Carmona captained La Roja during the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup final against England down in Australia, scoring the only goal of the contest as Spain won the tournament for the first time in their history.
Speaking to FIFA on the 100-day anniversary of the final earlier this week, Carmona discussed the legacy of Spain’s triumph.
“I think we’ll always be remembered. It’s something you fight for every day from the day you start: to win a title as important as this one. So, right now, there is no national team better than this one, and that’s very significant,” she said.
The women’s game is continuing to grow exponentially, but Carmona admitted that the lack of exposure for female athletes previously made it harder for her to grow up idolising them.
“Unfortunately, I haven’t had any female role models, only male ones. That’s why I say that the girls who are coming through now will be lucky enough to actually have female role models,” she added.
“Ultimately, yes, when you achieve something so important, you not only remember the ‘young Olga’ who started to play on dirt [pitches] but you remember all the people who did their bit to help you become a world champion.”
Carmona also had a message to send to the young female sports stars of today and explained how the women’s game is continuing to grow.
“I would tell them that I also started like that, that it is, obviously, a long and hard road. It is not all roses. There are going to be difficulties; you are going to have to sacrifice a lot of things if you want to reach the elite level. So, you have to be willing to take the pain, since it’s a long road to success,” Carmona continued.
“Some time has passed, to be honest, and everything that’s been happening both to me and to my teammates in terms of the fans becoming more interested and I think the numbers [attending matches] have increased. So, all that has helped what we achieved to really hit home.
“It’s also true that when we play with the national team, we’re filling stadiums. I don’t think that happened before or not at such a level. Obviously, we’ve felt that the fans have really taken to the team and these players, and I think it’s something really positive for women’s football in Spain.
“I think there is a lot of talent [in Spain]. Last year – well, this season – we’ve achieved everything that was possible except for the [UEFA] Under-17 [Women’s] EURO, if I am not mistaken. That shows what we have in Spain: the talent, the quality and that we’re working well with the youth teams. From that point of view, it adds even more demands because we want to retain our titles [in every age group] every season, and it’s not.”
source:90mins.com
