Spain and England put on a show on Sunday night for the World Cup final that put their semi-final victories into perspective.
These were the two best teams in the competition, they didn’t look out on their feet as Australia and Sweden had done in their third-place play-off match a day earlier and the football on show was fast, concise and full of intent.
The action matched the occasion, and the result saw the best team on the night victorious. Salma Paralluelo was simply outstanding as the spearhead of the Spanish attack, and the England defence had their hands full containing her dazzling skills and those of her teammates.
Reaction from the England followers during and after the game was general uproar at the way the Spanish players dived and conned, and there were moans about their time-wasting tactics and the way they slowed the game down to get the maximum from every stoppage. That’s game management at its finest.
The neutral fans, and indeed a large contingent of Australian fans at Stadium Australia, would definitely not lose any sleep seeing England get a taste of the medicine they happily dispensed in the semi-final only four nights previously. The crowd was pro-England, the songs chosen to accompany the spectacle had an English persuasion. In fact, it could be even argued that Spain had the rough end of the stick from the officials too, which makes their victory even more remarkable.
There was a selection of moments, other than the goalmouth action and the chances, that made this an entertaining spectacle for the 75,000 in attendance.
(Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)
When Lucy Bronze brought down Olga Carmona early in the game, Lauren Hemp decided to stand over the ball. Carmona went to play the free-kick quickly into the shins of Hemp and give the referee something to think about, but she simply opened her legs, letting the ball through, which put Spain into a tricky situation at the back and England almost scored.
We then had a pitch invader, who quickly raced onto the field from a corner of the stadium, casting off his loose clothing and evading security until he did a someone anti-climactic dive onto the field. He was all in black, his t-shirt reading ‘Stop Putler’, a mash-up of Russian president Vladimir Putin and the German dictator Adolf Hitler.
He was manhandled away from view by an entourage of burly security guards, and once down one of the tunnels, one security guard could be seen trying to wrestle his arm into a different position to make the arrest. Not long after, Spain took the lead with a cleverly crafted goal and a sweet finish from Carmona from the left.
Lauren James copped some boos when she appeared for the second half, an interesting sub-plot to the main story, joining Spanish coach Jorge Vilda as the pantomime villain.
Teresa Abelleira tried to score direct from a corner with an audacious outside-of-the-foot shot that skewed behind. The referee must have seen something that no one else saw when booking Hemp, who lunged in to try and intercept a back pass, and caught neither ball nor player, but in the main the officials were trying their best to keep the game flowing.
When Keira Walsh stuck out an arm as Spain were threatening to score, referee Tori Penso was right on the spot and waved it away, laughing and almost refusing to be drawn in by the VAR penalty check. Once she had been summonsed to the sideline to discuss the incident, it was clear that she was not impressed, and after two minutes of deliberation, way too long to constitute an on-field footballing decision of any kind, she reluctantly signalled the penalty.
(Photo by Andy Cheung/Getty Images)
The England players did everything in their powers to disrupt the penalty, and when Mary Earps guessed right to smother Jenni Hermoso’s penalty, the whole stadium saw that she was off her line. Except the VAR and the officials, who waved play on much to the bemusement of the neutral fan, who had become accustomed to the retake and curtailment of excitement that stepping off the line usually brings.
Chloe Kelly wowed the crowd with her close control, Paralluelo was booked for a collision with Alex Greenwood that seemed harsh in real time until the replay showed a knee to the head, and the huge delay allowed the crowd to indulge in a spectacular Mexican wave that was perfectly timed and executed to bring Stadium Australia to a crescendo.
When Hermoso came back on to the field after treatment for having studs raked across her legs, an England substitution occurred simultaneously at the halfway line, Hermoso’s number being held aloft, causing confusion with the referee, who ushered Hermoso off the field again. It was pure comedy now.
Paralluelo was fortunate not to get a second yellow for kicking the ball away over the advertising hoardings, Spain were denied a second goal by the foot of Earps, and the final 13 minutes of additional time were incredibly exciting.
Greenwood, patched up with a huge bandage around her head, played a long ball to no one to the frustration of her teammates. A phantom whistle in the crowd signalled the final whistle a minute in advance, but there was still a late corner to deal with, the England keeper coming forward to join the search for a dramatic equaliser. When goalkeeper Cata Coll grabbed the corner and fell to the ground with ball tucked in her arms, it was only a moment before the whistle had gone and the Spanish celebrations could begin.
As World Cup finals go, this one was an absolute classic. England played the part of wounded animal in their tenacious fight for an equalising goal, with a partisan crowd behind them, while Spain made counter attack their best form of defence and could have been out of sight at the end of the game.
For the Australians in the crowd, the overwhelming majority of the football fans at the stadium, this was bittersweet. To lose to the eventual champions would be a badge of honour, but to see England frustrated in the same way that the Matildas had to endure on Wednesday night was perhaps the karma that we all needed to bring closure to the tournament. What a World Cup this has been, drama and excitement right up until the very last moment of the last game. And it all happened here in our own backyard.
