by The Guardian Footballer of the Year is an award given to a player who has done something extraordinary, whether by overcoming adversity, helping others or setting a sporting example by acting with exceptional integrity.
On October 27, 2023, 21 minutes after taking to the field with a star above the crest on her national team shirt for the first time, Jenni Hermoso screamed with civic energy. It was Alexia Putellas, the talismanic two-time Ballon d’Or winner who entered the box and sent Italy goalkeeper Laura Giuliani away, but it was Hermoso who followed it up, unmarked by a few feet. on the left side of the penalty area, swept into the far corner. She ran away, with two big low fist pumps accompanied by cries of relief, defiance and celebration.
Hermoso’s 89th minute strike meant Spain won their third Nations League match 1-0 to maintain an unbeaten start to their campaign but that goal meant much more than three points on the road to Olympic qualification, much more in the context of an unusual, challenging, period-making year. One of them, two months earlier, at the end of a victorious World Cup final, the biggest moment of her career was overshadowed by an unwanted kiss from Luis Rubiales, the president of the Spanish football federation, which sparked controversy. which brought the women’s national team’s often private battle against institutionalized misogyny to a worldwide audience.
At the last gasp of 2023, Hermoso was named Guardian Footballer of the Year. This award was conceptualized precisely to recognize the achievements of players who have done extraordinary things and overcome great adversity. Hermoso is the eighth winner and the fourth woman to win the award, after Khadija Shaw in 2018, Megan Rapinoe, another World Cup winner, in 2019 and Virginia Torrecilla in 2022.
For many years the Spanish players have raised their heads above the parapet, individually and collectively, only to be maligned and excluded for trying to question the status quo and give to understand that the environment around the national team was toxic, that things could have been done differently. and better. After the 2015 World Cup, they confronted the federation and forced the end of the 27-year reign of head coach Ignacio Quereda. It was not a victory, however, as Jorge Vilda, the under-19 head coach, was brought in, another company man, and the senior players who led the rebellion were phased out.
When 15 players – “Las 15” – withdrew from national team selection after their exit from Euro 2022, citing the impact of the environment on their health, Vilda got support and they were out, with the manager calling for young players in their place.
This is the background of what took place at Stadium Australia in Sydney in the Women’s World Cup final on August 20. Spanish female footballers have been ignored, marginalized and disbelieved. Their staff were subject to divisive and dominant techniques and felt the force of what happens when you criticize a disciple of those in power.
But, with the eyes of the world watching – including a peak audience of 15.9 million across BBC platforms including BBC One and 7.38 million (71.1% audience share) on La 1 RTVE in Spain for the win 1 -0 to England – cameras were trained on the grass rectangle, with 75,784 watching from the stands, they could no longer be ignored. Hermoso had missed a penalty in the final, which was saved by England’s Mary Earps. Earps won the Golden Glove award for the best goalkeeper at the World Cup and Hermoso, who was runner-up for the best player of the tournament, was awarded the Silver Ball, but they were not the talking points at the closing ceremony.
Rubiales celebrated Spain’s victory by grabbing his crotch and pointing at the disciple Vilda. He then grabbed Hermoso’s face and planted a kiss on her lips, before later lifting Athenea del Castillo over his shoulder fireman style. His actions were roundly criticized, and his kiss Hermoso went viral. She was seen saying she “didn’t like it” in the background of a video posted by another player on social media.
Then came the pressure, Hermoso says she was pressured by Rubiales and his circle and they wanted her to downplay the kiss, defend it publicly and say it was consensual.
But throughout, Hermoso’s position was clear and unwavering. In a public statement on August 25, she said that “his kiss was never consensual at any time” and that she felt “vulnerable and the victim of an impulse-driven sexual act”.
Rubiales took offense, but Hermoso refused to cooperate with his attempt to repair his tarnished reputation. It was four days until Fifa announced that an investigation would be launched into Rubiales’ actions. The following day at an extraordinary general assembly of the Spanish football confederation, a defiant Rubiales announced his intention to offer Vilda a new four-year €500,000-a-year contract and repeatedly insisted there would be no six off, receiving standing ovations in the process. .
Vilda was saved on 6 September, but the players refused to accept changes that were only minor changes. On 10 September Rubiales was forced to resign and, on 30 October, he received a three-year ban from Fifa on all football-related activities. Several other cases are pending, including a criminal case presided over by a judge, which is why Hermoso is not currently interviewing.
In September new head coach Montse Tomé, who was an assistant under his criticized predecessor Vilda, left Hermoso out in the cold for Spain’s first two games of the campaign in the League of Nations. It was to “protect her”, Tome said. Tomé decided to call up 15 members of Hermoso’s World Cup-winning team, despite the fact that 21 of the 23-player squad declared that Vilda’s departure was not enough for them to return to national team duty. They were forced back by the threat of legal action which could see them stripped of their license to play.
Everyone asked the question, why was it safe enough to call up the 15 but not for Hermoso, the team’s goal scorer? There was no answer. Two, Mapi Leon and Patri Guijarro, who did not compete at the World Cup after previously withdrawing from selection, were allowed to leave the camp without any consequences due to their “personal discomfort” after lengthy discussions between the players and the national sportsmen of the Spanish government. agency (CSD).
Hermoso had to watch Spain’s 3-2 win over Sweden, fought for by players running on less than four hours of sleep with the slogan “Se Acabó” (“It’s over ”), which became a rallying cry for the team and the cause. , scrawled on tape around his wrist. She also watched the 5-0 win over Switzerland from afar with, presumably, mixed feelings: she was happy that her decision to step back was somewhat respected, but frustrated that she had to do so and was split from her colleagues and comrades. However, like team-mates past and present, the 33-year-old was by no means at the forefront of the erratic and vindictive decision-making in the formation of the national team.
Hermoso is the all-time leading scorer of the Spanish women’s team, with 52 goals, has earned 107 caps and has had a varied career, including spells at Atlético Madrid, Rayo Vallecano, Tyresö in Sweden, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Pachuca now. in Mexico. She is a five-time winner of the Pichichi trophy for top scorer in La Liga. She is used to being a bit in the public eye. But nothing could have prepared her for this.
Through her position and actions, and her teammates, she is a symbol of the struggle for fairness, equality, equity and a safe environment for female footballers, and for women in general. In general, she is a beacon for women in Spain as she fights against a macho culture that permeates society and football is just a microcosm. This was not the role she would have chosen when she wore her first pair of football boots or started playing for Atlético at the age of 12, but she was pressed when Rubiales put his hands on her cheeks and his lips on hers .
“For a while I forgot I was a footballer,” Hermoso told GQ magazine, in the months after the World Cup. But, she said: “I don’t know if this was destined for me or not, but it helped me to look at life in a different way, and to understand that even though I had reached the peak of my sporting career by winning. The World Cup, there is much more to do. The voice I have now is a real responsibility. I want to make the most of it.”
She has taken on a role that she probably wouldn’t have had to take on and that is why she is a worthy winner of the Guardian award. What is bravery if not that? What is success, if not leaving a game-changing legacy, whose impact will be felt by generations? And, as a young football player, the medals and trophies won on the field are what she dreamed about, but the wider victories will probably be the measure of her success if she succeeds.
