MADRID —
Spain’s ambitions of a breakthrough on the women’s international stage at Euro
2022 have been rocked by a sickening knee injury to reigning
Ballon d’Or winner
Alexia Putellas.
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The Barcelona
midfielder was expected to be one of the shining lights of the tournament until
she ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament in training on Tuesday.
Spain had been
pretournament favorites with the bookmakers thanks to the rise of Barca as a
dominant force of the club game.
However,
Putellas is the second key player ruled out in a matter of weeks after all-time
top goal scorer Jennifer Hermoso also suffered a knee injury.
“23 Alexias ... for
one dream,” Spanish sports daily Marca splashed across their front page on
Wednesday with a picture of the remaining squad members.
But there is no
sugar-coating how devastating a blow to Spain’s chances losing Putellas is.
The 28-year-old has
become an icon at the
Camp Nou with 90,000 chanting her name during Barca’s
Champions League win over Real Madrid earlier this year that broke the world
record for attendance at a women’s match.
“Yesterday was
the day to accept it,” said Putellas’ club and international teammate Patricia
Guijarro on Wednesday.
“We are
desperate to get started and now we are triply determined.”
Guijarro is one
of nine
Barcelona players still in the squad.
Barca Femeni
cruised to the Spanish title last season with 30 wins out of 30, scoring 159
goals and conceding just 11.
They also made
the Champions League final, although missed out on retaining the trophy, and a
treble, after being pipped in the final by Lyon.
‘Drama’
The question remains whether the rise of the Catalan giants could
launch Spain in a similar fashion to when
Pep Guardiola’s Barca laid the
platform for the men’s Spanish side to win two Euros in 2008 and 2012, as well
as the World Cup in between.
“We are players
who have been together for many years, we know each other very well,” said
Leila Ouahabi, who has just left Barca for a move to Manchester City.
“We have a lot
of understanding, it is good and positive to have that connection with those
teammates that you have been getting to know closely for years.”
Irene Paredes
and Mapi Leon will still form arguably the most distinguished defensive pairing
in the tournament.
Guijarro and
Aitana Bonmati’s presence mean Spain will also still have one of the most
talented midfields despite Putellas’ injury.
But there is
little time for La Roja to lick their wounds as they find themselves in the
group of death alongside eight-time winners Germany, 2017 finalists
Denmark and
Finland.
It is 25 years since Spain last reached even the
semi-finals at a Women’s Euro, while at the World Cup, their best performance
was when they went out to the United States in the last 16 three years ago.
Now they have to
handle the weight of huge expectation as well as the loss of their biggest
name.
“It seems that
if we don’t win or get knocked out, it’ll be a drama,” said Leon.
“From the outside there
is unnecessary pressure. Inside the squad, everything is super positive and
everyone is really looking forward to the tournament, but it’s not easy.”
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