AUCKLAND (Reuters) – When Spain face Costa Rica in their Women’s World Cup Group C opener in Wellington on Friday, twice Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas will step on to the pitch with redemption on her mind after missing out on the European Championship through injury.
The Barcelona midfielder tore her anterior cruciate ligament in training on the eve of the Euros last year and was sidelined for nearly 10 months, finally returning to action in April to make the cut for the national team.
But even when sidelined following surgery, she was supporting her team mates on the pitch and off it as well when 15 players complained to the Spanish FA last year and tried to oust coach Jorge Vilda.
The group, who complained about Vilda’s mismanagement of injuries, the locker room atmosphere and his training methods, were exiled.
But three of those players were eventually called up and Spain arrive at the World Cup following an uneasy truce.
It was Putellas who brought the team together, calming tempers and uniting them for the cause ahead of their third World Cup appearance.
Vilda, who was backed by the federation, has promised that “there will be harmony” with high expectations on their shoulders.
“Before we were ranked 20-something in the world, now we are sixth,” he said. “Now we have players who are recognised as the best in the world.”
Both Spain and Costa Rica made their World Cup debut in 2015 and even faced each other in the group stage, playing out a draw, but the European side have since become one of the favourites for the crown.
While Putellas is playing in her third World Cup, Canadian veteran Christine Sinclair will look to become the first player — man or woman — to score in six World Cups when they face African powerhouse Nigeria in Melbourne.
Sinclair, who made her senior debut as a teenager in 2000, is the game’s most prolific international goal scorer with 190 strikes and she is still going strong at 40.
“(I hope) I helped leave the sport in a better place than I found it,” Sinclair said on her legacy.
But standing in her way could be another 40-year-old, Nigerian centre back Onome Ebi. Should the two face off, it will mark the first time two players in their forties play each other in a FIFA competition.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
