Long before Ivana Andres hoisted the trophy towards the night sky in Sydney, some aspects of the Women’s World Cup had become abundantly clear: the expansion to 32 teams had been fully justified, women’s football is now a major revenue-generator, and the era of US hegemony is over. As for the final itself, it added another pointer: perhaps a Spanish reign of dominance is beginning.
Prior to these finals, La Roja had not won a major tournament knockout tie. Now, with that mental hurdle smashed after four in succession, culminating with their 1-0 final win over England, they could have a period of dominance like their men did after breaking through with victory at Euro 2008.
Not only is the core of the team also at Europe’s leading club side, Barcelona, there is also plenty more talent coming through: in the last12 months, Spain have also won the Under-17 and Under-20 World Cups.
It may be that Spain’s biggest problems will be internal, though even then the quality of the player pool may overcome the schisms between the players and the federation, as it did in New Zealand and Australia.
Spain went to the finals with a clutch of key players absent having
