Janne Palomäki
La Roja’s bad mood may even cost the World Cup gold, writes Janne Palomäki.
Spain took a 3–0 victory in their World Cup opener against Costa Rica. PDO
Spain started the World Cup tournament frighteningly strong.
It would grab three goals in six minutes in Costa Rica’s net, and waste an even harder one in its convincing opening win.
The 2-0 goal scored by Aitana Bonmatí is worth watching the videos even years later. The team’s offensive power still needs an additional gear the size of Alexia Putellas, if only superstar gets his credit back his problem knee.
The crushing victory certainly did not weaken the position as one of the champions’ favourites. But at the same time, in Wellington, the reasons why the group coached by Jorge Vilda will collapse, as long as the opposition gets tougher as the tournament progresses, were clearly seen.
Costa Rica is not the powerhouse of women’s soccer. Although it got to a couple of times with ridiculous ease to attack the goal guarded by Misa Rodríguez.
Spain’s defense looks vulnerable and significantly less organized than in last summer’s European Championships.
The reason is clear. Last September, 15 regular players of the national team wrote to the management of the Spanish Football Federation, in which they told Vilda’s coaching causes injuries and even threatens the players’ mental health.
In the background, there was certainly also a feeling of boredom with tactical underperformance. In the EC tournament, the team’s path rose when the skillfully weaker England dropped it in the quarter-finals.
The union’s response will now cost the success of the country’s most talented age group. It decided to leak the letter to the public and accuse the players of treason.
The association’s management did not want to hear anything about possible abuses by the head coach. The players emphasized that they are not demanding Vilda’s resignation, but that someone from the union should investigate whether the working atmosphere could be improved.
It was not agreed to. Liitto stood steadfastly behind Vilda, and he also leads the national team in New Zealand.
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Jorge Vilda will manage La Roja’s game in New Zealand. PDO
Only three players from the rebellion group settled for cosmetic changes in the team’s background group. Among them, Battle and Ona Batlle were in the opener against Costa Rica. Striker Mariona Caldentey came on the field for the last half hour when the match was decided.
On an individual level, it is really difficult to criticize their solution. It is impossible to exaggerate the importance of the World Cup tournament for a footballer’s career.
But the gap is still frighteningly visible on the defensive end. Among the players who wrote a letter in the World Cup, Spain is missing the number one goalkeeper Sandra Paños, the world’s best left-footed top scorer Mapi León and Patri Guijarro, who was chosen as the most valuable player of the Champions League final.
I will especially miss Guijarro and León. Their aggressiveness and organizational skills would have been exactly what Spain needs.
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Playmaker Patri Guijarro led FC Barcelona to Champions League victory. PDO
La Roja is full of attack-oriented ball players whose touch with the playing equipment is an art. The team doesn’t have the toughness that, for example, Ireland’s captain Katie McCabe showed on the opening day when she was fighting for playing space in the middle of Australia’s tough faces.
Luckily for Vilda, Spain won’t have any problems getting through Group C. As a likely group winner, it can sail far as it would stay all the way to the final in New Zealand, avoiding the strain of such long flights.
However, it is equally possible that Norway pulls together enough to continue as second in Group A, and drops Spain already in the first playoff round.
It is difficult to understand Vilta’s activities. Instead of he would have taken the players’ malaise seriouslyhe carried on as if nothing had happened.
In exactly the same situation, the French Football Federation decided to side with its players, and gave Corinne Diacre a boot. Les Bleues get to their tournament opener on Sunday from a much more harmonious starting point.
It is also appropriate to think about how the Palloliito would have followed the discussion around Anna Signeuli last summer, if the team had marched from victory to victory at the same time.
Helmarit lost all his EC matches, so it was easy to give the head coach the boot.
In Spain, the defeat that shakes Vilda’s position is still expected. That will also come in this tournament.
Mapi León is generally considered to be the best left-footed boot in the world. PDO