Finally, after pounding at the door for two hours, throats dry and knuckles bleeding, Spain got an answer. And of course it was what they deserved, but they knew too that what you deserve and what you get are often two different things. A few long white clouds and a brilliant blue sky looked down over Salma Paralluelo as her yellow-soled boots ate up the clear green turf. And perhaps it was Spain’s ultimate fortune that the chance to make history should fall to a woman with no sense of history, with no baggage to carry. Just two feet and a ball, and the pure minimalism of youth.
In crashing the winning goal past the luckless Daphne van Domselaar, the 19-year-old Barcelona winger salvaged a lot more than Spain’s tournament. She redeemed their idea of who they are, the idea that this great generation can still be great, that the scars of the past need not sting in the present. Spain will play a World Cup semi-final for the first time, and for the first time they will feel fate is on their side.
