Spain's pioneers 'knocking down walls' with run to Euro 2025 final

Yahoo

2 days ago

Spain captain Irene Paredes said Saturday her team have been "knocking down walls" in helping women's football grow thanks to their remarkable achievements as they prepare to face England in the Euro 2025 final.
Experienced Barcelona defender Paredes was referring to the development of the women's game since Spain's triumph at the World Cup in 2023, when they defeated England 1-0 in the title decider.
Her team now have the opportunity to add a first ever European crown to the World Cup, and in doing so allow Spain to hold the both the women's and men's continental titles at the same time.
"Firm steps have been taken but I think we need to keep opening doors and normalising the situation," Paredes said in Basel, where Sunday's final will be played.
"A lot of walls were knocked down with our victory" in 2023, she added.
"Now more and more people look up to us, but we still have some way to go."
Spain's victory over England in the World Cup final was quickly overshadowed by different headlines, after a forced kiss by the country's football federation chief Luis Rubiales on player Jenni Hermoso as the team prepared to lift the trophy.
Rubiales was eventually fined 10,800 euros ($11,670) for sexual assault in February this year.
Montse Tome replaced Jorge Vilda as coach in the aftermath of that tournament, and she believes her team -- led by reigning Ballon d'Or Aitana Bonmati -- would be deserving European Championship winners.
"As a team we have been fighting and working so hard in so many areas and we have managed to get everyone to just focus on the football, which is what matters," she said.
"All the questions now are focused on football and that shows you the changes we have achieved."
Tome insisted that neither she nor her team were feeling the pressure despite the high stakes at St Jakob-Park, with Spain already having made history on their run to the final.
It is their first ever appearance in the final of a women's senior European Championship, achieved after a narrow last-four victory against Germany -- a team they had never previously beaten.
"I am not thinking about pressure, just about all the history we have made during the tournament," she said, insisting that getting to the final was Spain's main goal in Switzerland.
"At the beginning our aim was to play six games and we are going to do that, but England are the current European champions and we will just try to compete with them and enjoy it."
It will be the third meeting of the teams in 2025, with Spain and England managing one win apiece during the recent UEFA Nations League campaign.
"I expect a very even game against a team who also like to get forward -- England have so much potential in attack," Tome added.
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