Spain Wins Its First Women’s World Cup Title, Beating England 1-0 in the Final

Football - FIFA Women's World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023 - Final - Spain v England - Stadium Australia, Sydney, Australia - August 20, 2023 Spain celebrate with the trophy after winning the world cup. (Reuters)
Football - FIFA Women's World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023 - Final - Spain v England - Stadium Australia, Sydney, Australia - August 20, 2023 Spain celebrate with the trophy after winning the world cup. (Reuters)
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Spain Wins Its First Women’s World Cup Title, Beating England 1-0 in the Final

Football - FIFA Women's World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023 - Final - Spain v England - Stadium Australia, Sydney, Australia - August 20, 2023 Spain celebrate with the trophy after winning the world cup. (Reuters)
Football - FIFA Women's World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023 - Final - Spain v England - Stadium Australia, Sydney, Australia - August 20, 2023 Spain celebrate with the trophy after winning the world cup. (Reuters)

Spain won its first Women’s World Cup title less than a year after a player rebellion, holding off England 1-0 on Sunday after Olga Carmona’s first-half goal.

The victory made La Roja the first team to hold the under-17, under-20 and senior world titles at the same time. Spain is the fifth winner in nine editions of the Women’s World Cup and joined Germany as the only two nations to win both the men’s and women’s titles.

At the final whistle the Spanish players piled on each other in front of their goal. They were still dancing on the field until the trophy presentations, where they kissed the trophy and raised their arms in triumph as golden glitter fell from above.

“I think all of us we felt that this team had something special,” Carmona said. “I believe that we’ve shown this on the field, we’ve shown this in the group stage, in the knockout stages. We’ve been fighting until the end. We never stopped.”

The Lionesses were trying to bring a World Cup back to England for the first time since the men won it in 1966. The wait will go on.

“They’re a fantastic team. I think first half we weren’t our best, second half, we definitely put the fire in,” England captain Millie Bright said. "But yeah, we just couldn’t finish it today. This is the hard part of football.”

For England, Bright said, the loss brought a “huge amount of disappointment.”

“You know at first you feel like you failed with not winning," she said. "I think in a couple of weeks and it settles it will be really really proud.”

In an open game featuring multiple chances for both teams, Carmona’s left-foot strike in the 29th minute — finishing off a fast-breaking counterattack after Lucy Bronze lost possession — remained the only goal.

Carmona also scored the game-winner in the 89th minute of Spain’s 2-1 semifinal victory over Sweden, becoming the first player since Carli Lloyd in 2015 to score in a World Cup semifinal and final.

Spain had a chance to double the lead in the 68th after a VAR review awarded a penalty for Keira Walsh's handball, but Jenni Hermoso’s penalty attempt was saved by Mary Earps, who anticipated perfectly and dived to her left.

England coach Sarina Wiegman said she thought that would be the momentum shifter for her team.

Spain’s victory comes despite a near-mutiny by players last year. Fifteen players said they were stepping away from the national team for their mental health while also calling for a more professional environment.

Three of those players — Ona Batlle, Aitana Bonmatí and Mariona Caldentey — reconciled with the federation and were at the World Cup.

England had momentum going into the tournament after winning the European Championship at home last summer, including a quarterfinal win over Spain. But three of the team’s best players, captain Leah Williamson, Fran Kirby and Beth Mead, all had knee injuries that kept them off the World Cup squad.

Wiegman was the first coach to take her teams to back-to-back World Cup title matches. She led the Netherlands to the final in 2019, but fell 2-0 to the United States. She's now 0-2 in the championship match.

“When we found out that we had England in the final, we analyzed them and saw how they played,” Bonmati said. “We prepared it well, we came out confident of what we were doing, of our game, of our fight, of our dedication.”

England was coming off a 3-1 victory over host Australia in the semifinal. Lauren James, who was the team’s top scorer with three goals and three assists, was forced to sit out two matches after being suspended for stomping on Nigeria’s Michelle Alozie to open the knockout stage.

While James was available for the final, Wiegman started Ella Toone and used the Chelsea winger as a second-half substitute in a double change to spark the attack.

One of England's best chances was in the 16th when Lauren Hemp’s blast caromed off the crossbar. A minute later, Salma Paralluelo raced toward goal but couldn’t get a clean shot and Earps stopped Alba Redondo’s attempt in the scramble in front of the net.

Coach Jorge Vilda started 19-year-old Paralluelo, who scored the breakthrough goal for Spain against Sweden, and the game-winner in extra time over the Netherlands in the quarterfinal. Those efforts helped her win the young player of the tournament award, while Earps won the Golden Glove for best goalkeeper and Bonmati won the Golden Ball for best player of World Cup.

Paralluelo nearly scored seconds from half time but her shot hit the post.

Hemp had another chance in the 54th but sent it wide. A minute later she was handed a yellow card for a foul on Laia Codina.

Vilda had a challenge in working around two-time Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas, who was still working her way back from a torn ACL last year. For the final, Putellas was on the bench at the start.

