Women’s Nations League | From the World Cup to the Olympic Games: the feat of the Spanish team has only just begun

From surprise to favorite. That has been the (r)evolution of the Spanish team. The same one that was planted in Australia and New Zealand, going completely unnoticed. After difficult months off the field, what happened on the green was up in the air. However, the national team’s players gave the surprise and returned to Spain as the brand new champions. What happened next could have made this team stumble, but their mental strength and desire to vindicate themselves has led them, just 187 days later, to achieve another historic milestone. For the first time Spain will be in the Olympic Games. And it’s not a coincidence.

Behind this historical fact there is a locker room conspiracyjust as it happened in the world. The leaders of this team, Alexia Putellas e Irene Paredeswere the ones who stood up and acted as spokespersons when all the noise around robbed them of the prominence they had earned. Montse Tomé I knew that I was going to need the leadership of the Barça captain, whom I had missed in the last call-ups due to the injury. In this decisive call he counted on her, despite still being immersed in a recovery process for her left knee, and that raised a storm that strained the relationship between the footballer and Barça in the midst of the renewal process.

The formula worked well. Alexia, without medical discharge, did not enter the squad list, but was in the previous moments with the rest of the team. The captain has always been a innate leader and he has commanded this team both on and off the field. With it, everyone feels protected, especially Jenni Hermoso. After what happened at the World Cup medal ceremony, the ’10’ felt a enormous pressure on her. She returned to Mexico when the judicial process against Rubiales was opened. She needed to disconnect. But what he’s really always wanted Jenni Hermoso It has been to mark an era, and that is what it did this Friday, marking the first to open the way for the Spanish women to Paris. It had to be her.

Same base but with tweaks

The team that rose as World Champion It is practically the same as the one who sealed, this Friday, his ticket to Paris for the games. In the victory against the Netherlands (3-0), Spain proved intractable, without a shadow of a doubt. Although it has been main block maintained, Tomé has introduced small variations in the list for the final phase of the Nations League. Return Alba Redondowho had not been called since the World Cup, as well as Sheila and Maite Oroz. They were left out Enith Salon, Inma Gabarro and Ivana Andréswho despite that went to La Cartuja to support her colleagues.

However, during these months in which Spain already had the star sewn on its chest, the biggest changes did not occur on the pitch, but in the offices. The controversial and non-consensual kiss of Luis Rubiales a Jenni Hermoso shook the Federation and not only the president’s chair collapsed. One of the first to have to hand over the tracksuit was Jorge Vilda, maximum support of Rubiales and who had been his great confidant during the World Cup and after the events that occurred at the medal ceremony. Making the minimum possible noise, He was the first to leave Las Rozas (weeks later he would sign for the Moroccan Federation), but, after him, a long list of executives and directors were identified and sentenced.

The role of Markel Zubizarreta

With Vilda’s only goodbye, two chairs were left free. That of coach, which was filled with some haste by Montse Tomé, who has made his debut in national competition in this Nations League and getting the ticket the Paris Olympic Games and the pass to the tournament final. And that of sports director, which was for the architect of the best Barça of all time: Markel Zubizarreta.

His arrival at the RFEF, led by his second Gonzalo Rodriguez (also a former Barça player), has been key in the process of understanding between players and the federation entity and in unblocking the countless extreme situations that have occurred in recent months. Her discreet disposition and her perfect knowledge of the ecosystem and women’s football have allowed the players, both those who are here and those who are not, to feel heard.

2024-02-23 21:59:54
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