The 2023 Women's World Cup Final came down to the wire between Spain and England, but it was the Spainiards who would end up prevailing in a tightly contested 1-0 victory. Spain enjoyed quite a celebration on the field shortly after their victory, but it was a strange moment between Spain's football federation president Luis Rubiales and star forward Jenni Hermoso that caught many fans' attention.
After Spain had won, Rubiales greeted Hermoso on the winners podium by grabbing her head and kissing her on the lips. Rubiales initially referred to the folks criticizing him as “idiots”, but ended up issuing an apology shortly after, saying they both saw it as a common method of celebration, despite what many folks on the outside believe.
“I made a mistake, for sure. I have to accept it. In a moment of such emotion, without any bad intention or bad faith, what happened, happened, in a very spontaneous way. [There was] no bad faith from either side. Here we saw it as something natural and normal. But on the outside it has caused a stir, because people have felt hurt by it, so I have to apologize; there's no alternative. I have to learn from this and understand that a president of an institution as important as the federation — above all in ceremonies and that kind of thing — should be more careful.” – Luis Rubiales, ESPN
It's a shame that this moment ended up taking away from Spain's victory, but at least Rubiales offered an apology for his actions here after realizing what he did was wrong. While the situation is certainly odd, Spain will be likely looking forward to continuing their celebration after winning their first ever Women's World Cup.
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