It’s football, and sometimes it’s unfair, by Javier Alfaro

July 20, 2022 could have gone down in history as the day the Spanish women’s football team got past the quarterfinals of a European Championship for the first time, but it was not. She was very close, much more than what was announced by some unflattering forecasts with those of Jorge Vilda by pointing to England as a clear favorite to win, but in the end the forecasts were fulfilled.

Spain, without being Virginia Torrecilla, Beautiful Jenny y Alexia Putellas on the green, but being very present both them and everyone who has helped in the growth of women’s football in this country, stood up to England and was even superior to the ‘lionesses’ in various phases of the game. The Roja He pulled from pride, courage and, above anything else, from playing football well, which is what he knows how to do best. But it was not enough.

It was not enough because football has these things. At times it seems scripted by the wickedest of scriptwriters. Mapi León, Patri Guijarro, Aitana Bonmatí, Athenea del Castillo, Esther González and, in short, each and every one of the members of the National Team, put everything on their part and well deserved the award of going to the semifinals, but the soccer writer did not want to give him that gift. The writer or referee who decided to validate the 1-1 when Russo had made a mistake about Irene Paredes in the action that made it easier for Toone to score.

Be that as it may, spain said goodbye to this European Championship but she did it with her head held high, helping the country to see more and more of a reality that women’s soccer doesn’t need that surname that is inevitably still attached to it. It’s football, without more, and sometimes, like this July 20, it’s unfair.