England's Keira Walsh hopes Spain can enjoy a controversy-free final after Rubiales affair

The Guardian

2 days ago

Keira Walsh has said she hopes Spain's players are able to 'just enjoy the game of football' when they face England in the Euro 2025 final on Sunday after their World Cup final victory two years ago was overshadowed by Luis Rubiales's actions afterwards.
Walsh was a Barcelona player at the time of the 2023 World Cup and witnessed close up the fallout from Rubiales's inappropriate actions, including the kiss the Spanish football federation president landed on Jenni Hermoso.
'It's difficult because I didn't understand the Spanish conversations that were going on,' she said on Thursday, the day after Spain beat Germany to reach the final in Switzerland. 'So for the girls, this time, as a friend and a fellow footballer, I want them to just go and enjoy this final – they play incredible football and they deserve to be there. As a human being I just want them to go out and just enjoy the game of football.'
Walsh experienced a huge explosion of the growth in the women's game in England after the Lionesses lifted a first major trophy at the 2022 Euros, with the domestic game and international matches seeing attendances spike and investments increase. However, Spain's midfield talisman Aitana Bonmatí has spoken about her frustration and disappointment that they did not experience a similar boom after their maiden World Cup win.
'I think they probably could have had more respect,' said Walsh. 'The way our league jumped after we won the Euros and everything in and around it, if you compare it to Spain it wasn't the same and they won the World Cup. They probably could have had more support.
'After the game there was a lot of controversy and I don't think, for them, there was enough spotlight on how incredible they played and how incredible some of their players were, it was all about the other stuff that had gone on. As a professional, that was disappointing to see. I have a lot of friends in that team and I think they deserved a little bit more than what they got.'
England have had a bumpy ride to the final: they had to come from two goals down against Sweden to win on penalties and then one goal down to win in extra time against Italy, with Michelle Agyemang scoring late equalisers in both games. Walsh had never experienced anything like it.
'Obviously we come into every tournament and we want to reach the final,' the Chelsea midfielder said. 'Maybe the way we've done it is a little bit more stressful for everyone but the kind of the beauty of this team is that we are relentless and we've got belief in ourselves that even in the 90th minute we can get a goal and we can win and that's what's really special about us at the minute.'
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Where the rest of the watching world sees chaos, there is more design, she said. 'When you're playing maybe it looks like chaos but for us it doesn't feel like that. I've also heard that people have been saying that it was luck, but I think for us you kind of create those moments yourself, through belief, determination, confidence.
'I don't think it is luck that Michelle's in the box and scoring. It is not luck that people are putting crosses in the box. It's thought out, it's purposeful and it's the absolute belief that no matter what minute of the game it is we're going to win or we're going to get the result that we need to take us to extra time.'