Elena Ruiz, a world MVP of only 18 years, consolation for Spain
Elena Ruiz remembers that in her room, as a child, she had a poster of Roser Tarragó hanging and the anecdote describes her. By triple departure Ruiz is young, very young, barely 18 years old, which is why his childhood idol is still only 30. Ruiz is a gunboat, like Tarragó, and, in fact, is his natural replacement in Spain. And Ruiz has lived water polo since she was a child because her mother already played, an unusual inheritance.. The teenager, the pitcher, the passionate about water polo Elena Ruiz was chosen yesterday as MVP of the Fukuoka World Cup and that was surely the best news for the team after losing on penalties in the final against the Netherlands.
One defeat, another in the fight for gold -and there are already five between the World Cups and the Olympic Games-, which could not hide the fact that the team has a leader for many years. With Ruiz's arm as an argument, Spain will be planted in the 2024 Paris Games in search of the victory that resists it, but it can also be projected in the 2028 Los Angeles Games, in the 2032 Brisbane Games and even in the Games of 2036, wherever they are held. By then, surprising as it may seem, he will only be 32 years old.
His precociousness hardly resists comparisons: if anything, in Spanish sports, with Ricky Rubio. Born in 2004 in Rubí, a municipality in the industrial zone that surrounds Barcelona, Ruiz started swimming at the age of four and, following in the footsteps of her sister Ariadna, also an international at the World Cup, at the age of seven she jumped into water polo.. Her mother had played at Club Natació Rubí and that is why it was not strange to see her in the lower categories. But it was strange, very strange, that he made his debut in the Division of Honor just the day before his 13th birthday.
In the first year of ESO, with a cadet license, she was already a starter and, after the pandemic, while she was in her fourth year, she was the top scorer in the Spanish league. Then came the call of the selection. Despite playing for a modest club and her extraordinary youth, the coach, Miki Oca, took her to the Tokyo 2020 Games and gave her a lot of minutes. While other players of her generation, such as her sister Ariadna (2002), Cristina Nogué (2003), Nona Pérez (2003), Paula Camus (2002) and the goalkeeper Martina Terré (2002), struggled to gain a foothold -and are still in it- Ruiz was a leader since his debut.
“I am very proud”
He confirmed it in this Fukuoka World Cup. With an Olympic silver, a European and a Champions with Sabadell already in his record, he was the center of the Spanish attack along with Judith Forca, who with 24 goals finished as the tournament's top scorer. «We lost the final, but I think we had a great championship. I am very proud of this silver. It is very important to me. It is the result of all the training and all the sacrifices we have made as a team,” Ruiz commented at the end of the decisive match.. .
“It was a very tight match. Despite not getting the gold, we have to be satisfied with the result. Losing a final always leaves a bitter aftertaste, but we have to celebrate that we have won a medal and have qualified for the Paris Games,” added the coach, Oca.
In the match against the Netherlands Elena Ruiz did not shine as, for example, in the semifinals against Australia, when she scored four goals, but she did her part. In her penalty shot she was perfect, with a relaxation inappropriate for her age. Then, just after, Bea Ortiz, a close friend of hers, also a neighbor of Rubí, failed, and hence the defeat of Spain.
Actually, the whole team was wrong during the final, especially in defense, with the Dutch buoys marking at will. To reach the penalty shootout, the team had to come back from behind two goals in the last quarter and came to the conclusion heartbroken. As Oca recognized, the defeat left a bad memory of this World Cup, but the silver has value and more the confirmation of a leader. Here Elena Ruiz, only 18 years old, with the future ahead of her.