Aitana Bonmatí, the undetectable leader: firm in defense of an "equal society" but in the shadows

“We will not give up the battles that lie ahead”. Aitana Bonmatí wants to think about football, about beating Switzerland tonight in Córdoba and successfully closing a tortuous start in the Nations League off the field. On the pitch they erased their doubts, outside there is still a way to go and they escape between the lines. Although Alexia Putellas and Irene Paredes have been the voice of the locker room in this crisis, the best player in the World Cup and the next Ballon d'Or has had a weight as important as it was undetectable.

With his inseparable pillow, he planted himself in serious Oliva, with an objective that he has been pursuing since a year ago he was part of the 15 that challenged the RFEF and that yesterday he verbalized: «There is a commitment so that everything goes better, so that we leave a legacy and good conditions for all generations to come. “We are an example for society, egalitarian, with the same rights.”. That is the objective for which the majority of players decided to play these matches.

«The first days were complicated, we couldn't sleep, stress, anxiety, I don't know how we were able to play so well with everything we had on us.. Now we are calmer, we have focused more on football, but we do not leave the battles that lie ahead,” he warned.. It is a warning because they know that, as their partner Mariona recalled, it is now that they have “a speaker and a responsibility: to leave football and women in a better place than where we found ourselves when we arrived.”

Third captain

How their messages are amplified is something that Bonmatí noticed at the UEFA gala, when with Erling Haaland as a silent witness, he spoke out against the “abuse of power” and alongside Jenni Hermoso. Those words already made it clear that, from the background, her voice was heard so much in the locker room that she was elected third captain, although, as Tomé specified, it was for this call.

Everything calmed down when the ball started rolling and relaxed with the victory against the Swedes. So much so that the continuity of Montse Tomé is no longer so in doubt. The president of the CSD, Víctor Francos, called her after the victory in Göteborg and gave her his support. A message that the coach thanked because “that boost is needed at a time like this.”

And that of the players? Tomé perceived it like this: «The first days we noticed something strange that had to be solved. We have managed to talk, look at each other, be sincere and take a step forward. “They have always been 100% professional and, since the victory, the days have been calmer.”

“It's not our concern”

Aitana gave slight nuances, who was not so forceful about her support for the coach. «I couldn't say anything else. I follow what Alexia and Irene said: it is not our concern. At first it was complicated, due to how the call was given, but now things are calmer between us, with the coaching staff and with the entire delegation.. “We want to focus only on football.”

While the internationals try to successfully close this first window of the Nations League and keep alive the hope of fighting to be in the Paris Games, the process opened against Luis Rubiales for the alleged abuse of Jenni Hermoso continues in the National Court. Yesterday the first witnesses testified, the player's brother, a friend and two experts summoned by the former president's defense. The soccer player's entourage clarified before the judge that they received pressure from RFEF employees. For their part, the experts cited by Rubiales' defense confirmed that the kiss on the player was consensual.

Next Thursday, RFEF employees will testify, including the sports director, Albert Luque. On Monday, October 2, it will be the turn of Jenni's colleagues: Alexia Putellas, Irene Paredes and Misa Rodríguez will tell what happened and will be able to testify by videoconference.