Spain’s left-back turned national hero Olga Carmona had one of the most heart-wrenching stories of all last month. The 23-year-old scored the winner in the World Cup final, only to find out later that day that her father had passed away the previous day.
Carmona, who plays her club football for Real Madrid, converted herself into the face of Spanish triumph, after scoring a late winner in the semi-final against Sweden. Coming up against England in the final, who had knocked them out of the Euros the previous year, Carmona put the Lionesses to the sword, finding the bottom corner in the first half.
After the match it was revealed that her father had passed away from an illness the previous day, but her family had kept the news from Carmona in order to ensure she could focus on the final. Even during the celebrations on the pitch, they managed to give Carmona her moment.
“It was a day of many emotions. I didn’t know anything, my family made the decision not to tell me anything until everything happened and that’s how it was. I was lucky to score the goal, to win the World Cup, but as soon as I arrived at the airport everything turned, and the truth is that I have no words to describe what I felt at that moment,” she told El Hormiguero, as quoted by Marca.
“It was an accumulation of emotions that I am just remembering even now, and it is difficult for me because they are mixed feelings, feelings that I cannot explain with words, and I went from being at the top to being terrible.”
After arriving back in Spain, the team went straight on an open-top bus to a venue by the Rio Manzanares, where they were greeted on stage by thousands of celebrating fans.
“I was as happy as I could be. I wanted to be with my teammates at the Madrid river because it was a moment, and I knew that my father would have liked me to have been on that stage, so I did it for that reason. And I tried to enjoy it as much as possible.”
Carmona also says she felt as though her father gave her the strength to come up with the key moments for La Roja.
“I feel like he did because it was an incredible moment. The way the semi-final happened, it’s true that I arrived with very high confidence, but the final was something that I couldn’t even dream of imagining, that I was going to score a goal that was going to give my country the World Cup.”
Carmona would go on to say that she was not sure whether she would be present for the next squad, which is due out on Friday. She was part of the 80 players that declared they would not play until there were changes at the Spanish Football Federation, but said they had not discussed it since. On the other hand, Carmona expressed disappointment that the Luis Rubiales kiss scandal had taken the spotlight from their achievement.
