Spain drop veteran Irene Paredes and World Cup kiss victim Jennifer Hermoso
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After Spain won the 2023 Women’s World Cup, Spanish football federation chief Luis Rubiales forcibly kissed player Jennifer Hermoso during the medal ceremony.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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MADRID – Spain coach Montserrat Tome on Nov 19 cited “team spirit” as a reason for the omission of World Cup winners Irene Paredes and Jennifer Hermoso from the squad for friendlies against South Korea and France.
After La Roja won the 2023 Women’s World Cup, Luis Rubiales, then president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, forcibly kissed Hermoso during the medal ceremony, provoking a wave of indignation.
Hermoso and Paredes were among several players who appeared in a recent Netflix documentary about the saga.
Spanish media speculated that they were dropped because of what they said in the programme.
Tome was asked about their absence at a press conference.
“We’ve been in an exceptional situation for two years now, and when we started, we were very clear about what we wanted to be as a team,” the 42-year-old coach said.
“I don’t want to say that these players weren’t up to the job, but I’m clear about what I want the team to be and what I like to see, this team spirit, this know-how.”
Tome did include Alexia Putellas and Aitana Bonmati, former and current holders of the Ballon d’Or Feminin, who also spoke in the Netflix documentary, in her 24-woman squad.
Hermoso, 34, is Spain’s all-time leading scorer and second-most capped player, with 123 appearances – four behind Putellas.
Paredes, 33, is third on 111 caps.
After the kiss, Rubiales was forced to resign and was suspended for three years from all football-related activities by world governing body Fifa, and will stand trial for sexual assault in early 2025.
At the World Cup, Spaniard Tome was an assistant to head coach Jorge Vilda, who was dismissed after the victory, and faces trial for alleged coercion of Hermoso.
Spain host South Korea on Nov 29 in Cartagena before taking on France on Dec 3 in Nice.
The other big scandal in women’s football in recent times involves former Canada coach Bev Priestman.
Priestman and two other team officials were suspended by Fifa for a year after New Zealand complained Canadian staff flew drones over their training sessions before their opening match at the Paris Olympics.
But Australia’s interim boss Tom Sermanni hopes Priestman will return to coaching at the top level after serving her ban for the spying scandal, suggesting she would be a good fit for the New Zealand side.
Scotland-born Sermanni, a former assistant coach with the Canadian women and former coach of New Zealand and the United States, said Priestman’s sanction was unduly harsh.
“It just happened to be the wrong thing at the wrong time in the wrong tournament,” he told the New Zealand Herald.
“Had that happened somewhere else at some (other) time, it probably wouldn’t have created the hysteria that it did.
“(I’m) not condoning those things but I think the punishment exceeded the crime in this case.”
Sermanni said Priestman would be a good long-term option for the Football Ferns, who have been coached by caretaker Michael Mayne since Jitka Klimkova stepped down in May over an undisclosed “employment matter”.
Czech Klimkova was cleared after a New Zealand Football investigation but resigned from the post in September.
Priestman is married to former New Zealand midfielder Emma Humphries and Sermanni said she would be a good fit for the role.
“She’s been in New Zealand, she knows the landscape, the people, the culture, the players,” Sermanni said.
Sermanni’s star player Sam Kerr, meanwhile, has been the victim of homophobic abuse, following her announcement of some big personal news.
Her club Chelsea condemned the abuse directed towards star striker Kerr on Nov 19, after she and her fiancee, United States international Kristie Mewis, announced they were expecting a baby.
The 31-year-old Australia captain made the announcement on social media alongside pictures of the couple.
In response, they faced what Chelsea described as “unacceptable and hateful homophobic comments”.
Chelsea women’s coach Sonia Bompastor called the abuse “crazy” but said she is focusing on supporting Kerr.
In more positive news, Michele Kang will invest US$30 million (S$40.2 million) in US Soccer over five years, making the Washington Spirit’s owner the biggest contributor ever to girls’ and women’s football initiatives through the national programme.
The donation is the largest to US Soccer by a woman. AFP, REUTERS
