Aitana Bonmatí scores her first goal against Switzerland, the second for the national team. Alejandro Ruesga
The women’s team has dynamism, hooks and, above all, football, as shown in the first game in Spain after winning the World Cup and in the second in the Nations League against Switzerland with a victory that made it clear that there is no team that combines the ball better. He didn’t finish it either, because with constant attacks and goals, with attacking football, he angered a rival who barely saw them coming. Alexia mastered the controls in the axis, Aitana shone as always at the last point of the collective game and five goals were scored like five suns, many of them beautifully designed like that of Maite Oroz to give the finishing touch to the challenge, a kick from outside from the penalty area after a corner that unsettled the team. Honor be to the national team, which attracts attention with its fight for equality and impresses with its football.
With feminism and the right as the flag they defend, their struggle is already so fierce that, after Rubiales’ shameful kiss on Jenni Hermoso, they achieve the long-awaited structural changes in the federation – resignation of the president, dismissal of coach Jorge, among others Vilda and Secretary General Andreu Camps – in addition to supporting the society. This was reflected in Córdoba, where there were still gaps to be filled in the stadium, but the capacity record was achieved at a national team match with 14,194 spectators, while the previous record was 11,209 at the Sadar, a bet from the previous year the one that placed them on the United States measured. That this seduces Spain is proven by a look at last year’s meeting on the same stage, in the Nuevo Arcángel, when they fought against Sweden and the morgues had 5,658 spectators.
It was a month of endless meetings between the players, in which everyone came together to justify the treatment that had been systematically meted out to them for years, as denounced by current captain and two-time Gold Ball winner Alexia Putellas. They positioned themselves for #SeAcabó – they displayed the banner with the motto next to the Swiss before the game, as they did in the last game against the Swedes – for no game until there are changes. To do this, they had to endure a phone call that they expressly refused to make, but which they had to accept because they were threatened with severe federal sanctions, including the revocation of their license. But the passage of days and the dialogue – sometimes until five in the morning – led, alongside the commitment of the association and the Higher Sports Council (CSD), to an agreement, to a peace that awaited further changes, a clean one that the players capitalized to be able to carry out their work as professionals. Palace entanglements and speeches from the football players who have made a name for themselves. Because they have a lot of sense and football.
Red and yellow dominated the New Archangel, face paint, thundering trumpets in the South African vuvuzela style, T-shirts and flags everywhere, as well as the recurring cry of “I am Spaniard, Spaniard!” or “World Champion!” with the melody that the Italians patented the 2006 World Cup. Although it initially looked like it would be a full house because there were rumors that there were no more tickets available, it fell short of expectations, a record at least. The players thanked him in their own way and once again declared that they were the best.
It quickly became clear that the ball came from Spain, hauja for virgins like Aleixandri, who marked a roulette to get the ball from behind, like Alexia and an autopase, or several carat whistles, like Aitana and her ubiquity in football between the Lines… However, it still remained to find the sticking point for the final pass, the ingenuity to smash the ragtag Swiss defenses that were massing troops near the area and had no other argument than to launch the counterattack. With a lot of physique, but without initiative and without the embarrassment of refusing a role that Spain was happy to take on. To do this, it was enough for him to hold and distribute the ball, but also to assert himself against rivals who took risks from the roots. After a bad pass from the goalkeeper, Mariona stole a ball in the penalty area and passed the ball to Lucía García, who shot it into the net and opened the scoring. Lucía had already warned with two shots from the center, Alexia with a high one and another that hit Eva Navarro’s post. Mariona tried it too… Lots of shots and little spoils, but no suffering because Switzerland barely crossed the other side of the net and because Aitana made a cross from Olga to end the act with the satisfaction of someone who did knows better.
There was no end to the attack, attacking football was the name of the game, so Aitana repeated the goal as she opened the curtain for the second chapter, a celebration joined by Gabarro after a rejection. And the icing on the cake from Maite Oroz to the beat of the successful cheering of “Champions of the world!” New victory for Spain in the Nations League, unbroken goal of reaching the Games and a team that fights, seduces and wins.
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