Aitana Bonmati Eyes Olympic Gold to Complete Trophy Collection

Aitana Bonmati, focused and ambitious, sets her sights on winning an Olympic gold medal with the Spanish women's team in Paris, marking the only major prize she has yet to claim in the past year. Despite facing high-quality opponents, Bonmati remains determined and optimistic about Spain's chances.

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. "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," she 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.

However, Bonmati 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-time 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 the 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."

Spain emerged as world champions last year in spite of a locker-room revolt that robbed them of leading players unhappy with the Spanish FA (RFEF) and former coach Jorge Vilda's training methods. An international scandal triggered by RFEF boss Luis Rubiales kissing player Jenni Hermoso during the World Cup presentation ceremony deepened a crisis later resolved by dismissing 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.