Rewind to nearly a year ago and their success over the past four weeks would have been unthinkable.
Jorge Vilda was derided by some of his players as a control freak who was not up to the job, but the coach now stands on the brink of making history with Spain at the Women’s World Cup.
Discontent between players on the one side and the Spanish football federation and Vilda on the other had been brewing for some time.In September 2022 the situation exploded – 15 of the squad emailed the RFEF to say they did not want to be considered for selection, citing their “emotional state”. Reports said the players, many of whom were at Barcelona, accused Vilda of being “dictatorial” and did not approve of his training methods or tactics.
Vilda said in the lead-up to the World Cup that the dispute was “practically over”, but of the 15 mutineers, he only called up three. He became involved in the national women’s youth football teams, entrusted with what they hoped would be a golden generation of Spanish players.
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