WELLINGTON, New Zealand — There was something apt about Spain shrugging off the distraction of an earthquake in Wellington to reach the Women’s World Cup semifinals for the first time with a 2-1 extra-time win against Netherlands.
La Roja have been de-stabilised by a faultline of their own for the past year, with coach Jorge Vilda still in charge for this tournament despite 15 of his players — known as ‘las 15’ — writing to the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) demanding changes to the set-up. The players denied calling for Vilda to be fired, wanting only improvements behind the scenes, but the RFEF claimed otherwise and threw their support behind Vilda, who has been in charge 2015.
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Ever since the so-called mutiny last October, Spanish football has been struggling to restore calm. Only three of ‘las 15’ made it into Vilda’s squad for this World Cup, with the dressing room reportedly split on the events of last year, and the wounds have clearly not healed, with defender One Batlle saying last month: “You don’t have to be best friends with your teammate.”
Yet despite all of the tension and the issues that still simmer, Spain are now one game away from the World Cup final. They have learned how to live with their earthquake, so the tremor which measured 5.6 on the Richter Scale, which was recorded just 67 minutes before kick-off in New Zealand’s capital city, probably felt like just another bump in the road.
“We were so concentrated on the game that we didn’t feel it, although we felt some shakes at the hotel the day before,” Vilda said. “The victory of Spain was the earthquake.”
It may have been significant that only one player congratulated Vilda at the final whistle, but whether the 42-year-old has the backing of the majority of team or not, results will dictate his future and he has now taken Spain further at the World Cup than they have ever been before.
“The Federation and president have always supported, and me, from the start,” Vilda said. “All employees are totally supportive and (Luis) Rubiales (RFEF president) has been with me all the way through. I am very happy because of all the management we have had to do. This is not over yet, but we have a lot of willpower to continue to make everyone happy.”
Vilda’s situation is certainly a paradox, but by reaching the semifinals, Spain have also shown that footballers can often put aside grievances against their coach or teammates to get the job done on the pitch. And they did that against the Dutch.
