“What it has cost us,” said Irene Paredes with the relief of someone who has lifted off a heavy stone. “We have been fighting for this for many years,” warned the Barça central defender, a starter in all the games that Spain has played in this World Cup and one of the only three footballers who have played all three editions of the tournament with the red. The others are Alexia Putellas and Jenni Hermoso. When Stéphanie Frappart signaled the end of the game at the Wellington Regional stadium and the scoreboard showed the Spanish triumph by 2 goals to 1, thanks to goals from Mariona Caldentey and Salma Paralluelo, they could not contain their tears. Tears of liberation, of having overcome a physical and mental barrier never before crossed. Tears of pride, from the work done day by day for years. “I feel super proud and satisfied with everything we have achieved to date. We have worked hard to achieve this ”, confessed an excited Jenni Hermoso.
His image sitting on the bench with Alexia Putellas, his partner for so many years in the national team and in Barcelona, ??both unable to stop their tears, will be one of the moments that will go down in posterity. “I was on the bench, sitting with Alexia and it’s been many years, everything we’ve been through… It’s cost us a lot, we’ve experienced many things, good and bad, to be able to reach moments like today, to sit down and say: ‘Wow, we’re in the semifinals’”, reflected the Pachuca striker. At the age of 33, she lives a second youth in Mexican soccer, but it has not been easy to be away from her family for someone as familiar as her. The year for Alexia Putellas has not been easy either, little by little returning to enjoying football after the cruciate ligament injury she suffered last summer and deprived her of playing in the Euro Cup.
And what to say about Irene Paredes. After being singled out as one of the instigators of the 15 o’clock crisis, when she had returned to the national team and it seemed that the waters were returning to her course, she suffered a huge loss. A few days after starting the concentration with Spain, her father passed away. The image of the Basque soccer player hugging his wife, Lucía Ybarra, in the corridors of the Wellington Regional stadium was a sample of the cocktail of emotions that the blaugrana was experiencing.
The tears of liberation of those who led the way contrasted with those of the excessive joy of a new generation of footballers who have grown up believing they are capable of winning a World Cup. The generation of Salma Paralluelo, the heroine of the 2-1 in 111 that put Spain in the semifinals, of Ona Batlle, Cata Coll or Tere Abelleira.
With this spirit of “everything is possible” the red was planted in Wellington. The pass to the quarterfinals was already historic and the team had shaken off the bad feelings of the match against Japan with the victory against Switzerland. So he came out uncomplexed and brave. Determined to take the victory against the Oranje team, the majority in the stands. Alba Redondo hit the post on two consecutive occasions and Esther saw her goal disallowed for offside in a really good first half for Spain. The tragedy was chewed when Frappart signaled a penalty for Paredes, but the VAR wisely made him rectify. The French referee did not see the clear hands of Van der Gragt either, which were punished after reviewing the play. Mariona Caldentey made the whole country dream with her goal from eleven meters in the 81st minute of the game, but Van der Gragt would make up for his mistake by putting the tie in added time and sending the game to extra time, where Salma Paralluelo would history.
The team completed one of its best World Cup matches against the Netherlands and got the current runner-up in the world out of the tournament. Sweden will be the rival to beat for a place in a final that looks closer than ever. Spain has gone from being plunged into the deepest crisis in living memory, to sneaking into the top four in the world. For those who stayed up late or got up early, it could seem like a dream. But it’s real. Spain is in the World Cup semifinals for the first time in its history.
