The lack of respect shown to Jenni Hermoso reflects dismissive attitudes to female players in Europe and beyondI was totally aghast when Luis Rubiales grabbed Jenni Hermoso’s head and kissed her on the mouth as Spain collected their World Cup winners’ medals in Sydney. Yet if it was truly shocking to see such brazen behaviour unfold on the biggest stage, that moment was also, sadly, all too typical of the way women across the world are often treated in the game’s shadows.Far too many players can tell you stories of organisations, clubs and coaches with seedy undertones. Over the years, playing in different countries, I’ve seen, heard and experienced enough not to be surprised by Rubiales’s audacity in thinking he...
The Spanish FA president’s departure is a matter of time after an extraordinary week which changed the entire nationExactly a week after Spain won their second World Cup, the footballer who scored the goal which secured their first spoke out. On Sunday morning, Andrés Iniesta added his voice to those that had accumulated ever more rapidly over the previous days and hours, starting with the 23 players who had become champions in Sydney and the 12 that had not, ultimately sacrificing the moment of their lives for their principles, the pursuit of improvement. “We can’t tolerate the behaviour which has overshadowed this huge feat,” Iniesta wrote. “I can’t imagine how the players feel seeing that what is being talked about...
Royal Spanish Football Federation officials can stick their heads in the sand but that will not happen without consequenceWhen Héctor Bellerín wrote: “The narcissist never believes they have made a mistake, they are able to lie, manipulate the truth and make the victim guilty in order to retain their power,” he wasn’t writing a “how to retain power” escape manual for Luis Rubiales. Except, you could be forgiven for thinking that’s how it has been taken, on the basis of the tripling down by the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) in support of its deluded president in the form of an 808-word defence of Rubiales.The extraordinary RFEF statement – which dropped late on Friday night and is headlined “Official Statement...
Rise of European superclubs raised the bar to undreamed level with Spain’s devastating show of strength and the US in declineLucy Bronze and Ona Batlle held each other. One in defeat and one in victory, one with a medal she wanted and one with a medal she did not. But in that moment they were not rivals or adversaries, just Lucy and Ona: friends, soulmates, former Manchester residents, and in very short order teammates at Barcelona.And as both sets of players embraced after Sunday’s draining final, there was more than a degree of familiarity between them. Bronze has been joined by Keira Walsh at Barcelona, who provided eight of Spain’s finalists. Hannah Hampton grew up in Spain and spent part...
The Lionesses lose the battle of ideas but good things can come of this defeat: new strategies, fresh blood, realistic expectationsWe still love you; come home. Like all good travel romances, perhaps England’s 2023 World Cup was always destined to end in cold tears and bittersweet fragments of memories, the smell of reality wafting through the curtains. There will be no shame in losing to a superior Spain side, no recriminations or burning effigies for a group of players who left every piece of themselves on the Sydney pitch.But regrets? They’ll have a few. Moments that broke the other way, decisions they wish they could take back, and above all the opportunity to create something beautiful and monumental together, for...