England fall short as Spain earn deserved first World Cup title
In a closely fought final, the right team came out on the winning side as England struggled to get grips with the new world champions...
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Spain are the world champions for the first time.
And for all England's pushing, it was deserved. The Lionesses ran out of roar, as it felt like they were perhaps going to do at some point in a tournament where they'd used up several of their nine lives, but they had no response for a Spanish team which has finally utilised the talent it has to offer.
It ensured a somewhat bittersweet ending to an amazing tournament full of incredible stories and shocks for many, as Spain's players lifted head coach Jorge Vilda up in the air post-match, but it shouldn't be forgotten what this team went through over the past 12 months.
On the one hand, the fact they have won a World Cup when at one point it looked like they'd be coming to Australia and New Zealand without many key players, and still did with the absence of many, is incredible, but it's also a reminder of the sad backdrop to this historic success.
But, on the pitch, it was deserved. Ironically, Spain was the only remaining side in the last eight who didn't win their group after a humiliating 4-0 defeat to Japan which appeared again to cast doubt on their credentials to go all the way.
Vilda made bold calls, such as bringing in uncapped goalkeeper Cata Coll, whose 103rd minute claim from a corner with the last touch of the tournament went unnoticed in the list of defining moments in this final, but it was a more than stellar game and World Cup for the Barcelona youngster.
England, unchanged from their semi-final, struggled to get going and elements of their 3-5-2 was exposed by Spain's width as both Ona Batlle and Olga Carmona got forward to overload England's wing-backs, while Teresa Abelleira, Aitana Bonmatí and Jenni Hermoso controlled the middle of the park.
Hermoso in that attacking midfield role has done well and won the Silver Ball to go with it, and going into the final had created 13 chances, the most in the tournament, three clear of both Georgia Stanway and Leicy Santos.
Spain's intensity was evident. They'd created more high turnovers and high press sequences than England through the tournament and while England did try to press themselves, La Roja were comfortable in playing around it in the early exchanges.
For all Spain's pressure and control, it will be frustrating for England that it came from an avoidable mistake. As Lucy Bronze marauded forward, she was crowded out and her pass went loose, and Spain again looked to switch play quick and eventually found Olga Carmona who will go down in history as the match-winner.
On a pitch where so many players have enjoyed incredible tournaments, a word for Carmona, who was dropped temporarily earlier in the tournament, yet has proven to be the match-winner for her country in both a semi-final and a final.
Sarina Wiemgan, staring down the barrel of just a second defeat with England, twisted earlier than usual. Chloe Kelly and Lauren James replaced Alessia Russo and Rachel Daly and with it the Lionesses reverted to their old shape, and did start to gain some momentum.
The most frustrating element of this though was the personnel withdrawn. In a 3-5-2, England have relied less on crosses, yet back in a 4-2-3-1 they once again, understandbly, started whipping balls in, but had withdrawn the two outlets most likely to get on the end of them.
When Bethany England was introduced late on and Millie Bright also joined her up top, it looked like a duo to cause chaos, only for England to then promptly stop crossing the ball.
In truth, bar the odd save, they never managed to overly test Coll, while deserved Golden Glove winner Mary Earps kept them in it, never more so than when she saved Hermoso's penalty which would have put the game to bed.
Spain's game management, for once, was excellent, even if they were lucky perhaps Paralluelo wasn't shown a second yellow for blatantly kicking the ball away. England though struggled to get big players in the game, with even James struggling to be effective against a compact back line and defence.
Bonmatí, who won the Golden Ball, was exceptional in the midfield, effortlessly gliding past players and gave the ball away just twice all game. In any match, that's a superb performance for any midfielder, but in a high-energy World Cup final against a very good side who are the European champions, it's beyond exceptional.
England can take so much away from this tournament. With the injuries they had, optimism was low over going one step beyond their Euro 2022 success, and few ever believed a final would be in reach, particularly after a sub-par opening to the tournament.
In the end, familiar flaws returned as they lacked a clinical edge in attack and became the first team not to score against Spain in the knockout rounds, leaving Wiegman still searchig for a World Cup after back-to-back final defeats.
This is a young squad nowhere near its peak, whereas Spain now could be an unstoppable force having finally broken through their mental barrier. In the last 12 months, they have won World Cups at Under 17, Under 20 and now senior level, and whichever way you put it that's pretty incredible.
Be interested to know thoughts on the refereeing. When does the same referee get the semi-final and the final in a world cup? We are pretty clear who the best referee in the world and she wasn't refereeing today! Irrespective of the outcome the booking of Hemp was result of simulation by the Spanish defender and I think we all saw her reach for the yellow card over the time wasting incident late on which could have had an impact.
As for England, beaten by the better side on the day. No question.
I know England had a couple of good results and reached the final, but you'll never convinced me 352 gets the best out of this squad. We had to go 2 up top to help our Russo, who can't really play that 9 by herself, and from that point of view it worked, but at what cost.
If you're going to bring Russo off at half time and switch back to 433 why not put Daly up front. I was quite surprised Daly came off. Leaving her on, even at left back, gives you an option to stick another forward up front for the last 20 minutes without having to make a substitution or get desperate by pushing Bright forward.
Sarina's had a lot of deserved praise this past 12 months, but I think some of her decisions in this tournament are open to questioning.
At least we'll always have Arnold Clark Cup supremacy.