After the tension, the smile. After the vindication, the joy. With the fist raised before the match as a fighting gesture and with hugs as a gesture after the match. The players from Spain and Sweden posed to be photographed together in a planned protest event in the run-up to the Göteborg match. All 22 displayed a banner that read It’s over. And below, in English: Our fight is the global fight. (Our fight is the global fight). Likewise, the Spanish women wore a kind of bracelet with the motto It’s over.
Then what began was good football from Spain, crowned with victory. After the match, on the grass, the coach, Montse Tomé, could not hide her satisfaction despite a face that revealed the suffering not only of the 90 minutes. “The players have managed to find themselves on the field, which is where they feel best. They have dignified the profession they enjoy so much. “I have felt happy for them.”
Asked about her state of mind, the coach commented: “It was my debut in a difficult week, but I had confidence in my work. I thought I could focus our energy on football. The first days of concentration have not allowed us to focus on football, but I did not feel pressure but rather a desire to show what we have worked on. It is a great victory and they deserve the best,” she added.
Already at the press conference, Tomé praised Alexia Putellas: “I have seen a different Alexia. An Alexia who enjoyed her and I am very happy for her. She is one of the players who have been most active these weeks and she seems like a ten-grade professional to me,” he said. The first to go through the microphones was Athenea del Castillo, the author of the 0-1 score. The Cantabrian forward of Real Madrid wanted to value the victory above all: “The team has emptied itself and we have given our best. It’s one of those victories that you like, the ones you win at the last minute. We are happy because we have finally played again, which was what we all wanted. Now to continue along this line and think about the next game.”
The forward also commented “that we have all experienced difficult days without sleep. The situation was very complicated. Some did not want to come and others did (that was their case), but we have shown that we are a true team and that we want to represent our country in the best possible way, which gives you extra desire. “We were very tired, but this is about fighting”
