The saga of Spain’s marred World Cup victory comes to a close; USWNT takes an interesting turn in the SheBelieves
The sad saga of the forced kiss that rocked the Women's World Cup came to close last week, when former Spanish federation president Luis Rubiales was found guilty of sexual assault in Spain.
The sad saga of the forced kiss that rocked the Women’s World Cup came to close last week, when former Spanish federation president Luis Rubiales was found guilty of sexual assault in Spain.
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Rubiales forcibly kissed Jenni Hermoso in the medal ceremony following Spain’s 1-0 victory over England in the tournament final.
Rubiales resigned in the aftermath, and Spain coach Jorge Vilda was dismissed. The whole scandal cast a pall on what should have been Spain’s triumph.
Of course, cracks in the federation and its treatment of the women’s team had surfaced well before the team lifted the World Cup trophy. More than a dozen players stepped away from the team saying a poor environment was impacting their mental health.
The controversy clouded Spain’s magical run through the World Cup, highlighted by the dynamic play of Aitana Bonmati and the emergence of Salma Paralluelo.
There was a modicum of closure with the guilty verdict last week. A judge at Spain’s National Court ordered Rubiales to pay more than $10,400 in fines and prohibited him from getting within 200 meters of Hermoso or communicating with her for a year. Prosecutors had asked for a prison sentence.
Rubiales was acquitted of a charge of coercion for allegedly trying to make Hermoso downplay the exchange.
“A kiss without consent is sexual assault,” Spain’s equality minister Ana Redondo said after the verdict. “The words of the victim must be respected.”
The next day, the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Friday dismissed an appeal by Rubiales over his three-year ban from the sport imposed by FIFA.
Yesterday, Hermoso posted on Instagram, thanking her supporters and noting that a precedent has been sent., “And now yes, it’s over,” she said.
Two Down in the SheBelieves Cup
The United States has won its first two SheBelieves Cup games, and so has Japan, which means that the two teams will be playing for a title on Wednesday when the tournament moves to San Diego on Wednesday.
Emma Hayes keeps surprising fans with an entirely new starting XI on Sunday that she used on Thursday. It was just the sixth time in the team’s history — and the first time since 2001 — that the full lineup was swapped out in back-to-back games.
Lynn (Williams) Biyendolo and Michelle Cooper scored in Sunday’s 2-0 victory over Australia. It was Cooper’s first goal in just her second appearance with the team. Biyendolo’s goal came within the first minute.
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“It was absolutely surreal,” Cooper said. “I looked at (teammate Ally Sentnor) and I said, ‘I’m so sorry’ because I basically stole it from her. But she was like, ‘It’s OK, I’m happy for you.’ So it felt great.”
Sentnor and Catarina Macario scored in a 2-0 victory over Colombia on Thursday.
It’s worth keeping in mind that while the USWNT wants to win their own tournament, Hayes is looking at these matches as a chance to scout the talent pool.
But one takeaway is that Jaedyn Shaw played in the No. 10 spot, her preferred position. That’s a crowded role for the team, with Catarina Macario, Rose Lavelle and at times Lindsay (Horan) Heaps all considered candidates.
It will be interesting to see what Hayes does against Japan, which has four goals during the tournament from Utah’s Mina Tanaka.
LINKS!
Wiegman isn’t concerned about England after 1-1 draw with Portugal.
The Guardian’s Susi Wrack wrote about he Rubiales ruling.
My colleague Kristie Rieken with a story on the USWNT youngsters
Boston Globe CEO Linda Henry leaves the Boston NWSL team’s ownership group.
Bay FC defends hiring Abel after verbal abuse allegations.
Denver NWSL team seeks fans’ input on team names.
Thorns sign sponsorship deal with Ring
Adidas reveals the away kits for the Women’s Euros
The Equalizer says the demise of the draft is a victory for players
Rueters on the new faces of the USWNT
Angel City has narrowed its search to four candidates
Islamist threats for Bangladesh to cancel girls’ soccer matches.
Crystal Dunn spoke after the first match about the tournament, and moving to Europe. Here’s a bit of what she said.
Question: Can you talk about the new talent in the club?
Dunn: We’ve had one training under our belt. And it’s obviously been incredible to be here to see so many of the young players making their mark already. We’re excited, obviously, as a team to just really continue deepening our player pool and really getting younger players on board with what it takes to be in this environment. You know, it’s not an easy environment. I think as veterans, we’re doing our best to onboard the younger ones, the less experienced players, to just help in their development in any way possible. That goes with just keeping our standard high and hopefully showing them all that it takes to kind of remain and be in this environment.
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Question: (inaudible) about new talent in a tournament setting?
Dunn: The SheBelieves tournament is obviously an amazing moment for us to continue growing, adding layers to our game. I think in a tournament format, especially bringing in a lot of players, it’s going to be exciting for everyone to really gauge where we’re at where we’re trying to go. And I think playing teams that we faced before is obviously great, but every game is so different. So we’re playing tough opponents and you never know what you’re going to get but we know we’re going to get a competitive match. And it’s exciting for young players to be able to see and feel that pressure in the moment in a tournament format.
Question: How valuable do you think it is for U.S. team to be able to develop these younger women and give them a chance to to do it at the highest level?
Dunn: It’s an incredibly important, it’s a lot of hard work to be on this team, you have to battle every single day. I think deepening the player pool is always something so important. The young ones are going to learn very early, it’s not easy, it’s going to be a lot of hard work, a lot of consistency. And, in a tournament format like SheBelieves, I think it’s going to be a testament of how quickly people can get onboarded and pay attention to the little details that really can win games or championships. It’s going to be an exciting time to really see what the young kids have.
Question: Can you talk about your decision to move to France?
Dunn: It wasn’t the easiest decision, off the bat to just uproot and move abroad. I’m married and have a child, so it wasn’t something that I thought I would do at this stage of my career, but it has been absolutely incredible. France is a special place for me. I‘ve found a lot of success there. I speak a little bit of a language, not as good as I should. But the decision I made was to really just to challenge myself, to be in a completely new environment, and to go on a new adventure.
Ultimately, I’ve been in the NWSL for a long time and I’ve had a lot of amazing moments. And I think when faced with this opportunity, I just realized that I can continue on and remain in the NWSL and continue doing what I’ve ultimately been doing for a while. But I think at that time I was like, `Yeah, why not? Why not do something completely different and play for a team that I think has a lot of reach and a lot of resources. The facilities are incredible.I think for me, I feel pretty much like a really proper professional with just stepping into such a completely new environment with so many resources.
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