‘They stole it from us': How Spain can reclaim their moment after Luis Rubiales scandal

Independent

20 hours ago

When the England team left the pitch after their last match against Spain, a 2-1 comeback defeat in June's Nations League fixture, there was one overriding feeling in the dressing room. 'They're just so hard to play against', was one exhausted view.
Spain's ideology means they're seen as an almost singular challenge in the women's game. The England players enjoy the test, admire the players as icons, and know the world champions are the team to beat.
Spanish manager Montse Tome has still rejected the description of favourites, in that way that coaches do to try and get elite teams playing as if they are starting from scratch again. Many of Spain's world champions would actually like to start from scratch in a different sense. This singular team want their own singular victory, independent of past troubles.
If it seems unfair on this historic squad for their 2023 World Cup win to always be clouded by the Luis Rubiales case, such talk is only in-keeping with the sentiments of the players themselves. Many of them speak about it in a brilliant new Netflix documentary about the story, called "Se Acabo" - 'It's over: the kiss that changed Spanish football'.
Ballon d'Or holder Aitana Bonmati goes as far as saying, 'Our World Cup win was overshadowed and, well, tarnished'. Ivana Andres adds, 'They stole it from us', before a striking revelation from Jenni Hermoso, the legend subjected to the Rubiales kiss. She admits there were flickers where she would think, 'Holy sh--, I'm a world champion', only to check herself. 'That feeling only lasts a second as I can't relive that moment,' Hermoso says.
She won't get to relive any victory in Switzerland, as she has been controversially omitted from the squad, so won't get to see the many changes either.
Even in the weeks before that Rubiales scandal, some of the players found circumstances so bad at the World Cup that they still can't quite understand how they won it. Bonmati admits they were asking themselves, 'How is that possible?'
The contrast to the men is made explicit, as the documentary reveals remarkable messages from former captain Sergio Ramos asking Rubiales for Hublot watches. The women simply wanted flight times that could allow a decent night's sleep before big games.
It is why there is now talk of a 'special spirit' around Euro 2025, all the more so because of the contrasts with the last Euros. That 2022 tournament in England is seen as another nadir, given how the squad's complaints ultimately led to the landmark moment of ' las 15 '. They were the 15 players who withdrew from selection two months later, after raising concerns over how standards in Jorge Vilda's squad could be significantly improved to allow them to fulfil their potential. The downbeat mood, and failure to get beyond the quarter-finals, felt all the more inevitable due to the injury to Alexia Putellas on the eve of the tournament.
There was a worrying echo of this on the eve of Euro 2025, when Aitana was last week sent to hospital with viral meningitis. Some around the squad couldn't help feel deja vu.
And yet it is maybe another sign of how fortunes have changed that Aitana was out of hospital and back with the squad by Tuesday. 'Everything's going well,' Bonmati said.
The words around Spain's Lausanne camp now are 'tranquility' and 'stability'. Conditions have also changed, to go with the fact the team now play with the assurance that comes from true achievement. They've been there and done it, and that through hugely difficult circumstances.
Now, the squad just don't have the same distractions. Many players finally feel standards have started to be elevated to club levels, as well as those of the men.
'Everything has changed radically in terms of conditions, trips, nutrition and training,' Putellas told Marca. 'Everything we need to be the best. It's at the level of a top men's team. It's something incredible, that took a lot of work from many people.'
Arsenal's Mariona Caldentey speaks of how, 'It's a more professional atmosphere, with better preparation, where they listen to us and ask what we need'.
Amanda Gutierrez, the president of the Futpro union that worked with the players through the Rubiales case, still points out that changes have been 'gradual'. Duly, you probably can't go through ructions like that without some remnants of the past persisting. The omission of Hermoso has raised some old issues, as well as new questions for the coach, Tome.
She had been Vilda's assistant at the 2023 World Cup, only to quickly become his successor in the overhaul after the Rubiales case. That decision was hardly praised, even though players had previously seen her as a confidante. Some felt she 'changed', with her appointment viewed as a continuation of the old regime.
When Rubiales gave his infamous speech refusing to resign, Tome is seen beside Vilda applauding. In ' Se Acabo ', one of the 15, Lola Gallardo, describes that moment as Vilda and Tome 'selling out their players again'.
It doesn't help that, like Vilda, Tome isn't considered a coach of sufficient quality. She won the inaugural Women's Nations League months after the 2023 World Cup, but the fourth place at the 2024 Olympics was considered a failure. Hermoso even seemed to criticise Tome's abilities in a social media post, stating: 'Manage? That's what others should learn to do, that part is too big for them.'
Hermoso added that she 'also has a very clear conscience', referencing Tome's own words about the decision. The manager had insisted it was purely for football reasons, although suspicion reigns.
For Tome's part, other players from 'the 15' have been picked, and Hermoso is now 35 years old. There are fair arguments about whether she is still at the same level, especially against a pool overflowing with talent.
Tome looked at 70 players, all amplified by that ingrained ideology. The manager told AS she did what was best 'for the squad, not what is best for Montse'.
Hermoso still finished her post with a flourish, saying to let Tome 'focus now on making Spain European champions, although they would also do it on their own and surely much better'.
As sharp as that sounds, many would agree. It's what happened in 2023. Spain possess such quality that they only need the most basic guidance.
The sense of flow is illustrated by how, less than two years after the World Cup, only 11 of the 23-players quad remain. Members of 'the 15' in Patri Guijarro and Claudia Pina have meanwhile returned, ready to attack Euro 2025 with a new relish.
Their sense of new opportunity amplifies that of the squad. In ' Se Acabo ', the players openly talk about how the changes caused by the 2023 World Cup were a greater victory than the trophy.
They have now given themselves the platform for a purely sporting victory. Mariona says the camp is now about 'football, only football', as Putellas offered a touching message on the eve of the tournament: 'Now it's time to enjoy, compete and give happiness.' Maybe not to the opposition.