Spain Women secure late victory over Belgium one day after Luis Rubiales verdict: ‘What we want is to win games'

New York Times

22-02-2025

Mariona Caldentey says Spain Women were glad to focus on winning again after producing a late comeback victory the day after the verdict of the Luis Rubiales trial.
On Thursday, Rubiales, the former head of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), was fined more than €10,000 ($11,400) after being found guilty of sexual assault for kissing Spain forward Jenni Hermoso at the 2023 World Cup final.
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On Friday, Spain scored two stoppage-time goals as they came from 2-0 down to beat Belgium 3-2 in the Women's Nations League.
'What we want is to win games,' midfielder Caldentey said. 'Obviously it's been a difficult few months for everyone. Now the sentence is out, everything's been said and done and we've come out to win and in the end we've done it.'
During the two-week trial in February, Judge Jose Manuel Clemente Fernandez-Prieto heard testimonies from Hermoso and her Spain team-mates Irene Paredes, Alexia Putellas and Laia Codina.
Hermoso was again not named in the squad for February's Nations League fixtures, while Putellas missed out through injury. Paredes played the full 90 minutes of Friday's win and fellow defender Codina was an unused substitute.
Spain, reigning world champions and ranked second in the world, had trailed 2-0 to a Belgium side 19th in the FIFA rankings after 72 minutes in Valencia on Friday. The visitors led through goals from Mariam Toloba and Tessa Wullaert, before Claudia Pina halved the deficit with 13 minutes of normal time remaining. Lucia Garcia equalised in stoppage time before Cristina Martin-Prieto scored a 96th-minute winner.
Speaking to Spanish media outlet TVE ahead of the fixture, Codina said: 'When this all started I knew I had to take the stand in four days, it was tough, but once you're there you just have to say what you saw despite how hard it is to relive what happened and knowing that Jenni suffered everything she suffered when you hear her at the trial after a success like that.
'The day after testifying I seemed like a different person to the previous three days. A weight had been lifted. When I got back from Madrid I had a match that afternoon. I was on the bench and I thought: 'I don't know if I'm ready to play'. Emotionally, everything that comes with it is difficult.'
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Spain's High Court also banned Rubiales from going within 200 metres of Hermoso, and from communicating with her for one year. He was also ordered to pay a further €3,000 for moral damages and half of Hermoso's legal costs. Rubiales has appealed the decision.
Since Rubiales kissed Hermoso as the players received their winners' medals in Sydney on August 20, 2023, he has maintained that the kiss was consensual. Hermoso has consistently maintained she did not give consent and testified to that effect in court.
Rubiales and three other RFEF employees — the former Spain women's coach Jorge Vilda, the former Newcastle United forward and ex-RFEF sporting director Albert Luque and former marketing director Ruben Rivera — were also acquitted of the charge of coercion.
Spain return to action against England at Wembley on Wednesday.
After her side's Nations League draw with Portugal on Friday, England manager Sarina Wiegman said: 'I stand with the Spanish players and it's really sad they have this on their path. But there is also change in society and they have so much courage to stand for this and themselves and we stand in solidarity with them. It's just now we have (the) Nations League starting tonight, we are talking about this but we should be talking about the Spanish team and how good they are at football.'
GO DEEPER
Jenni Hermoso was not the victim people wanted her to be - we should be grateful to her for that
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