Spain, hunting for the Euro Cup with Tomé's touch

Tomé developed a ten-season career as a professional footballer, playing for Levante UD and FC Barcelona before ending her playing career at the same club where she debuted: Oviedo Moderno.

In class he sat on the right hand side next to Lionel Scaloni and Leo Franco. Ginés Meñéndez, former director of the RFEF coaching school

After hanging up her boots, the Asturian decided to embark on a new adventure in coaching. To do so, she took one of the coaching courses at the Las Rozas Sports City, where between 2017 and 2018 she received tactical lessons from Luis de la Fuente as part of the program that granted her the UEFA PRO license . There, she coincided with Ginés Meléndez, then director of the various coaching courses organized by the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF). “She was very good at expressing herself. In classes, she sat on the right side of Lionel Scaloni and Leo Franco,” Meléndez recalls in a conversation with La Vanguardia . “During group work, she had no problem sharing things with her colleagues and was a very methodical person,” adds the former head of the coaching school, who at that time considered Tomé one of the most promising students in a select group that also included Andoni Iraola, Alessio Lisci, and Javier Saviola, among others.

“Being a coach has nothing to do with being a national team coach. You have to know how to choose the best players based on your teammates and opponents. The learning process she's had since the U-17s has made her grow a lot,” explains Meléndez, who also highlights that Tomé was a “very good student because she had a great academic background.” After completing her training, the Asturian coach made her debut on the bench in 2020, managing the U-17 women's national team, with whom she won the World Cup in 2022.

Since her appointment as national team coach in September 2023, she has overseen 31 matches, recording 24 wins, two draws, and five defeats. Her contract was renewed in July of last year until the conclusion of the European Championship, which kicks off today in Switzerland.

During her time with Levante, where she won a Super League title in 2007, Tomé shared a dressing room with Sara Monforte, current coach of the RCD Espanyol women's team. The Espanyol coach admits that "I didn't see her as a coach because she didn't have that aggressive leadership streak," although she acknowledges that she's currently "doing a very good job" leading the national team. "She was a very discreet and introverted person, but she really loved football and was very professional for the era in which we played," adds the Castellón native.

"I think the leadership of some players will help her a lot, and tactically, it's a coaching staff that offers more options in the game and knows how to bring together players who know each other well," says Monforte about the different options the Asturian can propose in a list that includes eleven Barça players , including the recent signing of Laia Aleixandri . "She's more interventionist on a tactical level than in management, which was exactly what the national team needed. We needed to see a match plan that, on the level of dressing room management, wasn't so interventionist and that let the players do their thing," the Castellón native points out regarding her former teammate's handling of the squad at the Valencian club.

In her opinion, the knowledge Tomé has acquired within the federation structure has also been key. “She wasn't a very experienced coach, but she trained within the federation, and that helps a lot in understanding what's being sought and what a national team requires,” Monforte notes.

She's being smart about carrying the weight of being one of the favorites." Sara Monforte, Coach of RCD Espanyol

Regarding the title contenders, the Espanyol coach believes Spain will face tough competition. "I expected a lot from England, but they didn't convince me in the Nations League match against Spain in Cornellà." Even so, the Espanyol coach believes the English team "will compete well" and will be "one of the favorites to prevent Spain from winning the European Championship, along with France and Germany."

"She's being smart about carrying the weight of being one of the favorites. She's right to follow the same line of reasoning from game to game, and I'm sure that, from within, they're only thinking about Thursday's game and nothing else," Monforte concludes, referring to the way the coach has managed expectations in the weeks leading up to Spain's Euro debut.