field shouting “They don’t play here”, as he considered it unworthy to see women playing. A past that sometimes still seems too alive, even though this generation of players closes certain mouths when hitting the ball.
Salma, destined to revolutionize the second part
The national team arrive at the most important match in their history in very good form, with all 23 players available and after a consistent campaign in which they add up to five wins and a loss in the group stage against Japan. The alarms went off in that game but it served to make the team react. For this final, Jorge Vilda’s challenge is to assemble the pieces of the starting team puzzle, with some doubts. Alexia Putellas, despite not being 100%, should play from the start, and reserve the young Salma Paralluelo, who has not trained for two days due to discomfort, the role of shocker in the second half, a strategy that has worked very well in the quarter-finals and semi-finals. Vilda will have to decide between Oihana Hernández, who is returning from a suspension, and Olga Carmona for a defense position alongside Irene Paredes. One of the keys to the match will be in midfield, with Aitana Bonmatí, one of the most outstanding players of this World Cup. There he will see faces with his teammate at Barça Keira Walsh.
Sarina Wiegman will have midfielder Lauren James at her disposal, who can return after being sent off and banned for two matches for violent play against Nigeria, when she stepped on an opponent. No surprises are expected for the Lionesses, where players such as Keira Walsh, Lucy Bronze, Rachel Daly and Alessia Russo shine, women who silenced Australia in the semi-finals by winning 1-3 against the hosts.
Some beginnings surrounded by children
The match may finish crowning a generation that has allowed us to see how in a decade Spanish women’s football changed completely. A revolution that has coincided with Barça’s big bet, with a European champion team in the Champions League and clear dominator of the League. In fact, many of the players under Vilda play for Barça. They played it. And the rebellious players who did not want to be in the World Cup are also Blaugrana players. The generation of Alexia Putellas, the young woman who went by bus to see Barça and was the only girl who played the matches in front of Mollet Town Hall. The little girl who got used to playing against children until she was signed by Sabadell, thus starting a path that would lead her to become a two-time Ballon d’Or winner. The generation of Aitana Bonmatí, who also played against children in Cubelles, since few girls dared to make the jump. Aitana grew up admiring male players and now she sees how it is Pep Guardiola who admires her. Meaningful.
In fact, much of the team grew up competing against children, such as Majorcan goalkeeper Cata Coll, who was first a central defender at Sant Marçal before putting on the gloves. Also in Mallorca, Mariona Caldentey could not play in an all-female team until she was 14 years old. Before, both in soccer and indoor soccer, she did it surrounded by boys, as happened to Maria Pérez in Sant Fost de Campsentelles, who dreamed of being like Andrés Iniesta. Now, in Sant Fost the girls want to be like her or like Ona Batlle, who at the age of 24 has already played in England and Barça, a path she started at Maresme, feeling many times that there were few girls around her. Young people like Laia Codina, who has revolutionized the small town of Campllong, where she was able to score goals and help her father take care of cows.
Now these girls have made it possible for girls to play in all-female teams, as the numbers of young people who want to be footballers grow every year. A revolution that began on sand fields and cement tracks, and that may live its glory day far away, in Sydney.
Who will win the World Cup, Spain or England?
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