“Even better than at the World Cup”
Spain’s world champions win more than just a game
September 23, 2023, 4:44 p.m
In the first game after winning the World Cup, Spain’s footballers achieved success. The victory is not only valuable from a sporting perspective. After the game, the players talk about what happened and also about what they actually want.
Spain’s footballers felt “liberated” after the 3-2 win against world number one Sweden in the first game after the World Cup title and the Rubiales scandal. Captain Irene Paredes, among others, said this in Gothenburg on Friday evening. “Even though we weren’t all in the best shape, it’s what we like to do. When we go out on the pitch, it frees us,” said Paredes after La Roja’s Nations League game.
The game was influenced by the impressions of the past few weeks. The then head of the association, Luis Rubiales, kissed player Jennifer Hermoso on the mouth at the award ceremony after Spain won the World Cup final in Sydney on August 20th. He asserts that it was done by mutual consent. But Hermoso said she felt “like the victim of an impulsive, sexist and inappropriate act to which I did not consent.”
Athenea del Castillo emphasized after the game: “We’re all happy now. We’re finally able to play again. That’s what we all wanted,” said the striker, who scored the 1-1 goal in Gothenburg. Mariona Caldentey, who scored the goal from the penalty spot to make it 3-2, said: “Mentally it was a very difficult game (…) Some people probably wanted us to do poorly. I’m sorry for them.” , she said ironically. In Sweden they “played even better as a team than at the World Cup”.
Hermoso strongly disagrees
The renowned newspaper “El País” also saw a “liberation” of the world champions. “They are smiling again,” the trade journal “Mundo Deportivo” also noted. “The players want to finally put aside the debates that have nothing to do with sport and that from now on people only talk about football,” summed up the paper after discussions with several professionals.
The players had demanded personnel and structural changes at the RFEF association. They called for an international boycott to emphasize their demands. However, in the training camp before the Sweden game, a number of agreements were reached with the mediation of the government and unions.
Hermoso had also filed a complaint against Rubiales, thereby enabling the public prosecutor’s office to file a criminal complaint with the State Court. Hermoso was not nominated for the game in Sweden by the new national coach Montse Tomé in order to “protect” the 33-year-old, according to the coach. However, Hermoso did not agree with this justification: “Protect me? From what?”.