‘They are very special, but we have full belief’, says Keira Walsh of England’s World Cup final foes
KEIRA WALSH reckons England’s World Cup final fight with Spain will be won or lost in midfield as she prepares to face her Barcelona pals.
And the Lioness hailed Spain stars for staying focused on their tournament dream a year after a player rebellion against their coach Jorge Vilda.
Sunday’s clash between the Lionesses and their rivals, which starts at 8:00 pm will see both playing in the contest final for the first time in their histories.
And it will see Walsh and Lucy Bronze take on their Barcelona team-mates for the first time in a major tournament decider.
Walsh said: “A lot of people say where the game is won and lost is in midfield.
“We have got some massive talent in there, with Georgia Stanway, Ella Toone and Lauren James.
“The way we set up now we can see the front two (Alessia Russo and Lauren Hemp) are really exciting and have scored some crucial goals.
“Hempo is on fire at the minute and it’s exciting where our attack is going at the moment.”
“We have full respect for Spain, they are an unbelievable team.
“It’s a challenge that we have faced before and hopefully it will be a good game on Sunday.
“We’ve got the experience of being in a final before and a little bit of fight, a little bit of competitiveness.
“We have gone behind and come back. All those things kind of add up.
“I think this group is really excited about where we can go.”
This year’s final comes 11 months after 15 Spain aces mutinied against Vilda over issues concerning his coaching methods and work and training conditions.
Last September each member of the group individually wrote to the Royal Spanish Football Federation.
They declared themselves unavailable for international duty and called for changes to the national team set-up.
Their boss’s managerial style, which is said to have affected their health and emotional wellbeing, was among the concerns flagged.
Other issues raised include the head coach allegedly being overly controlling with players reportedly pressured to keep their room doors open until midnight.
While players denied that they had called for Vilda to be fired, their federation refuted this and threw their support behind the coach.
Spain aces who stood down from national duty included a number of Walsh’s and Bronze’s Barca team-mates
Out of the 15 who rebelled only three were named in Vilda’s squad for the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
They included Walsh’s club pals Mariona Caldentey and Aitana Bonmati and ex-Man United defender Ona Batlle who sealed a transfer to Barca this summer.
The trio chose to end their exile from international duty before the start of the tournament.
Walsh added: “I see those girls every day (when we are at club) and how competitive they are.
“I think it shows the professionalism for them to kind of park it (their concerns), do the job they have done and get to a World Cup final.
“We message before each game saying good luck and the idea was hopefully we would see each other in the final – but we didn’t actually expect it to happen!
“Once we cross that white line it will be a very interesting game. It’s nice to see so many players that I know in and around the final.”