Don’t let them steal this success. This World Cup is theirs, the players. As much as some try to hang the medals now, the star has been earned by the soccer players, on and off the field. Those that are and those that are not. Those who have given up thousands of euros, their dream of playing in a World Cup, putting their principles ahead, and those who have chosen to fight from within. Because make no mistake, their battle is the same: that of professionalization. Some have tried to monopolize the leading role, attribute these successes to a Federation that arrived late and badly to the demands of its footballers.
“It has been seen that at the minimum that a little bet is made and basic facilities are given, it can be achieved”, said Alexia. Because the Federation has invested in them, yes, but investing is not the same as believing. It has been necessary to take us to the abyss. That 15 of the best players of the excellent generation of Spanish soccer players said enough. That the Federation’s media apparatus devoured them and described them as brats, capricious… A wear and tear that the double Ballon d’Or complained about, who broke the silence she had kept throughout the World Cup with a vindictive speech.
“The players have to focus on training, taking care of themselves, eating well, resting… and giving everything on the field. All the energy you invest in these fights you lose. It’s exhausting,” she would say. And he is right. Everything they have achieved has been thanks to their persistence. Challenging male hegemony in the schoolyard when they were girls, demanding professional contracts from their clubs when they grew up, demanding decent conditions to play for their national team when they began to believe they could dream of something better.
It is also a victory for Barcelona, ??which led this change by showing the players a professionalization that they are no longer willing to give up. A recognition to people like Xavi Llorens, without whom none of this would make sense. And to all those who paved the way, it is impossible not to remember Vero Boquete, Ainhoa ??Tirapu… and so many others. It was at the 2015 World Cup that everything began to change, when the players got fed up with being ignored –and worse things– and hit the table. A revolution witnessed by some young Putellas, Paredes and Hermoso.
Inspired by the bravery of their predecessors, today’s footballers are fearless. They dared to defy the Federation, and some have paid a very high price for it, but they achieved some changes without which this star would not be possible. The protagonists are them, the real promoters of this change are the soccer players. As much as some insist on taking them out of the photo. One of the first messages on the Federation’s networks – “Vilda IN” – was to recognize the work of a questioned Jorge Vilda.
The coach has had the unconditional support of the president, Luis Rubiales, who for the first time has accompanied the expedition throughout the tournament, more as the coach’s squire than with the players. “Vilda has swallowed a lot”, were the first words that came out of the president as soon as he got through to the final. Once again, moving the focus away from the true protagonists. Because of things like this, the international press has spoken more about the 15, about a coach who continues to speak in masculine terms about his players or about Rubiales’ embarrassing kiss to Jenni Hermoso than about the spectacular football that this team has displayed during the tournament.
“It is a success, but now we will have to see how things change.” Not an hour after raising the cup to the Sydney sky, the players have already started another fight: the battle against oblivion. They know that the difficult thing is not only to arrive, but to stay. They want to continue on the covers, reaching the finals, lifting trophies. For this they need that the commitment to them does not stop here. This World Cup is not the confirmation that you were working well, it is the confirmation that, if you invest, the results will come.
A story that the clubs must apply, when the negotiation of the agreement is resumed. Spain cannot continue playing on artificial grass pitches. The soccer players cannot continue charging 16,000 euros. It’s time to step up.
