Jenni Hermoso Speaks Out About Fallout from Unsolicited Kiss After World Cup Win: ‘It Hurt and It Still Hurts’

• Spain's Jenni Hermoso said "it still hurts" that she was excluded from the team's roster in September following ex-president Luis Rubiales' unsolicited kiss
• New coach Montse Tomé said it was "the best way to protect her" at the time
• Hermoso said she has "changed a lot" since the incident with Rubiales in August
  

Spanish soccer star Jenni Hermoso has spoken out about the aftermath of former team president Luis Rubiales kissing her on the lips after the team's World Cup victory.

Hermoso, 33, spoke to reporters in her first international press conference since the incident and said "it still hurts" that she wasn't selected for Spain's women's national football team roster in September, according to ESPN.

At the time, new coach Montse Tomé said excluding her from the team was the "best way to protect her," per USA Today. Hermoso returned to the team in October. That same month, FIFA announced a three-year ban from the sport for Rubiales.

Ahead of Wednesday's UEFA Nations League final against France, Hermoso explained that she didn't understand Tomé's decision.

"I didn't get it and I will never understand it," Hermoso said, per ESPN's report. "It hurt and it still hurts, but it's something that has happened now and the best thing for me is to be here, wearing the shirt again and playing another final."

Regarding the repercussions of Rubiales' unsolicited kiss, Hermoso said, "The last news conference I gave was before the World Cup semifinal. A lot has happened since then – it's hard to know what to say."

Hermoso, Spain's all-time leading scorer, continued, "I have changed a lot, personally and in a football sense. It has all served to make me stronger. I have learned a lot, and I am lucky to be back in another final after six long months."

Concluding her statement, Hermoso said, "For me it's important to play another final and to continue here. I feel good, football continues to give me the life I need, and I continue to enjoy this sport."

In September, Hermoso penned a powerful message in Spanish and English on social media following her exclusion from the team.

"Let's be clear: a claim was made today stating that the environment within the federation would be safe for my colleagues to rejoin yet at the same press conference it was announced that they were not calling me as a means to protect me," Hermoso wrote, referring to player safety.

"Protect me from what? And from whom? We have been searching for weeks - months, even - for protection from the RFEF that never came," the striker continued. "The people who now ask us to trust them are the same ones who today disclosed the list of players who have asked NOT to be called up."

"The players are certain that this is yet another strategy of division and manipulation to intimidate and threaten us with legal repercussions and economic sanctions," she wrote, adding, "It is yet more irrefutable proof that shows that even today nothing has changed."

Hermosa finished her statement by offering her full support to her colleagues who were "forced to react to another unfortunate situation caused by the people who continue to make decisions within the RFEF."

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The RFEF issued an apology to "the football world" on Sept. 5, and announced the dismissal of head coach Jorge Vilda, who had coached the World Cup-winning team. Vilda reportedly applauded Rubiales' remarks at the emergency assembly, per USA Today.

On Sept. 10, Rubiales, 46, shared a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, announcing he had officially resigned as president of the federation.

"I have faith in the truth and I will do everything in my power so that it prevails," he wrote in a bolded section of the statement.