Aitana Bonmatí knows all about succeeding under pressure.
A two-time Ballon d’Or winner, World Cup champion, UEFA Nations League and three-time UEFA Champions League winner: she thrives in these environments.
It is the kind of mentality that makes her one of the leaders in this Spanish football squad.
“I think I have that character, that contagious and competitive responsibility, that experience too,” she said in the build-up to UEFA Women’s EURO 2025.
“I’m 27 years old, even if it doesn’t look like it. I think in the captain’s game, it is good to have different profiles, each one bringing different things.
“I represent that competitiveness, that demand, that know-how and that experience.”
During this tournament her role had been altered, starting it from the bench initially after contracting a case of viral meningitis.
For four to five days before flying to Switzerland, the usually active midfielder had to cease exercise, spending that time unable to move from her hospital bed.
An understandably difficult week or so for a player used to covering a lot of ground on the pitch.
Head coach Montse Tomé managed Bonmatí’s minutes in those early group games, but ahead of a final against England, the midfielder is hitting her stride at exactly the right time.
Scoring the goal to beat Germany and book a spot in the final for the first time in Spain’s history is yet another reason why she is made for these moments.
Bonmatí, along with the rest of her team-mates, are ready to show why this has grown into a very different team over the years.
“I think we are a much more experienced team,” she said. “It’s a very ambitious mentality and we know the objective at hand.
“We have improved a lot but that knowledge, that experience, that is what makes you [get better].”