Spain promise to be ‘raring to go’ despite absence of Alexia Putellas

They lost the best two players in the world but Spain will fight on and will enjoy it too, their captain vowed on the eve of a tournament they just want to start now – before anything else can go wrong.

“When they face adversity, all humans seek to overcome. We’re a resilient team and know what we have to do: play football,” Irene Paredes said as she prepared for the selección’s opening game against Finland. “Maybe more things have happened than normal but there are 23 of us, the moment has come and we’re ready, raring to go.”

First Spain lost Jenni Hermoso, the Ballon d’Or runner-up and their all-time top scorer to a knee injury. Next they had a Covid outbreak, five players picking up the virus, although Mapí León, Sheila García, Sandra Paños, Andrea Pereira and Marta Cardona were all able to rejoin the squad. And then on Tuesday, the Ballon d’Or winner Alexia Putellas felt a crunch in her left knee during a small-sided game in training. Tests the following day confirmed the worse possible news: she had torn the anterior cruciate ligament.

Although she has chosen to stay with Spain at their Bisham Abbey training base and was at Stadium MK watching her teammates train on Thursday evening, Putellas faces 10 months out. As for the team, they have had to go through what coach Jorge Vilda described as a period of mourning.

That, though, must end in Milton Keynes, where Paredes insisted: “We’re clear about what we want to be. Whoever is there, we have a clear idea of how to play. We’ve had various big blows but we’re a team that comes back stronger. We have to enjoy it: when we enjoy it, we are better.”

Puetallas has been replaced by Real Sociedad striker Amaiur Sarriegi, who had been a surprise absence from the original