As journalists waited near the mixed zone at the DY Patil stadium in Navi Mumbai to speak with German and Nigerian players after their bronze medal match at the Fifa U-17 Women’s World Cup 2022, the team buses carrying the finalists Colombia and Spain rolled into the stadium as the match went into the shoot-out.
The South Americans were first to alight from their bus and filed out one after the other with a focused and determined look on their faces. But when the doors of the Spanish team bus opened, we were greeted with Spanish pop songs blasting at full volume. The Spaniards, as the youngsters say, were chill… with the talismanic Vicky Lopez leading her teammates as they sung along.
Fifa U17 Women’s World Cup: Spain beat Colombia to become first team to defend title
Perhaps it was the familiarity of playing on big occasions but Spain looked like a team which was confident and self-assured enough to not let the pressure of the day bog them down. For them, it was just another match.
“The pressure wasn’t high because we are the Spanish team and we are always in it to win. We were defeated in the Euro final and we knew we had to make up…
