BARCELONA, Spain: Spain midfielder Jenni Hermoso shone at the Women’s World Cup, steering her country to the trophy for the first time, but in the aftermath she has unexpectedly become the leader of a stand against sexism in Spanish football. Spanish football federation president Luis Rubiales forcibly kissed her during the medal ceremony in Sydney, provoking a wave of criticism and drawing worldwide focus, overshadowing the team’s triumph. Rubiales refused to resign and insisted the kiss was consensual, which Hermoso, 33, denied. The world initially took the fight to Rubiales on Hermoso’s behalf while she was away on holiday with her team-mates, celebrating “the best feeling” she has ever had in football. Eventually, after Rubiales produced a defiant speech in which he refused to resign from his post, the situation exploded and Hermoso issued a strongly worded statement in which she clarified she felt the “victim of an assault, a macho act.” Hermoso and 81 other Spain players announced a strike from the national team, saying they will not return until the leadership has changed, while world football’s governing body FIFA suspended Rubiales. Spain’s top criminal court opened a preliminary “sexual assault” probe into his kiss and invited Hermoso to file suit. Regardless of all that followed it, the World Cup victory is the crowning glory of Hermoso’s sporting career. The grand-daughter of former Atletico Madrid goalkeeper Antonio Hernandez, Madrid-born Hermoso started at youth level with Atletico. Hermoso played often in parks as a child and thinks it helped shape her style. She enjoyed watching Fernando Redondo and Zinedine Zidane who were then at Real Madrid, but had no real idol of her own until she joined Atletico. T
