- Aitana Bonmat Leads Spain to Historic 5-1 Victory
- Bonmat’s Brace and Midfield Mastery Propel Spain
- Quarterfinals Beckon as Spain Makes History
Aitana Bonmat’s masterful performance propelled Spain to a 5-1 victory over Switzerland and into the Women’s World Cup quarterfinals for the very first time.
The superstar midfielder Bonmat scored a magnificent brace and was the driving force behind the European powerhouses’ success. At Eden Park, Laia Codina scored twice, while Alba Redondo and Jennifer Hermoso also scored.
Spain will face the victor of Sunday’s match between the Netherlands and South Africa in Sydney, and they appear to be in excellent shape. After the 4-0 group stage loss to Japan, their coach Jorge Vilda benched five players, including the two-time Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas.
Vilda also replaced Misa Rodrguez, the starting custodian, with Cata Coll of Barcelona, who made her international debut, and Codina, who made her first start of the tournament. It took Spain’s drastically altered lineup only five minutes to seize control.
The Swiss goalkeeper, Galle Thallman, made a fantastic save to deny Alba Redondo, but the attacker recovered and worked the ball back to Bonmat, who pierced the needle to open the scoring in front of 43,217 spectators – a record for a women’s or men’s soccer game in New Zealand.
Codina’s disastrous own goal gave Switzerland a foothold in the contest six minutes later. In an attempt to cope with a long ball, the center-back elected to pass the ball to Coll, who was unprepared for a back pass. The ball instead went past the custodian and into the net.
Redondo alleviated Spanish nerves in the 17th minute when she headed home with a beautiful cross from Ona Battle.
Then, in the 33rd minute, Bonmat’s spectacular left-footed volley forced Thallman to make a spectacular acrobatic save.
Three minutes later, Bonmat seized on a cross with her right foot, swiveled and shifted the ball to her left foot, and then calmly drilled it home. Codina scored Spain’s fourth goal from a corner kick just before halftime to redeem himself and put Spain up 4-1 at the break.
Switzerland ought to have scored an equalizer early in the second half. Ana Crnogorcevic superbly set up Meriame Terchoun, but the substitute shot directly at Coll. Bonmat seized on a loose pass from Switzerland in the 71st minute and played in Hermoso, who calmly completed the rout.
“A 5-1 [victory] in the round of 16 is not easy,” Bonmat remarked after the match. “I have a great deal of faith in this team, and we are now moving on to the quarterfinals.”
“We have demonstrated our capabilities despite not being at our best,” said coach Jorge Vilda. “Finally, we’ve arrived, we’ve pressed well, we’ve made history, and we’ve demonstrated that we’re a team of 23 individuals. Today, they are deeds, not words, and we are ecstatic, to be honest.”
