FIFA Women’s World Cup: Heartfelt moment as Spain’s Ona Batlle consoles England’s Lucy Bronze

Spanish footballer Ona Batlle has been hailed for putting her FIFA World Cup final celebrations aside to console stricken England defender Lucy Bronze.

Batlle – sporting her gold medal – made a beeline for the England bench to wrap a consoling arm around her Barcelona teammate, who was distraught after making a costly error in England’s 1-0 loss in Sydney on Sunday.

Bronze gave away the ball in the lead-up to Spanish captain Olga Carmona scoring the only goal of a pulsating final.

Bronze and England midfielder Keira Walsh play club football for Barcelona, who supplied nine players to Spain’s World Cup winning squad.

Sensing her clubmate’s distress, Batlle, 24, approached Bronze and knelt in front of her before sitting beside her on the bench as the English fullback poured out her emotions.

Australia’s Fox Sports network labelled Batlle’s gesture as “an instantly iconic moment of sportswomanship, ranking alongside such famous images as England’s Andrew Flintoff comforting Australian Brett Lee after the Edgbaston Ashes test in 2005, or New Zealander Grant Elliott consoling South Africa’s Dale Steyn after the Cricket World Cup semifinal in 2015”.

Bronze had earlier been consoled by other Barcelona teammates on the pitch after the final whistle. Mariona Caldentey, 27, gave her a long hug, while others patted her on the back.

Meanwhile, a Sports Illustrated report claimed Bronze had earlier “appeared to snub’’ FIFA president Gianni Infantino as he presented her silver medal and “left him hanging when he offered a handshake’’.

The report said it followed a message from Infantino that women should “pick the right battles’’ over equality issues in football.

Bronze’s blunder showed how small the margin of error had become in World Cup football.

The right back, who has represented England more than 100 times, has been one of the Lionesses’ most dependable servants on their rise to becoming a power in the women’s game.

But the 31-year-old had a moment that belied her experience midway through the first half when she decided to go on a jinking in-field run in England’s half.

The Spanish were swarming as she ran through a congested midfield, lost possession and then screamed at herself in frustration.

She knew why because in seconds the Spanish had switched play to Bronze’s channel, with Mariona Caldentey setting up Carmona for Spain’s goal.

Perhaps the fact Bronze, who plays her club football with Barcelona, has only missed 20 minutes of England’s campaign began to catch up with her.

It was one of many sliding doors moments for the Lionesses on a night when they failed to add to last year’s European Championship crown and end England’s 57-year wait to be named football champions of the world, following their men’s 1966 World Cup triumph.

– Additional reporting AAP