Controversy is never far away when it comes to the Spanish women’s national team.
It is more than a year since they were crowned world champions despite off-field tensions caused by the dropping before the tournament of 15 players — who became known as ‘Las 15’ — only some of whom returned for the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
Those tensions were then brutally exposed by the scandal that followed then-Spanish Federation (RFEF) president Luis Rubiales’ unsolicited kiss on Jenni Hermoso during the trophy ceremony. The case will go to trial in February; earlier this month, Netflix released a documentary on the player movement it sparked called It’s All Over: The Kiss That Changed Spanish Football.
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Two of the players who were protagonists in that documentary, Hermoso and longtime captain Irene Paredes, were left out of Spain’s squad for friendlies against South Korea (last Friday, which they won 5-0) and France tonight (Tuesday). Goalkeeper Misa Rodriguez, who was part of Spain’s World Cup squad, is also absent.
So, what is going on and why is it significant?
What happened?
Last month, reigning world champions and UEFA Nations League holders Spain released their squad…
