Esther Gonzalez was introduced Thursday as the new and explosive striker of Gotham FC, equipped with a World Cup title and a desire to move past the scandal surrounding her Spanish national team.
Gonzalez acknowledged that the recent resignation of Luis Rubiales “was something we were all waiting for” after the former Spanish soccer executive was accused of forcibly kissing player Jenni Hermoso.
The incident was caught on camera during the World Cup celebration and grabbed the world’s attention.
On Friday, Rubiales was hit with a court order to not go within 200 meters of Hermoso. A Spanish court is investigating potential charges of sexual assault and coercion against him, according to CNN. Even after Rubiales’s resignation from the federation, 39 women players from Spain signed a petition refusing to play unless the organization undergoes a larger restructuring.
“It’s a big task and difficult to win the World Cup. And it is upsetting that took some of the attention away from it,” Gonzalez said through an interpreter. “But we will bond and eventually you will kind of understand the situation of what happened. And so we just focus on what’s ahead.”
For Gonzalez, the path forward is at Gotham FC, which sits fifth in the NWSL standings heading into Saturday’s game against the Washington Spirit. Head coach Juan Carlos Amoros was coy about whether Gonzalez would start immediately, but there’s enough hype around her signing to assume the Red Bull Arena crowd will get a good glimpse.
At 30 years old, she is the all-time leading scorer at Real Madrid, a star at Atletico Madrid and captained the national team. Gonzalez, who agreed to sign with Gotham FC months ago, is also just the second reigning World Cup champion from another country to join an American pro women’s soccer team.
She’s already noticed a style clash between La Liga and the NWSL, referencing the familiar observation that American soccer is more physical and less technical.
“I see the difference in training between here and Spain every day. In Spain, it’s keeping the ball a bit more. Here, everything is just stronger,” she said. “But I’m also bringing qualities that they don’t have here, that I only have myself. So I’m a strong player. And it’s a matter of adapting.”
