Megan Rapinoe “looking forward” to supporting striking Spanish players in person

Megan Rapinoe has revealed she is “looking forward” to supporting the Spanish national team in person.

The US and Spain are set to play in a friendly match at Estadio El Sadar in Pamplona tomorrow evening.

But a number of Spain’s most talented players, including Aitana Bonmatí, Mapi Léon and Ona Batlle, will not be playing.

The women’s national team is currently in turmoil after 15 players emailed the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) to claim that coach Jorge Vilda was impacting their “emotional state”.

The RFEF claimed the players had threatened to resign from the national team if Vilda was not dismissed.

But the players later protested this was not the case, and they were disappointed the RFEF had made their “private communication” public.

“In no case have we resigned from the Spanish national team as the RFEF points out in their official statement,” they said.

But they admitted they had asked not to be called up because of “situations that affect our emotional and personal state, our performance, and consequently the results of the national team”.

Ballon d’Or winner and Barcelona star Alexia Putellas was not believed to be among the 15 players involved, but she later published a statement clarifying the situation.

The RFEF, who want those involved to “accept their mistakes and ask for forgiveness”, have chosen to back Vilda.

Rapinoe, who is in the latest US squad, was asked about the situation as she prepared for the match against a weakened Spanish side.

“I feel I can empathise with the players,” she said.

“We have seen that many players have come together and expressed, in a respectful way, their concerns about the methodology, their feeling of what needs to improve and having a professional environment in the way