Spain’s preparation for World Cup final: strength exercises, videos of England and a new ball

Hidden among a beech forest in the Leichhardt neighborhood in Sydney, formerly known as the city’s Little Italy, is the oval stadium where the Australian rugby team plays some of its minor matches. The Spanish national team is also training there before the World Cup final, now on a reduced workload of only one session per day after two months of preparation since the squad was first convened in a pre-tournament camp in Benidorm.

Laughter and an atmosphere of camaraderie reigns, as was evident on Friday when several ambassadors from Spanish energy company Iberdrola — among them karateka Sandra Sánchez, surfer Lucía Martiño and snowboarder Queral Castellet — accompanied by the company’s executives, appeared to cheer on the team. “Photo!” was the insistent request. And the players were happy to join in: veteran forward Jenni Hermoso tickled goalkeeper Misa and coach Jorge Vilda messed around with Real Madrid forward Athenea del Castillo’s ponytail; all with the widest of smiles. A few minutes later it was back to work: strength training circuits mixed with injury prevention exercises with tapes and TRX — to allow the players to work with their own weight — something that has stood the team in good stead, as was evident when they went toe-to-toe with the physicality of Sweden in the semifinals to eventually beat one of the pre-tournament favorites with the ball at their feet. “Are we ready?” shouted Blanca Romero, the physical trainer, after explaining what the players had to do in the different mini-sessions, including the goalkeepers; “Let’s get to work!”

“The truth is that at the start we hated Blanca a little bit...” said Barcelona defender Laia Codina after the match against the Swedes; “but now we are grateful for the shape we are in.” And that — the physicality — will also be needed against England, a team that has very few weaknesses, if any.

Spain’s analysts have scrutinized few rivals in greater detail than England, who knocked La Roja out in the quarter-finals of the 2022 European Championship on their way to the title. “They have a tremendous mentality, a very efficient game and, although they struggled to break down Haiti or Nigeria, their overall play has been very good. It doesn’t matter if they were criticized for that, if you look at their passing, possession, the number of attacks...” the Spanish coaching staff said.

Equally worrying is England’s counter-attacking punch, their presence, their mentality, and especially how Sarina Wiegman’s team will line up. The European champions have deployed two systems during the tournament (4-3-3 or 3-5-2) and the work in the video sessions has been detailed because depending on how the opponent plays, the areas of pressure are different and so are the spaces that are generated. Spain and England have never met at a World Cup but have faced each other 13 times, with a balance of two wins, four draws and seven defeats for La Roja.

Another thing that has thrown the players a bit off is the new ball introduced by FIFA in the semi-finals — one that, the players say, has some strange differences, although they have had time to practice with it as they received the balls before their first training session ahead the quarterfinals. It is, however, a minor concern. It is the same ball for both teams. The World Cup final will not be decided by the vagaries of the basic tool. Physicality will have a role to play, but so will how both sides make use of it.

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