MADRID, 19 Ago. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish soccer player Irene Paredes stressed this Saturday that she and almost all her teammates in the national team have grown up “thinking that it was not our place”, alluding to the possibility of winning the Women’s World Cup, whose final will be played this Sunday (12:00 p.m. ) between the teams from Spain and England.
“Most of us here have grown up thinking that it was not our place, that football was a place that did not belong to you, that they have hit you, that they have given you the worst hours, that you have been trained by people who hardly I was prepared for it. And as the years have gone by, we have leveled up,” Paredes said at a press conference from Sydney (Australia).
“We have been given these conditions, but we know that in amateur football this has not yet happened. So if it helps them to know that it is possible, that this place is also ours, that they can play a World Cup final and that we are their references, Well, that too is history and it makes us truly happy”, highlighted the Spanish defender.
In front of the journalists, Paredes analyzed his career: “Throughout my career, having had no references, I have been taking steps because it was what I liked and because doors have been opening for me. But hey, once you get to the elite and you see that you are capable of this, you see where you want to go, the games you want to play and you work hard”.
“These opportunities don’t always come your way and the team has been doing very well. We have the opportunity to play in a World Cup final, which is said to be easy, but it costs a lot to get here. So it’s time to enjoy it and do what you want.” we have done so far”, argued the central defense of the ‘Red’.
He also indicated that the progression of women’s football in Spain “is a change of mentality, it is a change of physical state and understanding of the game, it is adding experience, it is that all the girls develop to reach the national team in conditions”. “It is an accumulation of a lot of work from all over the world so that we can be here,” she said about it.
“There is no nerves at the moment,” Paredes acknowledged on the eve of the final. “Some will enter tomorrow because I think it’s logical when you play a match of this caliber. In the rest we are happy and we are very clear that what has brought us here has been training and having the focus on the field, training well, in try to do things better every day, to enjoy it and that’s what we’re going to do”, he explained.
“There is also a lot of talk about the news that comes to us from Spain, but we are very clear that this is something external. What we have to do is focus on the game,” repeated Paredes, who will have several front rows in the final teammates from FC Barcelona.
“We are teammates and it is something to be congratulated on, but in recent days I at least have not spoken to them. They are rivals and we are going to go after them. It is true that we have a good relationship, that we know each other a lot , but on days like this I prefer not to have contact,” he said.
“What this team has is that there are a lot of people who have worked very well, that we have evolved in recent years, that we have a mixture of veterans and youth, that each one contributes their own. And I think it is being a very, very combination. It’s good to have confidence in us and have worked hard. That has given us the opportunity to play in a final,” Paredes continued with his speech.
The culé defender admitted the “special illusion” that the support of so many fans from Spain generates in her “because it means that a change is taking place, that we continue with the change, that we are interested, that people are following us, that people are demanding, that people support us.” “Speaking of making history, the fact that those things happen is also history,” she added.
“We know that now a lot of people. When things are going well, people are more hooked, there are more media that cover us, there is more talk about us. Arriving at tomorrow’s game sportingly is something brutal, it makes us happy, but also for everything that occurs outside. And if this really helps to bring about changes in society, at the level of institutions and clubs, then happy about it,” Paredes insisted.
“Spain has always been a country of football. We have grown up with football in society, but as I said before, it was not our place or that is not how we were made to feel. I think that previous generations, perhaps the one before mine, were the ones that began to exert the most force,” he warned.
“They were stubborn and they have been pushing to invest. And that today the lower categories are also doing it is no coincidence, it is the work of the clubs, of each one of the players and then also of the Federation, which puts the means so that these results can be achieved”, he supported the RFEF.
Asked about how to face the title date, Paredes replied that simply “focusing on football.” “In the end, everything that is generated around us as players takes away from us. Thinking about the importance of the match, about ‘what if you win’ or ‘what if you don’t win’, it only takes away and takes your focus away” , added the central defense.
“I hope the team is doing well, because we can do it very, very well. And for all the people who don’t know us or who are now getting hooked on our games, I would ask you to support us. Give us the opportunity, even the institutions and clubs that support grassroots football, that give us the same opportunities, because in the end with effort we can do very beautiful, very important things”, concluded Paredes.