“Alea boasts est”. The die is cast.
England and Spain will play, in an unprecedented match, this Sunday at the Stadium Australia in Sydney in the final of the Women’s World Cup.
In addition, it is the first time that both teams have reached a World Cup final.
Spain reached the final place after beating the powerful Swedish team 2-1, while the “Lionesses”, as the English team is called, beat local Australia 3-1 on Wednesday.
Both teams have shown consistency and dynamics that have allowed them to overcome rivals as strong as Nigeria, Colombia, Sweden or the Netherlands.
The English, led by the Dutch manager Sarina Wiegman achieved an impeccable group stage with victories against China (6-1), Haiti (1-0) and Denmark (1-0).
And although in the round of 16 and quarter-finals they had difficulties in the matches against Nigeria and Colombia, the technique of players like Chloe Kelly, who plays for Manchester City, Alessia Russo of Arsenal or goalkeeper Mary Earps led them to the final.
On the other hand, Spain has been one of the most consistent teams in the tournament: it has only lost one game, against Japan for the last match of the group stage.
Despite not having the two-time Ballon d’Or winner and Barcelona star Alexia Putellas in the headline, Spain has had the solidity of Aitana Bonmatí, but above all the explosiveness of the young Salma Paralluelo, who scored definitive goals against to Sweden and the Netherlands.
Both nations recently met in the quarterfinals of the 2022 Euro Cup. There it was the English who were left with the victory.
Can Spain beat the European champions to be crowned world champions for the first time?
At BBC Mundo we show you the strengths of both teams for the final match.
England
1. The high quality of its players
Just as Argentina won the Copa América in 2022 and then was crowned against Italy in the so-called “Finalissima” -which pits the South American champions against the European champions-, the England women’s team followed the same path.
They were Euro 2022 champions, where they beat Germany in the final.
Then they faced Brazil in the women’s version of the Finalissima, which was held at Wembley.
And he also kept the trophy. This is largely due to the quality of its players, who stand out in the Women’s Super League in England and in other leagues in Europe.
For example, Keira Walsh, who plays for FC Barcelona, is considered one of the best teams in Europe.
Also worth mentioning is youthful Brighton striker Katie Robinson and Championship surprise Lauren James. Thanks to his goals the team achieved important victories in this World Cup.
In addition, James, absent for two games after being sent off for violent play in the match against Nigeria, will be available for the final.
Along with Sweden and Japan, England were the only team to achieve all three group stage victories.
And perhaps the best demonstration of their hierarchy was seen against Nigeria and Colombia.
In the round of 16 match, she not only kept 10 players, but also lost what was the most unbalancing player up to now.
Even so, he managed to maintain control of the game and qualify for the quarterfinals on penalty kicks.
And against Colombia, they managed to come back from the game when they were losing 1-0.
2. His DT, Marina Wiegman
The Dutch Sarina Wiegman has won almost everything as a coach at the national team level.
His first feat was with the selection of his country, the Netherlands.
He achieved a remarkable victory against Denmark in the Euro 2017 final, one of the most outstanding titles in football for his country.
Two years later, Wiegman came close to winning the 2019 Women’s World Cup in France, but lost to the USA in the final.
Then she was hired as the manager of England and there she once again rose to the top of European football by winning the 2022 Euro Cup.
One of the best demonstrations of his ability to read the games occurred in the quarterfinals of Euro 2022 against what will be his rival this Sunday, Spain.
In that match, England lost, despite following the script they had used throughout the tournament. So, in an unusual move, Wiegman decided to switch from his traditional 4-3-3 system to a riskier one with just three defenders: 3-4-3.
In the end he managed to come back, go to the semifinal and somehow start a path of confidence that allowed him to get the crown.
“She is a coach who is clear about only one thing: the key to victory is in the details,” wrote the British newspaper The Guardian.
Spain
1. “They play with the soul”
The quality of the players of the Spanish soccer team cannot be denied: the midfielders Alexia Putella and Aitana Bonmatí or the youth players who are the world champions at the sub-17 and sub-20 level.
But beyond individual skills, what this Spanish team has shown in the World Cup in which it is a finalist has been a tireless vocation to win. For not giving up.
Despite the blow that meant losing 5-0 against Japan in the last game of the group stage, Spain has shown that its intention is to win the title no matter which team is placed in front of them.
In the second phase, the team crushed Switzerland 5-1, shaking off the Japanese downpour.
And then came the Netherlands, current runner-up in the world. In a complex game, Spain brought out their hearts and, after drawing after 90 minutes, managed to put things in their favor with a breakthrough goal, Salma Paralluelo.
Against Sweden, history repeated itself: a draw with just a few minutes left to finish the game. But again, in a show of resistance and hierarchy, Paralluelo put things in favor of “La Roja”.
“This team has become very strong. What we have now and not before is the winning mentality, of believing, of not giving anything up, of not giving up and, above all, of knowing how to suffer”, Bonmatí told the Spanish media after the victory against Sweden.
And all this has greater merit after, in September 2022, 15 players resigned from the national team to demand the departure of the current coach, Jorge Vilda.
2. On a roll
There is nothing more that a coach wants than his striker to be on a scoring streak.
And Spain, right now, has one of its players on an extraordinary streak: scoring when most needed.
The author of the feats is Salma Paralluelo and this Sunday she could be crowned as the first player in the history of women’s football to win the U-17, U-20 and senior world cups.
This young woman, barely 20 years old, has become the biggest revelation of the World Cup that takes place in Australia and New Zealand.
And he has done it with his impressive annotations, almost to the limit, against the Netherlands in the quarterfinals and with the great goal against Sweden that gave him a pass to the final against the English.
“The one in Zaragoza does not run, it flies, but it is a flight without an engine; he does not need it. It stays floating in the air by inertia. She is light, elegant, with a stride, worked, it seems that she doesn’t even make an effort and with a lot of talent”, described the soccer coach Patricia Campos.
And perhaps it is that explosive talent that will give Spain the first world title.
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BBC-NEWS-SRC: https://www.bbc.com/mundo/articles/clm1y37j309o, IMPORTING DATE: 2023-08-16 13:10:13
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