Sitting in a chair at the foot of the lawn at Sydney’s Leichhardt Oval, where the team have just completed their penultimate training session ahead of the World Cup final, Salma Paralluelo (Zaragoza, 19) flashes a smile that discourages anyone. He has an overwhelming personality. A speech that in no way betrays his young age. Character and joy, shields in the face of the difficulties that life throws at you. She’s a long-legged footballer, an athlete in boots and also the spur of Spain, as she revealed in the last two games against the Netherlands and Sweden. MVP despite starting as a substitute. “It doesn’t matter whether I start in the final or take another trophy with me. Our goal is to lift the trophy and we will achieve that,” he said confidently. It’s Salma.
Questions. Now he’s triumphing in the World Cup, but a year ago, a few days before the Eurocup, he was told he was out due to injury…
Answer. Oops! I cried a lot. We were in Las Rozas and the coaches and the doctor told me it couldn’t be. I burst into tears immediately. I told them: “No, no, that I arrive, that I can play, that I recover quickly…”. It was very difficult to accept. Upstairs when I came home and saw my parents so upset, well, cry again.