‘Happy for them … sad for me’: Mariona Caldentey on going back to training with teammates who have just beaten you

By Matias Grez, Amanda Davies, CNN

(CNN) — No moment better captures the agony and ecstasy that sport provides than the contrasting emotions of two teams that have just contested a major final.

As one group of players rushes wildly to celebrate with its fans, the other slumps to the floor with their heads buried in their hands or the turf.

These emotions were on full display in Switzerland on July 27, when England defeated Spain in a nerve-wracking penalty shootout to win the Women’s Euro 2025 title.

It was the second time in as many years that the two teams had met in a major final after Spain’s triumph at the 2023 World Cup, adding an extra layer of spice and intrigue to the encounter.

Understandably, the faces of England’s players were the last thing any of the Spanish team would have wanted to see after the final – but, weeks later, many had no choice.

That included midfielder Mariona Caldentey, who returned to preseason training with Arsenal and had to face several of her English vanquishers, including captain Leah Williamson, Chloe Kelly, Beth Mead, Alessia Russo and Lotte Wubben-Moy.

But far from being something of an unpleasant experience, Caldentey said her English teammates made it “easy” for her to return to training.

“They were so respectful of me,” she told CNN Sports. “After the final, we already spoke a bit and saw each other … we have a lot of respect for each other.

“It hurt the first moment I saw them, and I was happy for them and I was sad for me, but it was fine because they helped me to make it easy.”

It was the second major final Caldentey had contested in as many months.

On May 24, her Gunners side beat Barcelona Femení 1-0 in the Women’s Champions League final at the end of her first season at the north London club. Only 12 months earlier, Caldentey had left the Blaugrana after 10 years to join Arsenal, and many of the players she faced that day were her closest friends.

“It’s hard, but it’s part of our work,” she says. “When we are on the pitch, we have no friends, but as soon as the game is done, I have so much respect for them, the Barça girls, and staff and everyone.

“And then when I was in the other side, even if I’ve only been here for one year, I feel so grateful for how the English players helped me. We are becoming friends.

“Everyone wants to win, so then we are not friends. But once that’s done, I just want to be respectful and show my respect for all of them, even if they win or they lose.”

Despite ending the season with the low of that defeat to England, it was still a fruitful one for Caldentey; she was named the Women’s Super League (WSL) Player of the Season and was also voted PFA Women’s Player of the Year by her fellow professionals.

Her performances last season have now earned her a nomination for the Ballon d’Or Féminin, the greatest individual prize in soccer.

She credits that recognition to her being “a bit more in the spotlight” at Arsenal than she was at Barça, where “people think we only attack” and many of the individual accolades go to Aitana Bonmatí and Alexia Putellas.

“Here, I had a defensive work as well to do – and I do it well,” Caldentey says. “So I think maybe people were a bit surprised with that!”

A ‘big season’ for Arsenal

As is the case pretty much every season, Caldentey says this is a “big” one for Arsenal.

The team will have a target on its back as the Champions League holder, but the 29-year-old knows improvements need to be made if the team wants to compete on all fronts.

Each year gets more difficult, too, as the investment and strength in depth in women’s football only continue to grow.

“We know what we want, and it’s to fight for all the trophies we can,” Caldentey tells CNN Sports bullishly. “We need to be a bit more consistent. Last season was a roller coaster, but winning the Champions League was something amazing for the club.

“I hope that gives us more confidence. I want to win all the trophies, of course. That’s team sport, and that’s our goal. And then when the things go well, then the other things come for the individual as well.

“But I would love to win the WSL. That’s something that we really have in our head and then, of course, the cups. I’m quite new here, so I haven’t won any of those trophies, so that’s what’s in my head right now.”

Unfortunately for Caldentey and Arsenal, there is one significant blue obstacle in their way as they attempt to win a first WSL trophy in seven years: Chelsea.

The west London club has won all six WSL titles since Arsenal last won it in 2019 and last year finished a cushy 12 points clear of the north Londoners, even after significant upheaval that included legendary manager Emma Hayes leaving the club.

“Chelsea has been amazing these last years because it’s not that easy to be that consistent,” Caldentey says. “And I think what we want now is to start strong the season.

“We know last season that our start was not good, and then you are kind of behind the whole time. We want to try to be consistent. We want to have clean sheets. We want to be a solid team defensively because then we know we have talent and a lot of quality up front.”

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