Putellas went into the game with 15 seconds left in regulation, but there were 13 minutes of stoppage time.

After the match Putellas was in tears as her teammates danced in front of the flag-waving fans behind the team's bench.

There were 75,784 fans at the final at Stadium Australia, including tennis great Billie Jean King, increasing the record attendance for the tournament to more than 1.975 million.



Olympics in India a ‘Dream’ Facing Many Hurdles

A laborer fixes the Olympic signage at the entrance of a venue ahead of the upcoming 141st International Olympic Committee (IOC) session in Mumbai on October 11, 2023. (AFP)
A laborer fixes the Olympic signage at the entrance of a venue ahead of the upcoming 141st International Olympic Committee (IOC) session in Mumbai on October 11, 2023. (AFP)
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Olympics in India a ‘Dream’ Facing Many Hurdles

A laborer fixes the Olympic signage at the entrance of a venue ahead of the upcoming 141st International Olympic Committee (IOC) session in Mumbai on October 11, 2023. (AFP)
A laborer fixes the Olympic signage at the entrance of a venue ahead of the upcoming 141st International Olympic Committee (IOC) session in Mumbai on October 11, 2023. (AFP)

India says it wants the 2036 Olympics in what is seen as an attempt by Narendra Modi to cement his legacy, but the country faces numerous challenges to host the biggest show on earth.

The prime minister says staging the Games in a nation where cricket is the only sport that really matters is the "dream and aspiration" of 1.4 billion people.

Experts say it is more about Modi's personal ambitions and leaving his mark on the world stage, while also sending a message about India's political and economic rise.

Modi, who is also pushing for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, will be 86 in 2036.

"Hosting the Olympics will, in a way, burnish India's credentials as a global power," said academic Ronojoy Sen, author of "Nation at Play", a history of sport in India.

"The current government wants to showcase India's rise and its place on the global high table, and hosting the Olympic Games is one way to do it."

Already the most populous nation, India is on track to become the world's third-biggest economy long before the planned Olympics.

- Olympics in 50-degree heat? -

India submitted a formal letter of intent to the International Olympic Committee in October, but has not said where it wants to hold the Games.

Local media are tipping Ahmedabad in Modi's home state of Gujarat, a semi-arid region where temperatures surge above 50 degrees Celsius (122F) in summer.

Gujarat state has already floated a company, the Gujarat Olympic Planning and Infrastructure Corporation, with a $710 million budget.

Ahmedabad has about six million people, its heart boasting a UNESCO-listed 15th-century wall which sprawls out into a rapidly growing metropolis.

The city is home to a 130,000-seater arena, the world's biggest cricket stadium, named after Modi. It staged the 2023 Cricket World Cup final.

The city is also the headquarters of the Adani Group conglomerate, headed by billionaire tycoon and Modi's close friend Gautam Adani.

Adani was the principal sponsor for the Indian team at this summer's Paris Olympics, where the country's athletes won one silver and five bronze medals.

- 'Window of opportunity' -

Despite its vast population India's record at the Olympics is poor for a country of its size, winning only 10 gold medals in its history.

Sports lawyer Nandan Kamath said hosting an Olympics was an "unprecedented window of opportunity" to strengthen Indian sport.

"I'd like to see the Olympics as a two-week-long wedding event," he said.

"A wedding is a gateway to a marriage. The work you do before the event, and all that follows, solidifies the relationship."

Outside cricket, which will be played at the Los Angeles Games in 2028, Indian strengths traditionally include hockey and wrestling.

New Delhi is reported to be pushing for the inclusion at the Olympics of Indian sports including kabaddi and kho kho -- tag team sports -- and yoga.

Retired tennis pro Manisha Malhotra, a former Olympian and now talent scout, agreed that global sporting events can boost grassroots sports but worries India might deploy a "top-down" approach.

"Big money will come in for the elite athletes, the 2036 medal hopefuls, but it will probably end at that," said Malhotra, president of the privately funded training center, the Inspire Institute of Sport.

Veteran sports journalist Sharda Ugra said India's underwhelming sports record -- apart from cricket -- was "because of its governance structure, sporting administrations and paucity of events".

"So then, is it viable for us to be building large stadiums just because we are going to be holding the Olympics?

"The answer is definitely no."

The Indian Olympic Association is split between two rival factions, with its president P.T. Usha admitting to "internal challenges" to any bid.

- 'Poor reputation' -

After Los Angeles, Brisbane will stage the 2032 Games.

The United States and Australia both have deep experience of hosting major sporting events, including previous Olympics.

India has staged World Cups for cricket and the Asian Games twice, the last time in 1982, but it has never had an event the size of an Olympics.

Many are skeptical it can successfully pull it off.

The 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi were marked by construction delays, substandard infrastructure and accusations of corruption.

Many venues today are in a poor state.

"India will need serious repairing of its poor reputation on punctuality and cleanliness," The Indian Express daily wrote in an editorial.

"While stadium aesthetics look pretty in PowerPoint presentations and 3D printing, leaking roofs or sub-par sustainability goals in construction won't help in India making the cut."