Salma, Lightning of La Roja

youCarol ran towards her. The substitutes jumped off the bench. Someone in the band who warmed up even jumped over the fence. Montse, Blanca, Lerga. All employees. And all of Spain, even though it’s 5am and 20,000 kilometers away. They both run an infinite race with Salma. They finished it left-handed, as the young woman did, after a nice slice. What Salma achieved against the Netherlands has become part of Spanish women’s football history.

Who told this player a year and three months ago. On May 31, 2022, the European Cup qualifier list will be announced. The most surprising is Salma. He reached the final, leaving out other big names like Amaur, Abelera or Zornoza.

“She’s a player who comes in with the right foot. He’s shown us that he can play at a very high level against the big centre-forwards. He’s faced Irene, Mapy, Pereira… all of them. He’s getting really hard. It makes us think he’s going to do it. She’s a future-proof, differentiated player. Young, but it’s not just physical, impressive as that is. It also has great technical quality and above all a great future. There is a lot to learn,” Velda had warned a year earlier. An injury before the Intercontinental Championship sidelined him.

But the technician knows what he has on his hands. It’s not difficult. Athletes at the time had already excelled at the lower levels of competition. He has won every tournament he has played in: the 2018 U-17 World Cup (one goal), the 2022 U-20 World Cup (three goals)… and now definitely the 2023 World Cup, where the historic goal was the semi-final. His stats prove it: 7 goals in 12 caps for his national team (2 against Vietnam, 1 against Denmark, 2 against Norway, He scored three goals on his debut against Argentina).

a ray

It wasn’t just another goal, but Salma’s speed combined with a powerful shot over the long post. Based on data indicators provided by the Connected Ball technology on the official Adidas OCEAUNZ ball, FIFA was able to confirm that the ball moved at a maximum speed of 98.41 km/h in Salmara’s second goal for Spain against the Netherlands.

The historic winning goal took Spain to their first World Cup semi-final and placed him directly among the five fastest-scoring players at the tournament. At 19 years and 271 days, she is also the youngest player to score in overtime in World Cup history. It says a lot about her bravery and audacity. “Salma hasn’t reached the ceiling yet,” Velda warns. A treasure yet to be polished, but already sparkling like a diamond. Lightning to help the Spanish team into the semi-finals.