Jorge Vilda hugged all his collaborators. As soon as the referee whistled at the end of the match, the coach celebrated with his coaching staff. These have not been easy weeks for him and the victory against the United States, the current world champion, is a boost for the aforementioned Vilda, even if it is in a friendly, nine months before the next World Cup.
It is the first win for the Spanish team against the American team, a powerhouse in women's football and a four-time World Cup winner. And it came in full restructuring in the Spanish locker room, with 15 soccer players who have launched a pulse and prefer not to be summoned until there are changes in the direction.
Spain was close to the United States. He was always one goal away. In Alicante in 2019, Press was the executioner. In the World Cup in France, two Rapinoe penalties were imposed on both Hermoso in Reims. And in 2020 we had to wait for 87 for Ertz to decide the duel.
This time, at Sadar, there were no maximum penalties or a miraculous goal in the final stretch. This time a serious and motivated Spain was able to celebrate.
It was precisely a debutant, the Barcelona player Laia Codina, who opened the scoring. In a corner taken from the right, the ball stayed in the small area while the American defense was unable to deny the danger. Rocío Gálvez could not hit the ball but Codina was there to fish in a troubled river and finish off with the right foot to the bottom of the net (39).
The goal from the Girona player was the prize for a good first part of the team in which she had been able to cover Horan and Lavelle. In the United States, in addition to Rapinoe (best player in the world in 2019) and Trinity Rodman (Dennis Rodman's daughter), Pickett, the player without a hand or forearm who debuted internationally, was the starter. But it is that at game time, Crystal Dunn came out, who on May 20 gave birth.
However, the chances were still for Spain, with a header from Esther and a center shot from Olga Cardona that almost surprised Murphy. Until Esther herself, now captain, finished off an Oihane center from the right with great quality. It was the goal of tranquility for the 11,209 people who were in the stands, a new attendance record on Spanish soil for a national team match.
