On 20 August, the final match of the ninth match in the history of the Women’s World Cup was played in Sydney, Australia. In the decisive match, the Spanish team turned out to be stronger and more fortunate than the English (1: 0) and for the first time won the “gold” award at the world championship (before that, representatives of the USA were champions). The best team in the world won the tournament four times, Germany twice, the Japanese and Norwegians once).

The main heroine of the Spanish national team in the decisive matches was 23-year-old Olga Carmona Garcia, a left-back. It was he who scored Red Fury’s winning goal (2: 1) in the semi-final match against Sweden in the 89th minute, and was also the author of the only goal scored against the English in the final.

However, this day, August 20, became for Olga Carmona at once the best and worst day in life, as the girl herself later admitted. The fact is that after the victory over the English women, Carmona learned about the death of her father. Moreover, she died the day before the final match, but none of Olga’s relatives decided not to tell the sad news on the eve of an important football match …

When Carmona scored against the England team in the 29th minute and rushed to the celebration by lifting her shirt, everyone saw the mysterious “Merchi” inscription, which the hero of the final made public after the match.

This is how Olga Carmona’s mother turned out to be supporting her best friend, who had recently died.

“I dedicate my goal and this victory to my best friend, who recently lost his mother,” the 23-year-old Spanish national football player told reporters. said.

What was her grief when she was told the tragic news of her father José Verdasco’s death? It is known that the man has been battling cancer for the last year and therefore could not go to Australia, but he followed the matches of the Spanish national team on television with his daughter.

Learning of her father’s death, Carmona wrote on her social media page: “And unknowingly, I got my star before the game even started. I know you have given me the strength to achieve something unique. I know you’re watching me tonight and you’re proud of me. Rest in peace father.”

The girl was supported by her club Real Madrid and the Royal Spanish Football Federation. The first reported the death of a close relative of his football player on his official website, while the second tweeted about it.

“The President and Board of Real Madrid Football Club is deeply saddened by the death of our football player Olga Carmona’s father. Real Madrid offers its condolences and love to Olga, her family and all her fans. Rest in peace,” reads Blancos’ official statement.

“It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Olga Carmona’s father. The football player learned the sad news after the World Cup final. We love you Olga, you are part of the history of Spanish football,” wrote the Royal Spanish Football Federation.

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Olga Carmona is the only daughter from José Verdasco’s marriage to Olgarcia Galvez. Also, this couple has two sons who are the siblings of freshly baked world champions Fran and Thomas.

Fran Carmona also plays football professionally. At the age of 24, he began his career at the Sevilla academy, where the guy was not lucky enough to make the first team. In September 2020, the centre-back transferred to Las Palmas as a free agent, where he also played for the youth team, where he signed a full contract with Teruel club, which played in the third-highest team, Primera Federacion last summer. The division in the system is the football leagues in Spain, after La Liga and Segunda.

It is known that the father and mother of Olga Carmona initially opposed the girl’s playing football. Parents believed that this sport was much better for their son, but their daughter tried to take an interest in swimming, tennis and flamenco dancing. But over time, when Olga still expressed her desire to continue playing football, Jose Verdasco and Olgarcia Galvez accepted it and supported their daughter’s efforts.

Facebook. Olga Carmona with her mother

When the girl was just over three years old, her parents decided to divorce. As a result, Jose Verdasco left Seville, where Olga’s mother still lives, and settled in Malaga. However, this did not prevent the man from continuing to see his daughter and take part in her upbringing. Sometimes Jose would come to Seville to see the children and rejoice in their success.

As Olga Carmona’s cousin Jesus told Spanish journalists, Jose Verdasco was a Real Madrid supporter and never missed a single match of his daughter at the professional level.

“He was very proud of all his children, especially his daughter. As a family, we all support Real Madrid. I know José saw all of Olga’s plays, until it got a lot worse on Friday,” said Jesús Carmona.

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Olga Carmona started her football career in her hometown of Sevilla, where she played 65 matches (7 goals) at professional level. Transferring to Real Madrid, which established a women’s football team in 2020, the player has played 82 matches for Blancos and scored 10 goals since then.

Olga Carmona won the European Women’s Championship with the Spanish U-19 team in the tournament hosted by Switzerland in 2018. A year later, the Spaniards, played by Carmona again, were again close to reaching the final, but still lost to their French peers in overtime in the 1/2 final (1:3).

Carmone had the chance to make her debut for the Spanish women’s team in April last year, and since then Olga has made 22 appearances for Red Fury, scoring 3 goals in those matches, 2 of which were in the last World Cup.

The events after the final match of the Women’s World Championship became a real drama for Olga Carmona against the backdrop of general happiness. It was extremely difficult for the girl to gather her strength, but the next day, while speaking to the crowd celebrating the “Red Fury” victory, 23-year-old Carmona gave a very candid and touching speech. It will forever remain a part of the history of the ninth women’s world championship; Definitely a historic event for Spanish football.

“Today is a very special day for all of Spain, but a very difficult moment for me too. You know… Yesterday was a very emotional day. At one point it was the best day of my life, but then the worst happened. “I’m so excited for a star that we’ve all been waiting for and longing for now (to win the World Cup). But not just the one we’re wearing right now on our boobs, but also the ones that accompany us in heaven,” said Carmona.