(Reuters) -Jenni Hermoso has been left out of the Spain squad for the Women's European Championship, with coach Montse Tome saying there was too much competition for places in her position.
The 35-year-old forward played a key role in Spain's World Cup victory in 2023 and is the country's leading goalscorer but has featured less frequently for the side in recent months.
Hermoso was also at the centre of a scandal involving former Spanish Football Federation President Luis Rubiales, who was found guilty of sexual assault for kissing the player without her consent after Spain's World Cup win in Sydney.
Rubiales said the kiss was consensual.
Hermoso, who plays club football for Mexico's Tigres, was last called up to the Spain squad for friendlies against Italy and Canada in October and was part of the squad for last year's Paris Olympics.
"I spoke with Jenni (Hermoso) already in the beginning of the year, we had a conversation," Tome told reporters on Tuesday.
"We've done with her what we've done with everyone else. We've valued her season in Tigres, we've spoken with the manager in different times, and we did what we had to do, to assess what we need from the players."
Tome said Patri Guijarro, Maite Zubieta, Alexia Putellas, Aitana Bonmati, Vicky Lopez, Mariona Caldentey and Claudia Pina were all capable of playing in Hermoso's position.
"It's difficult to make it to the final list of 23 players," she added.
Spain are in Group B of the tournament in Germany, alongside Portugal, Belgium and Italy. They play Japan in a warm-up game on June 27 before taking on Portugal in their campaign opener on July 3.
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
