Spain defeated England 1-0 in the Women’s World Cup final on Sunday in Sydney, Australia, and became world champions for the first time in their history.
Olga Carmona’s strike in the 29th minute proved to be the difference. The 23-year-old fullback had a perfect low effort into the bottom corner that Golden Glove winner Mary Earps couldn’t keep out.
Earps kept England in the game with several big saves including stopping a Spain penalty in the 70th minute.
In the end England couldn’t find an equalizer and the Spanish players celebrated their historic triumph after a year of so many emotions and controversy around the national team.
La Roja defied the odds and the inner turmoil within their federation to pull off an unforgettable moment for women’s soccer in Spain.
Last year 15 of Spain’s regular starters announced they would boycott the national team due to head coach Jorge Vilda and his coaching. The players said he fostered a toxic environment that severely impacted their physical and mental health.
Vilda rejected the complaints, and the Spanish federation shockingly backed the coach instead of the players. The RFEF made the complaints of the players public against their wishes and told them to beg for forgiveness if they ever wanted to play for Spain again.
Only three of those 15 players were selected for the World Cup roster. Those three were Ona Batlle, Mariona Caldentey and Golden Ball winner Aitana Bonmatí.
Spain’s victory is not a testament to Vilda’s coaching but the strength and resilience of the players and the depth of Spain’s player pool.
It’s been clear throughout the Women’s World Cup that the players celebrate with each other and rarely with the coaching staff. That was apparent again after the final when Vilda awkwardly danced in the middle of the players, and they all ignored him.
This looks like when that one person no one invited tagged along with the group during a night out and everyone is pretending they’re invisible.
Here were some other instances of the players not celebrating with Vilda or his staff.
During the trophy celebration fans inside Stadium Australia cheered for each Spanish player’s name announced. They then heavily booed Vilda when his name came over the speakers.