When Spain was announced as one of the three nations headed to Australia to contest the 2023 Cup of Nations tournament, which kicked off on Thursday, football fans around the country were abuzz.
Eight months ago, the Matildas were on the receiving end of a clinic from Spain: they put seven goals past Australia, including six in the second half, in one of La Roja's final tune-ups before the 2022 Women's European Championship.
However, that underwhelming performance came with a caveat: Matildas boss Tony Gustavsson had deliberately taken a second-string team into that window following medical advice to give most of their senior players a rest.
As a result, Sam Kerr, Caitlin Foord, Hayley Raso, Alanna Kennedy, Steph Catley, Kyah Simon, Mary Fowler, Ellie Carpenter, Kyra Cooney-Cross and Aivi Luik were all missing from the trip. In the end, just over half the squad who faced Spain back then had 10 caps or fewer. Some had none at all. As expected, the gulf in quality and experience showed on the pitch.
The prospect, then, of a re-match between Spain and a full-strength Matildas side felt irresistible; a game that was shaping up to be the marquee event of a friendly tournament that Australia is using as the final "dress rehearsal" before July.
Or it was.
Until Spanish head coach Jorge Vilda revealed that the squad he would be taking to Sydney was missing 15 of their best players, including Ballon D'Or winner Alexia Putellas, the core of the country's record-breaking Barcelona squad, and eight of those who started against Australia in last year's walloping.
But why?
Spanish women's football in crisis
It was around 7pm on a Thursday, in late September of last year, when the emails started to arrive.
One after the other, the inbox of the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) pinged with the names of 15 women's national team players. Their subject heading and contents all said exactly the same thing:
"I inform you that the events that have occurred and the situation that has arisen in the Spanish national team, a situation of which you are aware, are having an important effect on my emotional state, and by extension my health," the emails read.
"As a result, I do not currently consider myself to be in a condition to be chosen for the national team, and I ask not to be called up until the situation is resolved."
In a blink, over half of Spain's team — including eight of the players who started in the quarter-final of the 2022 Women's European Championships against England just weeks earlier — resigned.
Six of the fifteen were from Barcelona, while two players each came from Atletico Madrid, Real Sociedad, Manchester United, Manchester City, and one from Club America.
Spain captain Irene Paredes, Barcelona captain Alexia Putellas, and the country's leading goal-scorer Jenni Hermoso were not among the emailers.
However, Putellas, who sustained an ACL injury while in camp on the eve of the Euros, posted a collective statement online saying she did not wish to be picked for the national team, while Hermoso (who also missed the Euros with injury) posted her own statement on Instagram. Hermoso is the only big-name senior player who has travelled to Australia for the Cup of Nations.
"We requested in our communication sent to the RFEF not to be summoned until situations that affect our emotional and personal state, our performance and, consequently, the results of the Selection that could lead to undesirable injuries, are reversed," the collective statement said.
So what happened, exactly?
It's the question that, even now, remains shrouded in mystery.
Neither the players, the head coach Jorge Vilda, or the RFEF have ever explained what happened to cause this exodus of senior stars, nor the rift that appears to have deepened between the parties. The language that is used in the players' emails is deliberately obtuse, referring to "the situation" and "events" without naming names.
However, Spanish media have, over time, put the pieces of the puzzle together.
Three weeks before those emails dropped into the RFEF's inbox, the 15 players had contacted federation president Luis Rubiales to express their concerns over Vilda.
While there was no suggestion of illegal behaviour towards his players, many of them consider Vilda controlling, having created an environment of anxiety and stress that has resulted in some players — including the veteran Hermoso — leaving training in tears.
His alleged mismanagement of player loads, sometimes leading to preventable injuries, has also been criticised. More generally, some players believe him to be incapable, stagnant with his methods and unclear in his style, signalled by the fact that Vilda has not won a major title in his seven years in charge despite the "golden generation" at his disposal.
After speaking with Rubiales, the players reportedly confronted Vilda then, too, but the head coach refused to step down.
In a press conference, the captain, Paredes, said the 15 players had "not asked for him to be sacked" but that "the captains, representing the group, communicated the way we feel" and had supposedly been reassured that changes were incoming following the team's disappointing exit from the 2022 Euros, which they had been expected to win.
But the federation didn't budge. Instead, after the flood of emails, the RFEF released a blunt statement backing the head coach, who also happens to be the women's national team sporting director and a former head coach of the U-17 and U-19 teams.
