Spain's ‘perfectionist’ standing in England’s way

Aitana Bonmatí started breaking barriers at an early age after her family wanted to steer away from Spanish norms and decided to list Bonmatí’s mother’s surname in front of her father’s

ROARING SUCCESS: Spain's Aitana Bonmati celebrates the 2-1 win over Sweden in the semi final

SPAIN'S journey to their first Women’s World Cup final has been a long one, taking in a mass player walk-out in protest against the coach, Jorge Vilda, and a surprise 4-0 defeat against Japan in the group stage.

The semi-final against Sweden was just the latest obstacle they had to break down and, as always these days, leading the way in the narrow 2-1 win was Aitana Bonmatí, the bright, versatile and dominant Barcelona midfielder.