The dizzying, disbelieving delight that greeted Spain’s surprise place in the Women’s World Cup final was not confined to fans of La Roja – as some of the comments in the Auckland mixed zone earlier this week made abundantly clear.
“We’re in a fucking World Cup final!” shouted the veteran Spanish forward Jenni Hermoso. Her fellow striker Alba Redondo could only agree: “This is fucking mad – we’re in the final!”
Their jubilation was shared by Spain’s political leaders, who, like their compatriots, could be forgiven for welcoming any distraction in the wake of last month’s fractious and inconclusive general election and amid the cruel heat of August.
“To the final!” Spain’s acting prime minister, the socialist leader Pedro Sánchez, tweeted on Wednesday after the national women’s team reached their first final by beating Sweden 2-1. “Keep making history. All of Spain is with you.”
Sánchez’s conservative rival, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, who won the election but now looks unlikely to hold aloft the trophy of government, was equally enthused. “Spain’s women’s team have made history again!” he tweeted. “Two goals that will take us to the World Cup final for the first time. Congratulations, champions!”
As giant screens are hauled into place in cities from Madrid and Barcelona to Málaga, Burgos and Zaragoza, many in Spain are planning their Sunday viewing – and wondering what the final could mean for the profile of women’s football, which is still vastly overshadowed, as elsewhere, by the men’s game.
Cristina Burgueño, who was visiting the Civitas Metropolitan Stadium, the home of Atlético Madrid, with her family on a hot August afternoon, said that while she was not the world’s biggest football fan, she would be watching the final.
“The only football I’m really interested in is my son’s football, but I’ll be watching the match on Sunday as it’ll be on at home,” she said. “I don’t think a win for Spain would shift the balance, but it would get a lot more girls interested in football.”
A local man, who did not wish to be named, was also enthusiastic. After a fashion.
“I’m more into the men’s game – it’s just more beautiful than the women’s game,” he said. “But Spain are playing and Spain’s my country so I’ll be watching all the same. I think Spain will win because they want it more – and I think if we win, it will have an effect on women’s football.” In any case, he went on: “There’s always a bit more noise when you win a world cup.”
Javier Nebot, who arrived at the stadium with his young son and a football, was rather more excited. “I’ll be watching on Sunday with my Spain strip on and my face painted,” he said. “Things are changing very slowly in terms of women’s football but it’s getting a lot more visibility now that we’re in the final.”
Why did he think there was still such a gulf between the men’s and women’s games?
“It’s a bit of everything: media coverage, visibility – and Spain’s still a sexist country. There’s also a huge difference between men’s salaries and women’s salaries in football. Unless you’re a woman playing at top, top levels, you just can’t live on the money.”
For Rebeca Santamaría, a lifelong football devotee who has played for the Madrid women’s neighbourhood club Las Dragonas de Lavapiés for the last two years, Sunday’s final is bittersweet. Sweet because of the team’s efforts and the belated coverage and interest they have stirred, but bitter because many of Spain’s best women’s players will not be playing in the final after staging a mutiny last year in protest at the methods and management of their coach, Jorge Vilda.
“I feel a bit torn,” she said. “On the one hand, it’s really important for women’s football in terms of visibility. It’s really surprising that you can turn on the TV or the radio in the morning now and hear them talking about women’s football. That’s extraordinary and very rare here, because the sports programmes normally only talk about men’s football or basketball.”
But on the other hand, “a lot of the really good people who pushed for a different coach were left out. That makes me sad. Part of me feels excited that we could be number one, but another part feels like it’s a bit shit because it’s happened with Jorge Vilda. It’s such a shame for all the girls who have been left out of this.”
Santamaría, who describes herself as a bit of a pessimist, said that while Sunday’s match represented a huge opportunity for women’s football in Spain, she feared it could be a flor de un día – a flash in the pan.
“I do hope I’m wrong though, and that this is the start of something amazing,” she said. “It would be great to see people going to stadiums to see women’s football.”
