World champion and reigning Ballon d’Or, Aitana Bonmati, aged 26, already weighs heavily in the history of women’s football. The Spaniard, in an interview published this Tuesday by The Teamlooked back on the last months experienced by his team, but also on the meeting against the Blues, Wednesday in the final of the League of Nations (7 p.m.).
The midfielder mentioned the Luis Rubiales affair which shook the football world after the Spanish victory in the World Cup. On August 20, 2023, during the medal ceremony, the former president of the Spanish Football Federation forcibly kissed striker Jennifer Hermoso. Under popular pressure, he resigned in September, then Fifa suspended him for three years the following month.
“The World Cup was useless”
“The positive that we can draw from what happened is that everyone in football united to fight against this kind of thing,” Aitana Bonmati told L’Équipe. We came together to prevent this type of problem, which occurs in many professions, from happening again. »
The midfielder, however, regretted the lack of impact of the world title on Spanish women’s football: “Unfortunately, I can’t say that much has changed. There is so much left to do here and I feel like the World Cup was for nothing. » She notably compared the investments made in the United Kingdom after the English title at Euro 2022, much higher than those made in Spain.
Aitana Bonmati wants better promotion of women’s football matches, but also more organizational coherence, particularly in the choice of stadiums. Requests which recall the words of Amandine Henry in our columns a few days ago. The Frenchwoman regretted the low attendance for the Bleues’ match against Germany, Friday in the semi-final of the League of Nations (2-1): “It’s desperate. What more needs to be done? We, the players, give our all. »
Aitana Bonmati also spoke about the clash against Hervé Renard’s players in the final this Wednesday: “It’s 50-50. Physically, it is a very strong team. » She also spoke about the absence of Lyonnaise Wendie Renard: “I can’t single out a single player because it’s a great team and it’s the whole team that constitutes a danger. But it is obvious that Renard’s crime is not trivial. »
