Football: Soccer-One small step for Spain, one final push for World Cup glory

AUCKLAND (Reuters) – Spain are just one step away from Women’s World Cup glory after their dramatic 2-1 semi-final win over Sweden on Tuesday and forward Salma Paralluelo said ‘La Roja’ had proved they have what it takes to be crowned champions.

Goalless for 80 minutes, a cagey affair at Eden Park looked to be drifting towards extra time but sparked to life when substitute Paralluelo put Spain ahead with nine minutes left.

Sweden equalised shortly after through Rebecca Blomqvist before Spain captain Olga Carmona struck an 89th-minite winner.

Spain’s players were in tears at full-time and celebrated wildly on the pitch after reaching the final for the first time. They will face co-hosts Australia or European champions England in the final in Sydney on Sunday.

“It was a very tough game. It could have been difficult to recover from their goal, but we’ve shown that this team can deal with anything,” teenager Paralluelo told reporters. “All of us are extremely proud of everything we have done.

“We’re just one step away from glory … We took this little step, and now we need that final push.”

Spain had never won a World Cup knockout game before this tournament. They exited in the group stage in their debut campaign in 2015 and were eliminated in the round of 16 four years ago in France.

A feud between Spain’s players and coach Jorge Vilda last year almost derailed their World Cup campaign before it began, with 15 players threatening to quit the national team if the long-serving coach was not fired.

Spain’s federation backed Vilda, who froze out the mutineers from his squad before welcoming some of them back for the World Cup.

Vilda’s new-look side enjoyed comfortable wins over Costa Rica and Zambia in the group stage before losing 4-0 to Japan. They bounced back in style in the knockout stage, trouncing Switzerland 5-1 before beating the Netherlands in extra time to reach the semi-finals.

“Once again, I value my players,” said Vilda, who has been in charge since 2015. “The end result is a learning process which has made us all stronger, in my opinion.

“I’m proud of what we’ve achieved. We’re extremely happy … We’re going to Sydney tomorrow and we want to win.”

(Reporting by Hritika Sharma in Hyderabad; Editing by Peter Rutherford)