“The players have the ambition to win and I want to learn”
MADRID, 30 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The national women’s soccer coach, Montse Tomé, assured in the preview of the match against Italy in Pontevedra, qualifier for the Final Four of the Nations League, that the players and coaching staff form a team with “a lot of desire for everything” and with ambition and talent put to the benefit of the group, with the desire to improve from the base of being world champions.
“We always want to improve but we start from a great base, of being world champions. In the last game against Switzerland, when the lead was 7-1, we came out thinking that there are many things to improve. They have the ambition to win and the talent to put it in front of all of Pontevedra and Spain, and I am eager to learn with the coaching staff. We form a team that is eager for everything,” he said at a press conference.
Spain will play this Friday against Italy in Pontevedra and on December 5 in Malaga against Sweden to qualify for the ‘Final Four’ of the UEFA Women’s Nations League. Regarding the first rival, the transalpines, he believes that they are a “strong” team.
“They are a good rival. We played against them and they planted a low 5-4-1 block – very defensive. We scored the goal in the 90th minute but we had enough chances to do it before. The team had patience and chances and in the end we got the prize. Now it can present other alternatives, against Sweden its structure was more open and with more inside play. It is a match of the highest level, we face it with maximum enthusiasm and strength and we are looking forward to it,” he assured.
Despite the fact that a place in the final four was at stake, and that Sweden would be the great rival, he denied that they were going to pay attention to what the Swedes did. “We focus on ourselves and what we can do in tomorrow’s game. We have prepared the game by seeing the differences that this rival has, to find where we can do damage and focusing above all on ourselves, on our potential and on what to do to win. We will see what happens in the rest of the games when they finish,” he argued.
And, in looking at themselves, they recognized that they like to have several alternatives in attack. “I like that the players up front create depth for me. We like to generate advantages in the game and that allows us to reach from the wing and inside. There is an adaptation component in the players we have. We can play with Salma, Esther, Inma or Jenni and depending on who is there we can generate superiority in one way or another. It is great luck to have so many alternatives,” he celebrated.
There is also good competition in goal, between Cata Coll, Misa Rodríguez and Enith Salon. “We are lucky to have three great goalkeepers and all three are at a good level. We evaluate all the possibilities. Today they don’t know which players are going to start. But I send the message that we have a well-covered goal,” he said.
“The team is fine, right now we have 24 players in good condition, who will be able to do today’s training. We are looking forward to starting this last training session before the game,” he assured. Regarding Irene Paredes, having overcome tonsillitis, she commented that she could play – “we have made the progress we wanted and it is positive” after already training with the group, just like Mariona Caldentey, fully recovered from her discomfort.
On the other hand, the Catalan center Laia Codina is a doubt, who must appear in the Pontevedra court at 10:00 a.m. to testify in the ‘Rubiales case’. “It is true that it is not the ideal scenario, but she is calm. From the RFEF we are going to help her. This cannot be avoided and it is her obligation to be there, but it is true that Laia is a very focused player, a girl with a lot of ability. It goes having to be there, we are going to help her and be with her,” said the coach.
Regarding the arrival of Markel Zubizarreta, former sports director of FC Barcelona Women, to the team structure, he celebrated it. “I value it very positively, last week we were able to be with him. He has experience in women’s football as a sports director at the highest level and he is going to contribute many things to us, he is already doing it in the concentration. It will surely be a good success “he predicted.