- Spain’s Historic Victory: Making History in Women’s World Cup
- Redemption for Spain’s Great Generation with Semifinal Entry
- Paralluelo’s Goal Seals Fate: From Struggles to Grace in Women’s Football
Spain received an answer after pounding on the door for two hours with parched throats and bloody knuckles. Of course, it was the response they deserved, but they were also aware that what you deserve and what you receive are frequently two distinct things. A few long white clouds and a dazzling blue sky gazed down upon Salma Paralluelo as her yellow-soled boots devoured the pristine green grass. And perhaps it was Spain’s ultimate good fortune that the opportunity to make history fell to a woman with no historical awareness or burden. Two feet and a ball, and the bare essentials of youth.
By scoring against the unlucky Daphne van Domselaar, the 19-year-old Barcelona winger saved much more than Spain’s tournament. She redeemed their conception of who they are, the notion that this great generation can still be great and that the wounds of the past do not have to harm the present. Spain will compete in a World Cup semi-final for the first time, against Sweden in Auckland on Tuesday, and for the first time, they may believe that fate is on their side.
The caliber we were already aware of. On the left, dancers Mariona Caldentey and Ona Batlle are precisely synchronizing their movements.
In the center, Aitana Bonmat and Jennifer Hermoso set the game’s schedule. Teresa Abelleira at the base of midfield was perhaps the best of all, so implacable and impregnable that the Netherlands were limited to a single strategy: long passes out of defense for Lineth Beerensteyn to pursue. Bernstein missed two golden opportunities in extra time, and the strains of an ancient song began to play: the song in which Spain dominates, dictates, and leaves with nothing.
Do you acquire or create your good fortune? Spain had a goal disallowed in the first half, and the Netherlands had a perfectly fine penalty disallowed in the second, but despite Stefanie van der Gragt’s 91st-minute equalizer forcing extra time, Spain was by far the superior team. “A match with a lot of emotions,” as Spain’s head coach Jorge Vilda described it afterward, but this time was different. Vilda added, “Selma’s objective was pure joy.”
And delight has not always been the first word that comes to mind when describing this team over the past few years, which has been riven by resignations and recriminations, as well as the suspicion that Spain’s players are doing all of this despite their manager and not for him. Vilda has also had a successful tournament, with the majority of his selections and substitutions being fruitful.
Here, he brought back Caldentey, brought Paralluelo off the bench to stretch out Dutch limbs, resisted the temptation to shatter the glass and throw in an undercooked Alexia Putellas, and resisted the urge to throw in an undercooked Alexia Putellas.
Inside the stadium, the atmosphere was nearly silent. They speak a lot about honoring the ancestors in these parts, and Wellington decided to do so by making as little noise as possible in this instance. An early goal may have been beneficial. Instead, Spain missed numerous opportunities: Esther González in four minutes, Alba Redondo in six minutes, and Redondo twice striking the post in seventeen minutes. Danielle van de Donk, possibly the only Dutch player capable of disrupting this Spanish midfield, stood glumly in a tracksuit at the rear of the stands, suspended.
And in possession, the Dutch were like a DJ who only played one song: Lineth. However, Oihane Hernández and Irene Paredes handled the aerial assault, and Cata Coll in goal was quick enough to clear the remainder. In between, Spain continued to pass through. Before the half, González had the ball in the net; however, he was offside. The Dutch improved in the second half, and the barrage of long passes to Beerensteyn finally paid off: Beerensteyn flew past Paredes, felt a gentle push in her kidneys, and dove. Stephanie Frappart imposed the penalty, reviewed the footage, and then reversed her decision.
In the final ten minutes, Van Domselaar runs out of miracles. She had spent the entire afternoon sprawling, throwing, bending, and contorting herself in defense of the Dutch goal. It had been her against the world all afternoon, as she was the only remaining soldier in the town. Eventually, the sandbags fell apart. The gates eventually toppled. Caldentey scored her penalty off the post after Paralluelo sent in the cross, Van der Gragt stupidly extended her palm, and Van der Gragt foolishly extended it.
Thus, the Dutch eventually began to play. What if they had presented this type of business earlier? Victoria Pelova slipped the ball through, hoping to avoid Katja Snoeijs’s reach, as injury time began.
What was this, though? Van der Gragt marched out of defense, the retiring center-back resolving to spend her final international minutes feeding on a weary defense while playing in the forward position. And indeed, this was a goal scored by a central defender, a shot consisting entirely of consonants with no vowels, a thud so agriculturally primitive that it belonged in a museum alongside some broken pots and a primordial medieval plow.
The extra measure was played on the tip of a needle. Spain again attempted to impose its will but was unsuccessful. Bernstein, whose fuel tank was still full, ran through and fired just wide. In the 110th minute, she lofted a wobbling ball from six yards over the crossbar. Beerensteyn was still clutching her head a few seconds later when Hermoso held up the ball and played a perfect through ball into the path of Parallels. “That was the moment,” Netherlands coach Andries Jonker admitted afterward.
Thus, Spain could finally experience a moment of grace. Paralluelo’s left-footed shot was as sweet as a song, as sweet as youth itself, and it landed a few inches above the earth. This would no longer be Austria on penalties in 2017, Megan Rapinoe in 2019, or Georgia Stanway in 2022. No longer the most mediocre performers. No longer even close. The time for regretting the past has passed. Now is the time for magnificent aspirations and visions.
