In September 2022, 15 players of the Spanish first team sent letters to RFEF, Spain’s football federation. In similarly worded messages, each player asked not to be selected for the team’s upcoming October friendlies, saying that conditions in their international environment had compromised their physical and emotional health. Until those issues were resolved, they said they would not represent Spain at the senior level.
RFEF responded with a scathing rebuttal, saying they would not “allow any kind of pressure from players” in the context of sporting or staffing decisions. The federation demanded apologies before allowing any of what came to be known as “Las 15” to return to the team. A number of those players were from FC Barcelona, including Aitana Bonmati and Mariona Caldantey, who have since returned to their international side. Spanish superstar Alexia Putellas was not a member of “Las 15,” though she joined the chorus of players who took issue with the federation’s response. The two-time Ballon d’Or winner was also injured and unavailable for selection at the time.
From the outside, what happened next appeared to be a splintering of the larger group in protest. With the World Cup on the horizon, players like Bonmati and Caldantey returned to the fold, and Putellas returned from injury without any official comment on her stance. But Barcelona standouts Mapi Leon, Patri Guijarro and Claudia Pina stuck to their principles and withdrew their names from World Cup roster selection. Going into the tournament, Spain had two roads in front of them, and the nuances of knockout soccer have allowed them to advance despite those glaring absences.
Through it all, Vilda has remained in charge, though glimpses into team interactions indicate he’s still not a popular figure in Spain camp. He searched for a friendly handshake from players to no avail on the television broadcast after the team’s win over the Netherlands, and Putellas refused handshakes from the entire Spain coaching staff after being subbed off against Sweden.
Tl;dr , the players attempted a mutiny for what appears to be some legit grievances and the Federation backed the coach.
Yeah, I get where you’re coming from but I’m sure the people inside RFEF know exactly what issues the players have.
If you had one player doing it, I guess you could ignore it but fifteen? And it’s not like these players are strangers to high pressure atmospheres. They play for Barcelona or Madrid, they’d know what an intense sporting culture is like so I very much doubt it’s a question of the coach raising his voice too much in training.
This should be a tap-in for a competent Government in the year before a General Election. Let the calls grow then take decisive action to “save the day” in time for the Friday evening news/Saturday’s papers.
over all I think we did well, really really proud of the girls, we nailed the tactics and fought hard.
just missing that last bit of individual skill vs the absolute best teams, like Spain. they’re just marginally better, not much we can do about it for now.
A player who had it all , sadly didn’t live up to his potential. Merse was one of the greatest talents I’ve ever seen .
If only he had reached his potential , he had it all but sadly another candle of genius burnt away far far too quickly .
One of my favourite players .
Having gone from watching Women’s “1st Division” games on grim, boggy council pitches in the early eighties to a whole nation cheering them on to win the World Cup in a full stadium, I’m buzzing this morning.
Win or lose it’s a proud day for so many of us today. COYL!
