WELLINGTON, New Zealand — If it has been a difficult year for Aitana Bonmati‘s relationship with the Spain national team, it did not show in her performance against Costa Rica. The Barcelona midfielder scored the second goal and helped create the first with a clever flick as La Roja opened their Women’s World Cup campaign with a 3-0 win at Wellington Regional Stadium on Friday.
Bonmati was one of 15 players who sent an email to the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) last September, declaring themselves unavailable for selection. They felt changes were needed to professionalise the setup and better equip the national team to compete for silverware. Despite having the back-to-back Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas in their ranks and the spine of a Barca side that have won two Champions Leagues in three years, Spain have never won a knockout game at a major tournament.
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Until the very last moment, Bonmati, voted fifth in this year’s Ballon d’Or and second in ESPN’s best players at the World Cup, did not know if she would be in Australia and New Zealand this summer. Eventually, following meetings with the RFEF throughout the season, the 25-year-old was one of three from the 15 to be named in Spain’s squad for the finals, along with club teammates Ona Batlle and Mariona Caldentey. The other 12 either did not make themselves available or were not selected by coach Jorge Vilda.
“[It has been] soooo difficult,” she told The Players’ Tribune this week. “You miss out on matches, money, sponsors, everything. You get killed in the press. But I wanted to be part of [the strike]. I felt that the [RFEF] needed to invest more in us. Certain changes needed to be made if we were to win big tournaments. Which is what we want to do, otherwise what’s the point?”
With the likes of Barca duo Mapi Leon and Patri Guijarro refusing to come back, the debate will not end here, but Bonmati doesn’t want to “dwell” on the subject anymore, asking for the focus to be on a World Cup where she looks set to be one of the standout performers.
In fact, for all the focus on Putellas before the tournament, she is the player who carries Spain’s hopes Down Under. In part because Putellas has only recently returned from an anterior cruciate ligament injury in her knee and has not yet completed 90 minutes, but also because Bonmati has a skillset which is perhaps unrivalled at the finals.
In Putellas’ absence last season, Bonmati led Barca to a Liga F-Champions League double. She was named the best player in the Champions League after providing a tournament-high seven assists in addition to five goals, putting her joint second in the scoring chart.
