Bonmati emerges to lead Spain out of tumultuous time

AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) — Aitana Bonmati remembers the moment Andres Iniesta scored at the 2010 World Cup clearly, even though she was only 12 years old.

Iniesta's extra-time goal in the championship match against the Netherlands in Johannesburg gave Spain a 1-0 win for its first and only men's World Cup trophy.

Bonmati says it's time for a new Spanish champion, this time at the Women's World Cup. Spain will play England in Sunday's final in Sydney after the Lionesses beat Australia 3-1 in a semifinal Wednesday.

"I hope we can repeat the history with our team," Bonmati said.

Spain advanced to the final with a 2-1 victory over Sweden on Tuesday, a game that saw all three goals come in the final 10 minutes.

Bonmati calls Iniesta and teammate Xavi her idols. Iniesta, 39, now plays with Emirates in the UAE Pro League. He celebrated La Roja's victory on social media, proclaiming "Enormous!"

Spain broke through the scoreless stalemate with Sweden in the 81st minute on 19-year-old substitute Salma Paralluelo's goal. Paralluelo, who chose soccer over track and field, also scored the game-winner in extra time over the Netherlands in the quarterfinals.

Sweden's Rebecka Blomqvist tied it Tuesday with a goal in the 89th minute, but moments later Olga Carmona scored the game-winner off a corner from Teresa Abelleira.

Bonmati said the winning goal was something of a surprise, because Spain had not drawn up the play.

"We saw Olga alone out of the box. We are also smart, we are not robots, we have to make decisions quick," she said. "I think it was a very good decision ... if you make a good decision and then you don't score, it doesn't matter. But it was a very good goal."

Bonmati, 25, has emerged as a versatile young star for La Roja. She had two goals and two assists in Spain's 5-1 rout of Switzerland in the round of 16, and has boosted the team while two-time Ballon d'Or winner Alexia Putellas continues to work her way back from a ruptured ACL.

La Roja is clearly a team on the rise. They appeared in their first World Cup in 2015, then advanced out of their group in 2019 but fell to the United States in the round of 16. Now they have a chance to lift the trophy.

But along with the team's growth has come turmoil.

Last September, 15 players signed letters that said they were withdrawing from the national team to protect their emotional health. The players insisted they did not ask for coach Jorge Vilda's dismissal.

Vilda, who has coached La Roja since 2015, was ultimately backed by the federation in the conflict. In the run-up to the World Cup, there appeared to be at least some reconciliation: Three of the 15 players who initially stepped down were on the roster.

One of them was Bonmati, who currently plays for Spanish powerhouse Barcelona, like Putellas and seven other national team players. Barcelona is coming off its second Champions League title. Bonmati scored five goals and had eight assists during the tournament.

Four of her Barcelona teammates have not returned to the national team after stepping down: midfielder Patri Guijarro, defender Mapi Leon, forward Claudia Pina and goalkeeper Sandra Panos.

Vilda was ready to move on and focus on the World Cup final.

"Now we can file it away and put it behind us and think about the future, and think that we deserve to be where we are," Vilda said.

Bonmati has also put aside any suggestion of friction in the team.

"We never give up, and now we believe in ourselves," Bonmati said. "We are a very strong team mentally."

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AP World Cup coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/fifa-womens-world-cup