Olga Carmona’s goal gave Spain a historic triumph
Spain can officially start a historic party.
La Roja won their first-ever World Cup, claiming a 1-0 victory on Sunday over England at Stadium Australia in Sydney.
Olga Carmona’s first-half strike was the winner, and despite leaving star players at home over fractures between the squad, federation, and head coach Jorge Vilda, Spain fully deserved their win over the reigning European champions.
Both managers had a big decision to make on their team sheet. England rather fortunately got Lauren James back from suspension, but Sarina Wiegman opted to start Ella Toone over the Chelsea star.
For Spain, Vilda decided to use super-sub Salma Paralluelo from the start, dropping Jenni Hermoso into the midfield. That meant Alexia Putellas — certainly in the argument for the title of best in the world — would start on the bench.
England’s early attacks carried plenty of urgency, and while much of that ended up channeled into robust tackles, the Lionesses eventually had the game’s first clear look. A 16th minute move that broke down was recycled, with Lauren Hemp eventually crashing a shot off the bar.
Spain had a nearly instantaneous reply, with Paralluelo not getting proper contact on the doorstep. That wasted sitter skipped right to Alba Redondo, who also should have found the back of the net only to shoot tamely at England’s Mary Earps.
An open game seemed to promise a goal, but the scorer of that goal was not one many would have expected. Spain turned England over at midfield, springing into a counter-attack that ended with left back Carmona (with all of two international goals to her name) picking out the bottom corner.
The goal seemed to take a bit of the air out of England, with Spain creating several good looks. None were better than what was essentially the final kick of the half, which saw Paralluelo clip the post from 11 yards out.
Wiegman made a big move at halftime, bringing in James and Euro 2022 hero Chloe Kelly while moving to a 4-3-3 formation. While Spain would open the half by forcing a great save out of Earps, Kelly’s threat resulted in a golden chance at the other end.
Hemp caught Ona Batlle napping, but the Manchester City forward’s finish let Spain escape.
The game is cruel to teams that waste looks like that one, and within a few minutes referee Tori Penso was at the VAR monitor after a bouncing ball clearly glanced off Keira Walsh’s hand.
However, Spain was apparently in a generous mood, as Hermoso’s penalty — taken after a good deal of arguing over the placement of the ball from Lucy Bronze — was stunningly saved by Earps.
England hunted an equalizer, but in truth, their looks were few and far between. Not long after the penalty save, James nearly managed to sneak an angled shot over Cata Coll, only for the young goalkeeper to make her first serious save of the match.
However, even with center back Millie Bright sent up in desperation as a target forward, it was Spain finding room to counter far more than it was the Lionesses threatening to equalize. England simply couldn’t find a foothold as Spain kept finding a way to pass around the pressure.
Finally, after expertly managing 13 minutes of second-half stoppage time, Spain’s jubilation could truly begin.
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