Spain celebrate their victory in the semi-final against Sweden. Photo: Xinhua/Shutterstock. the world record holder, noted on Friday that this Women's World Cup final will be poorer due to the absence of many English and Spanish players who are considered among the best football players on the planet.
For England, the absence of Leah Williamson, Beth Meade and Fran Kirby were injured. However, for Spain it is a completely different story.
Patricia Guijarro, Man of the Match in the June Women's Champions League final, and her Barcelona teammates Mapi León, centre-back, and goalkeeper Sandra Panos have usually played for Spain throughout the tournament. However, all of them are missing, and their absence is due to the controversy surrounding head coach Jorge Vilda.
the head of Spain, coach Jorge Vilda, was in the center of the players' uprising. Photo: Frank Fife/AFP
The saga first became public last year when Spanish officials reported that 15 players had sent an email saying they were unhappy with the regime of the national team. and made themselves unselectable.
Spanish players, apparently determined to try to resolve the issue inside the house, never made their exact complaints public, but allegations that surfaced in the Spanish media at the time included reports that Vilda has banned players from locking their hotel doors until after midnight when they leave. international camps.
In a broader sense, complaints about team support structures, buses that are used to travel to matches rather than planes, and culture under Wilde are understood. This issue has come to be seen as the choice of the Royal Spanish Football Federation [RFEF]: to support the players or to support Vilda.
She supported Vilda. The players' uprising continued, but by the time their World Cup squad was named, many of the 15 had been withdrawn. Others, most notably Guijarro, Leon and Panos, were not included. Spain may have made history by reaching their first major final, but a cloud hung over Vilda.
Soon, the elephant in the room was addressed at Spain's pre-match press conference at Australia Stadium on the eve of the World Cup final. The first question addressed to Vilde was about the «riots» and whether the team's audacious run to the final was «a modern version of Spanish anarchism». Vilda replied: “Next question, please.”
Later, when Telegraph Sport was asked about Miedema's tweet in which she said the final was «marred by the absence of some of the best players in the world», Vilda paused. Turning to his press officer for advice, he replied: “We want to be the best in the world tomorrow. and we'll do it by winning the final.”
We're in for a thrilling final between England and Spain, although for me that final is a bit marred by the absence of some of the best players in the world.
— Vivianne Miedema (@VivianneMiedema) August 17, 2023
Luis Rubiales, president of the RFEF, is an ally of Wilda, and earlier this week he described the manager as «a hard-working man, a world-class coach who turned down other federations [to] stay with Spain.» : “We have forgotten people with grievances. He continued to work with his people and ignored those who wanted to destroy him.
) publicly supported Jorge Wilda. Photo: Alex Grimm/Fifa
On the field, the Spaniards, who were based in New Zealand during their World Cup campaign and then traveled to Sydney for the final, performed admirably, apart from a 4-0 loss to Japan in the group stage. They dominated possession and knocked out the 2017 European Championship winners from the Netherlands and a very experienced team from Sweden that won a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics. time are blessed with a «golden generation» of players, many of whom together won the European Women's Under-19 Championship in 2017 and 2018.
With these expectations, there is enormous pressure on Vilda and his staff to achieve the best results from these players, and it has not gone unnoticed that when Spain celebrated victories throughout this tournament, very few of the team hugged Vilda.
The chemistry between the England players and their head coach Sarina Wigman looks completely different. But who will be smiling when the final whistle blows?
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