- Spain star Olga Carmona was told that her father had died just before the final
- Carmona’s father is understood to have died on Friday but it was kept from her
- She scored the only goal of the game as Spain beat the Lionesses 1-0 in Sydney
By Pete Jenson for MailOnline
Carmona’s father is understood to have died on Friday but news was kept from the 23-year-old so as not to affect her frame of mind going into the game against England.
The Spanish football federation tweeted after the game: ‘We deeply regret to announce the death of Olga Carmona’s father. The footballer learnt the sad news after the World Cup final. We love you, Olga, you are part of Spanish football history.’
Carmona had celebrated her first half goal with a message on her shirt for a friend whose mother had just died.
It was reminiscent of men’s player Andres Iniesta’s gesture to his late friend Dani Jarque when he got Spain’s winning goal in the men’s World Cup final in 2010.
Carmona, a left back, was named player of the match and also scored a late winner in Spain’s semi-final win over Sweden.
She celebrated her team’s success on the pitch with her team-mates, dancing around the Sydney Stadium.
In an interview, she said: ‘We felt this team had something special’.
Spain celebrated their win in style out on the pitch with Queen Letizia even making her way to the centre of the team photograph and lifting the trophy.
She was then presented with a Spain shirt with a number 12 on the back and had to politely decline as the entire squad chanted for her to put it on.
Protocol was forgotten as Spain became only the second nation, after Germany, to have won both men’s and women’s World Cups.
‘We dedicate it to all our families and to the people back in Spain,’ said Jennifer Hermoso who missed a penalty, ‘we have played football the way we wanted to and we have won a world championship.’