The sad story of the heroine of the World Cup finals. Her father died before the game, she didn’t know it. The final was then decided by a single goal

Olga Carmona was having a dream tournament. She helped the Spanish national team at the Women’s World Cup reach the final, which was decided by a single goal. But her fairy tale was cut short by the sudden death of her father.

Sevilla native Olga Carmona García started her career at Sevilla FC, where she played for the A-team from the age of 17. She performed so well for three seasons that she was noticed and bought by Real Madrid in the summer of 2020.

The Real Madrid left-back had also made it to the Spanish national team and now, at 23, she was about to reach the pinnacle of her career so far. A World Cup where the Spanish women wanted to get some success for the first time in their history. So far, they had never even reached the semi-finals.

Carmona started all three group matches, but her last match against Japan (0:4) was not very good, so she sat on the bench in the eighth round and played the quarter-final in extra time.

In the semi-final against Sweden, coach Jorge Vilda already put her back in the starting line-up and it was a great move. The Spaniards were leading 1:0 before the Swedes equalised in the 88th minute to 1:1. But in the 89th minute, Carmona got to the ball behind the whitewash and shot under the crossbar to send Spain into their first ever Women’s World Cup final.

And she made her fairy tale even better. The Spanish captain ran down the left side of the pitch and hit a cross to the back post to open the scoring. As no more goals were scored in the final, Carmona scored the winning goal in the semi-final and final of the World Cup.

She has become an absolute hero of Spanish women’s football and has already become one of the legends of the Selección Femenina.

But there is a cruel side to this happy story. Carmona found out after the final that her dad had died before the game. It was announced by the Spanish Football Federation.

“It is with deep regret that the RFEF announces the death of Olga Carmona’s father. The footballer learned the sad news after the World Cup final. We send our most sincere hugs to Olga and her family at this time of deep sorrow. We love you, Olga, you belong to the history of Spanish football,” wrote the Spanish federation.

The sad news was then tweeted by the player herself. “And without knowing it, I had my star before the game started. I know you gave me the strength to achieve something special. I know you were watching me tonight and that you’re proud of me. Rest in peace, Daddy, ” Carmona wrote.

Y sin saberlo tenía mi Estrella antes de que empezase el partido. Sé que me has dado la fuerza para conseguir algo único. Sé que me has estado viendo esta noche y que estás orgulloso de mí. Descansa en paz, papá 🌟❤️‍🩹 pic.twitter.com/Uby0mteZQ3

— Olga Carmona (@7olgacarmona) August 20, 2023

Source: MARCA