Sumptuous Spain defy internal dramas to tame Lionesses and win World Cup

What do you do when you hate your coach, but don’t want to let that ruin a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity? You simply win the World Cup and pretend he’s not there.

Spain are champions, and deservedly so, after Sunday night’s convincing 1-0 win over England – but this was also a victory for spite, a triumph for one of the most powerful drivers of human behaviour.

Usually, the winning coach at a World Cup is widely feted. That will not be happening with Jorge Vilda, who was booed when his name was read out by the announcer at Stadium Australia before the final, and booed again each time he was shown on the big screen.

During the tournament, and here as well, Spanish players celebrated goals with each other, but not him.

At the final whistle, they celebrated together, and he celebrated with his coaching staff, before eventually making it over to the players.

Last year, 15 players quit the national team in protest over Vilda’s controlling management style and the Spanish federation’s poor standards.

Spain’s players celebrate beating England in the final.Credit: Getty

But instead of sacking the coach, the federation stood by him. A few had to make grovelling apologies to be re-considered for World Cup selection, although only three were picked; others, like Mapi Leon and Patri Guijarro, two of the world’s best in their positions, stood by their principles and have watched this tournament from afar.

The specific reasons, to this day, remain opaque – no players have spoken on the record about their gripes with Vilda, and the team has refused to discuss the mutiny during the World Cup.

Not that they needed to; their body language says more than any words could.

That Spain went ahead and won it anyway says a lot about the country’s remarkable depth – Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas was on the bench, for goodness’ sake – and the mental strength of this group of players to put it all behind them. But the fear among many women’s football aficionados is that this will validate Vilda and the federation.

Spain’s Olga Carmona (partly obscured) scores the only goal of the final.Credit: Reuters

“If all of this was necessary for us to be world champions, then it was worth it,” Vilda said.

“I think it’s been a great year – difficult at a personal level, but at the sporting level, we’ve achieved results that we’d never achieved before. We’ve had good results, to show that in Spain there are many quality players.

“I believe that this year has made us even more united, if that’s possible.

“We promised the country we’d achieve this. I feel extreme happiness. We’ve made many millions of people happy.”

Does he deserve a lot of credit, some of the credit, or none at all? Only those in the inner sanctum know the truth, but from a neutral perspective, it appears much of what propelled La Roja to this stage is ingrained – and while they have obeyed Vilda’s on-field instructions for the greater good, that doesn’t mean they have to like him.

Their sumptuous passing play, which repeatedly scythed through England’s press with ease, is Spain’s unmistakable national style. They are also the world’s reigning under-17 and under-20 champions in women’s football. This is what they do. And when they do it this well, it’s very hard to stop.

England could not assert themselves physically, as they did to the Matildas in the semi-finals, because they didn’t have a chance. Spain were too quick, too slick, too clever. Three minutes after Lauren Hemp hit the crossbar with a curling, left-footed shot – England’s best moment of the first half – Spain took the lead through a rapid counter-attack finished by Olga Carmona’s first-time shot. Lucy Bronze was caught out of position and they were punished. It was that simple.

Such was their dominance, Spain could have gone into the lead three goals up, with Alba Redondo missing a point-blank chance just before the opener and Salma Paralluelo hitting the post with the final action of the first half.

England coach Sarina Wiegman tried to reverse the tide at the break, sending on Lauren James – back from her suspension for stamping on a Nigerian player – and Chloe Kelly for Alessia Russo and Lauren Daly. It nearly worked, although their best football didn’t come until after Spain had the chance to score a second from the penalty spot with 20 minutes to go, after a lengthy VAR review discovered a handball by Kiera Walsh.

They were rescued by Mary Earps, who saved Jennifer Hermoso’s attempt, and then unleashed a barrage of expletives to fire up her teammates and the crowd. James then had a shot pushed over the bar by Spanish goalkeeper Cata Coll, but from that point onwards, Spain confidently held them out, including through 13 gripping minutes of added time.

“Of course, it’s very disappointing,” Wiegman said.

“I think we can be very proud of ourselves – only doesn’t feel that way at this moment. That takes a little bit of time. But everything we’ve done, how we have grown into the tournament ... we have given everything we could in this tournament and also in this game. When you give you everything, sometimes [the other] team wins.”

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