Olympics-Spain's Bonmati eyes soccer gold to cap stellar year

MADRID - Aitana Bonmati will not be resting on her laurels and is focused on winning the only major prize she has not claimed in the past year - an Olympic gold medal for the Spanish women's team in Paris.

"It would be a unique period because we would have won everything we could," #Bonmati said in an interview in Las Rozas, where she was training ahead of the Games starting this month.

"We are an ambitious team and I am an ambitious person who never gets tired of winning. The most important thing now is to focus on winning gold," the 26-year-old added.

In the past 12 months, the #Spain and #Barcelona midfielder has won the World Cup and the #UEFA Nation's League with her country and Liga F and the Champions League with her club, as well as claiming #FIFA's Ballon d'Or and being named Champions League player of the season.

Bonmati, however, cautioned that the tight schedule of the Olympic tournament and high quality opponents mean there are no guarantees she will leave Paris with a medal, or even that Spain would qualify from a tough group including Nigeria, Brazil and Japan who beat them 4-0 during the World Cup group stage.

Spain may also have to contend with four-times Olympic champions the United States, who will be looking to bounce back from a disappointing World Cup last year when they were knocked out in round of 16.

"The United States are many years ahead of us and have won many, many titles, so we can't compare," Bonmati said.

"It's a team I have a lot of respect for, but it's true that we can play against any team these days."

The past year has seen Bonmati emerge as a superstar of women's football in a sport that just a few years ago struggled to get exposure.

"The social change we are experiencing and living through is a magnificent thing," she said. "A few years ago we played in the stadium with no one else but our families in the stands and now we see a stadium filled for a Champions League final."

Spain emerged as world champions last year in spite of playing against the backdrop of a locker-room revolt that robbed them of leading players unhappy about the lack of ambition shown by the #Spanish FA (RFEF) and with former coach Jorge Vilda's training methods.

An international scandal triggered by RFEF boss Luis Rubiales kissing player Jenni Hermoso on the lips during the World Cup presentation ceremony deepened a crisis that was only resolved when the RFEF agreed to dismiss several senior officials amid a player boycott.

There will be no such distractions at the #Olympics.

"We are much calmer, focused on what we have to do, which is what we want in the end," Bonmati said.

- (Reuters)