Alexia opens up on the Jenni Hermoso and Rubiales incident at the Women’s World Cup

Alexia Putellas has broken her silence in an interview with Harper’s Bazaar about what happened with Jenni Hermoso after the World Cup final in Sydney.

The midfielder goes so far as to admit that “what happened is not something isolated to women’s football” and assures that she is now “proud” of how the matter turned out.

“I’ve learned a lot from what happened with Jennifer Hermoso”, she said, “I have had moments of pride and sadness, because I don’t find it normal that there have been leaks and a certain amount of privacy is not guaranteed. What a shame. I have also felt a lot of pride, above all, for the debates that have been generated”.

‘What happened is not something isolated to women’s football’

“The magnitude of the issue has been what it had to be”, she admitted when asked about the players returning to the National Team, “what happened is not something isolated to women’s football, it is something that happens in too many environments and it just happened in a place where the expectations and visibility were worldwide”.

“Our World Cup win is not going to lose importance because of that. We are going to be World Champions for at least four more years. And no one is going to take that away from us. That is what we are going to remember. It couldn’t be any other way. There was no other way to react. Something extremely unfortunate happened and being by [Jenni’s] side and supporting her was the least we could do.

“The first few weeks were weird”, Alexia admitted, “there were meetings and appointments that were very different to what an elite athlete should have, but well, that’s over now. It had to be done. This has happened to us. Previous generations of players were insulted for playing. And maybe future generations will get something else.”

Alexia is recovering from a slight knee bruise

The interview with the Barcelona midfielder coincides with the international break. Although Alexia was called up to the squad by manager Montse Tomé and arrived on Monday at the National Team training base, it was decided that she would not participate in the matches against Italy and Sweden as a precaution due to a slight knee injury.

Alexia, in addition to the controversial topic, spoke of her beginnings and what she dreamed of years ago as a child: “I never thought I could dedicate myself to [football] because the infrastructure was not there for a ten year old girl to dream of being a footballer. But I’ve always been very happy playing. I didn’t need anything more than a ball, and I didn’t care what was around me”.

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‘I know how lucky I am’

“I am aware that I am privileged for being able to be here able to dedicate myself to what makes me feel alive, to what makes me be more me, to my purest form of expression. There are moments, days, things that I miss, but I don’t see it as a sacrifice because I know how lucky I am. I’m doing what I love!”.

The player from Mollet del Vallès talked about the serious injury that kept her sidelined for almost a year. Alexia says that the most special moment was hugging her mother after the final. “The recovery period was very hard, [my mother] was with me every day, and I wanted her to experience something happy. When I hugged her, I knew she had taken two huge weights off her shoulders.”