AS AWARDS: From Sydney to glory

On August 20, 2023, another page in the history of Spanish football was written. Spain was proclaimed world champion. This time, those lines were written in the handwriting of the Spanish players. For the 23 champions. The National Team won the Women’s World Cup. In their third participation in such a tournament (the first was in Canada 2015 and the second in France 2019), they managed to lift the cup. A resounding success for those girls who dreamed of being soccer players and who managed to put Spain at the top. They woke up an entire country and took it to the streets.

The surprise was capital. Although they left for the Antipodes with a Ballon d’Or like Alexia Putellas, the Spanish team did not enter the favorite pools. She was neither a candidate nor a power. The data spoke: they had never managed to pass a qualifying round. In France 2019, the United States lost them in the round of 16. In the Euro, a year before, England was in the quarterfinals. Luck was never on his side. But these players had something more valuable: desire and talent. This was demonstrated in a pristine qualifying phase. Since the ball started rolling in the World Cup, no major power could stop them.

With the defensive solvency of Irene Paredes, the sides covered in a sensational way by Ona and Olga, and the players in the center of the field: Aitana, Tere, Alexia, even Jenni… The veteran forward knew it was her moment, her last chance at a World Cup, and she left. She has quality in abundance, the Pachuca scorer. Up front Spain proved to be more vertical than ever with Mariona, Salma, Esther, Alba and Athenea doing what they wanted. But the best was not one by one, it was 23. All. Each one adding when they were given their opportunity. As a team. “We have 23 Ballon d’Ors”, the then coach Jorge Vilda did not stop repeating during the World Cup, praising his internationals. He believed in them.

So, They managed to overcome after the setback against Japan, although luckily Spain had already closed the group stage. “They hit us hard, but I really liked the team’s mentality. We were very upset, but at lunch and dinner there was positive talk. We told ourselves that that wasn’t enough, that we had to give it one more extra. So it was. We believed in ourselves, that we could win the World Cup,” Ivana acknowledged.

We must look at the past to give the importance and recognition that this milestone deserves. A decade ago it was seen as almost bad in Spain for a girl to want to play soccer. They had no means, no equipment or structures. Even when they began to appear as a National Team, the soccer players were not professionals. Most of them also worked or studied, and soccer was a passion. “Spain has always been a football country, but we were made to feel that it was not our place. Many of us have grown up thinking that it was not our place, Little by little they have given us the conditions. A change is happening, people support us, that is history,” Paredes declared excitedly before playing her first final with the National Team.

Growth

In a country like Spain, where the king of sports is soccer, that sounded strange. As soon as the bet came, the results came. La Roja did not stop appearing in the UEFA and FIFA tournaments since 2013 and the lower teams began to win everything: Europeans, World Cups… They were the great power. Something suggested that the new generations would come strong. That’s how it went. Some of those girls have already traveled to New Zealand as role models.

After a turbulent year, all crises between staff and internationals were put aside. The goal was common: to make history. They knew it was possible. This time the message was one. “We want to achieve something big, we come here to win the World Cup,” repeated the 23 Spanish women. in every press conference, in every interview. The motto caught on, the team’s legs never shook since the round of 16. He managed to beat Switzerland (1-5) at the pace of Aitana at Auckland’s Eden Park in that match.

Against the Netherlands they suffered more, and it had to be in extra time after a pass from Jenni to Salma when the young woman from Zaragoza put Spain in the semifinals. Then Sweden arrived, again with suffering and intrigue until Olga Carmona decided everything in favor of La Roja at the last minute. Historically, Spain was in the World Cup final. It was the success of these 23 and of all the girls in a country. The effort was being rewarded.

The Spanish team took the plane to Australia after a month of adventures in New Zealand. The best awaited them. England, the current continental champion, was waiting for them. Those who had been knocked out of the Euro a year ago. There was talk of revenge, but for La Roja it was more than that. There was a lot of sacrifice behind it, dreams to fulfill. With that passion they left inexperience and nerves behind to beat the English in the 29th minute. Before more than 80,000 spectators at the Sydney Olympic Stadium, a left-footed shot with the heart of Olga Carmona made Spain achieve the glory it had never imagined, winning a World Cup.

In the streets of Mollet, Sant Pere, Sevilla Este, Solares, Legazpi, Carabanchel, Pontevedra and Mallorca, the best female soccer players on the planet were forged. Those who broke history forever and hung the star on their chest. The new references. The world champions. You just had to let them play…