"The RFEF will not allow the players to question the continuity of the national coach and his coaching staff, because making those decisions does not fall within their competences," the statement said.
"These types of manoeuvres are far from exemplary and outside the values of football and sport, and are harmful.
"This has turned from a sporting issue to a question of dignity. Selection is non-negotiable. It is an unprecedented situation in the history of football, both male and female, in the Spanish and world arena."
Additionally, the federation warned that "according to current Spanish legislation, not attending a call from the selection is qualified as a very serious infraction and can lead to sanctions of between two and five years of disqualification.
"The RFEF, contrary to the way these players act, wants to make it clear that it will not take them to this extreme or pressure them. Directly, it will not summon the players who do not want to wear the shirt of Spain. The federation will only have committed players even if they have to play with youth."
So that's what they did: Vilda has turned to Spain's next generation of players to fill the gaps. And fill them they did, with the team having not lost a single game since they were bundled out of the continental championship by eventual winners England.
That undefeated run has included a 1-1 draw with Olympic silver medallists Sweden and a 2-0 win over reigning world champions USA just a month after the 15 senior players resigned.
These results are perhaps of little surprise given Spain have one of the most robust youth development systems in the world, which saw the nation win both the U-17 and U-20 Women's World Cups last year. Further, the core of the Spain squad that used to be occupied by Barcelona players have been replaced by several from the new, fully-professional Real Madrid team.
This is the Spanish side that flew into Sydney late last week to compete in the Cup of Nations.
When asked about the absence of the 15 senior players by Australian media upon their arrival, Vilda noticeably bristled.
He noted that this new side had achieved positive results in the last two windows, which took them higher up the world rankings, and that they hadn't lost a game since the Euros.
"The only thing I ask is maximum respect for our preparations and the players," he said.
"There's no need to disrespect; we have a great team, and your question seems disrespectful.
"I have the best team that I want to train.
"Spain always has big aspirations, and if we look at the rankings, we could be like Australia, France, England, United States, Germany. We are another team with a dream."
What does this mean for Spain now?
Whether or not the position of the 15 boycotting players is justified, the issues that have engulfed the Spanish women's national team over the past year signal something deeper, which other national teams such as Canada - whose players also threatened to strike recently to protest lack of support from their federation - are also currently experiencing.
That is, as the women's game enters its new professional era, with the players' own standards and expectations and aspirations growing year after year, there is dwindling patience towards those in power who struggle to - or refuse - to keep up with their ambitions.
But while the fractures that have divided one of the world's best teams appear irreparable, Vilda said the door was not permanently closed if the 15 striking players wanted to return to the set-up.
"Yes, there is room for new players," he confirmed.
"We have a set date in June (to pick the squad) and each game before then could have surprises. We don't know how well each player can do at each camp, so there is room for changes."
The 2023 Women's World Cup is six months away, and with just two international windows left between now and July, there are increasingly few opportunities to gather together in camp and prepare for the tournament.
It is a tricky situation for the players to be in, some of whom are reaching the twilight of their careers and may not have another opportunity to play at a World Cup ever again.
Some of the veterans among the 15, then, are faced with the conundrum of seeing their international careers end prematurely if they continue their boycott. On the other hand, if they decide to return, they compromise their own moral high-ground and potentially undermine the seriousness of their requests.
There is precedent for this kind of deflated end to the careers of Spanish women players: back in 2015, several national team players including former captain Veronica Boquete spoke out against Vilda's predecessor, Ignacio Quereda, who'd been head coach of Spain for over two decades.
She, and several other former team-mates, claimed Quereda was emotionally and psychologically abusive, verbally homophobic, controlling, and manipulative. While Quereda was removed and replaced internally by Vilda, Boquete never played for Spain again.
For now, Vilda is charging ahead with the squad he has chosen, with his contract in place until at least 2024.
Spain kicked off their Cup of Nations tournament with a convincing 3-0 win over Jamaica on Thursday, but will face their toughest test tonight against the Matildas in Parramatta.
What happens between now and July, where they will face Costa Rica, Zambia, and Japan in the group stage of the World Cup, is anyone's guess.
"We have to use this [Cup of Nations] as preparation for the World Cup. We have to be picking the best team, and be sure of that, because we have three teams ahead of us that are very strong.
"And when Spain plays in a tournament, we always want to go the furthest."
Spain take on the Matildas today at 6:00pm AEDT in Sydney.
