Inma LidónSpecial envoy Seville
Special envoy Seville
Updated Wednesday, February 28, 2024-21:38
192 days ago a
big bang
occurred from which a
World Champion
Spain was born but also a steel team made up of women willing to claim their feat, to live it and resist.
For them, for all, for all.
They had waited their entire lives to have a brilliant place in football and they put on their armor to fight for much more.
She had to prove that they deserved everything, convince that it is as fair as it is necessary and, above all, win.
Demonstrate once again that they are the best footballers to add to their legend by winning the first
Nations League
, debuting their continental record, and dreaming of another feat in Paris.
[
Narration and statistics: 2-0
]
It wasn't easy, nor difficult.
Nobody in La Cartuja saw for a moment that the trophy could escape.
Like
Sweden
or
the Netherlands
, the intractable
France
was a puppet in the hands of the Spanish whose plan turned out almost perfectly.
Slow burning, it was difficult for
Montse Tomé
's team to find a spark in the area, but they settled in to live nearby with all the comforts.
They didn't leave a second for doubt.
He started the game with
Athenea
challenging
Karchaoui
and with
Mariona
, with her half-falls the genius and mischief of this team, hunting down a bad serve from goalkeeper Peyraud-Magnin.
He looked for
Aitana
to take out the compass and give
Salma Paralluelo
the first opportunity of the game.
If against the Netherlands the Ballon d'Or shined little, with the French team in front it grew bigger.
He appeared to disturb the front and cause a headache for Hervé Renard's bench.
Spain had the match under control, testing which was the crack in the French that was going to lead to the goal but also tying them up.
France had to focus on blocking the Spanish game, forgetting to rush
Le Sommer
and
Katoto
.
Tomé insisted that putting pressure on the rival was an essential and non-negotiable job and his players complied to the letter, with
Laia Aleixandre
reigning in the central circle and
Codina
and
Paredes
becoming a wall.
Under that control Jenni Hermoso
appeared
, it is true that less than expected.
Her job was to feed Salma, but the Aragonese was well watched by De Almeida and Henry and it was difficult to overcome them.
It took Spain 20 minutes to take advantage of another of her virtues, personalized in
Olga Carmona
.
The World Cup goalscorer, who saw how her grandmother carried the final ball to the grass, appeared to refine her crosses and use the set-piece strategy.
The first goal could have come from that booklet, with a corner from Salma that
Irene Paredes headed just past the post
.
The score was not tilted in favor of the World champions because the magic had not yet appeared.
They showed the danger along the edges, but they darkened when stepping into the area.
Jenni Hermoso couldn't get close enough and Aitana, always pursued, couldn't get close enough either.
So much so that they tried to drive the French Mariona and Athenea crazy by changing bands.
But
the one who found the way, again, was Olga Carmona
.
She rode to the baseline and, without even having to raise her head, she delivered a
telegraphed cross that Aitana, appearing from the second line, only had to push
into the back of the goal.
Spain had no rival and the French, desperate, gathered together looking for how to react.
The blow could have been greater if, on the edge of half-time, the header that Laia Alexandri connected had not escaped by an inch into the side of the net.
Lock on the goal
It was almost impossible for France to continue being knocked out in the second half.
Hervé Renard adjusted his players
to him and the danger began to appear, although very timidly.
La Cartuja saw
Diani
and they stepped into the area without getting anything that would worry Cata Coll.
Spain, which conceded goals during qualifying, which was surprised by Italy, conspired and locked it in this final phase.
And from there, it always grows.
He did it when, this time from the left lane,
Ona Batlle
appeared to break the French.
His
low cross to the penalty spot was sent into the back of the Mariona goal
in a fair reward for his brilliance in Spain's engine room.
The victory over the French team escaped Salma, who quickly looked for a one-on-one with the French goal being offside.
Tomé refreshed the team, which did not spare a single newton of strength, and tried to speed up his Renard, but the game was already languishing.
For France it was impossible to avoid defeat while in Spain Salma was still searching for her goal, in another duel with the goalkeeper who served her Mariona, and looking to the future with Vicky López's second game.
Before she was present,
all of them safely crossed the champions' catwalk
and Irene Paredes, with the bracelet that contains a stony leadership, raised a premiere trophy to the sky of Seville.
Spain is already surrendered at the feet of these women, who shattered its glass ceiling and have no rival to stop them.