The first diagnosis confirmed by the Spanish team was “a sprain – a grade I sprain – in his left knee”, but the injury is, in the end, much more serious. “Tests carried out at King Edward VII’s Hospital in London have confirmed that the captain of the Spanish women’s national team has a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee,” said the statement shared by the Spanish national team this evening. Putellas will not be able to take part in the European Championship, which starts this Wednesday in England. Spain’s debut will be on Friday, against Finland.
Things are getting complicated for the team of Jorge Vilda, who started as one of the favorites in the competition but now sees how he has been left without the winner of the last Golden Ball and one of the leaders of the state team in his 28 years. A loss that adds to that of Villarreal striker and Barça target Salma Paralluelo, who had to leave the training camp last week. Jenni Hermoso (historical top scorer of the Spanish team, with 45 goals) also fell just before the first call for the competition.
Without Alexia, Spain will be left without one of its pillars, while Barça will also lose their leading player for almost the entire first half of the season. To replace her in the European Championship, Vilda’s choice will be Amaiur Sarriegi, a 21-year-old striker for Real Sociedad. The absence of Sarriegi in the initial list for the European competition was already surprising, because the young Basque striker, in addition to finishing the First Iberdrola in second place with the whole of San Sebastian, was the second player of Spanish nationality who scored the most goals in the competition. In fact, the Spanish coach – recently renewed until 2024 – had not called up any player from the team led by Natalia Arroyo despite the good season of the Basque team. However, Sarriegi is a different profile from Putellas, who will hardly have a substitute for guarantees with both Spain and Barça.
