Spain had an ugly player revolt before the Women’s World Cup, but coach Jorge Vilda said there are no cracks in his team before their quarterfinal game against the Netherlands on Friday.
“The team works together. They are the real deal… “They did a great job training today, even though it was cold and windy,” Vilda told reporters on Thursday.
Last September, 15 players said they couldn’t play because of events that they said hurt their mental and physical health. Most of their complaints were about Vilda. But the Spanish league backed the coach, who is 42 years old and has been in charge of Spain’s senior team since 2015.
Even though only six of those players are at the World Cup, La Roja has already made history by making it to the quarterfinals for the first time in three tries.
In the semi-finals on Tuesday in Auckland, the team that wins on Friday will play either Japan or Sweden.