Palmerston North's mayor says his small city "absolutely" played a part in Spain's road to victory at the FIFA Women's World Cup.
The city was the focus of headlines worldwide after reports suggested boredom had driven the team out of their home base a day early.
While Spain's head coach Jorge Vilda said it his team's "pleasure" to stay in the city, the reported plight of Palmy caused a minor "international incident".
Now, weeks after the story broke, Spain's World Cup campaign culminated in a 1-0 victory over England in last night's final - La Roja lifted the trophy for the first time in its history.
Speaking to Seven Sharp, Palmerston North Mayor Grant Smith said the city was "absolutely part of their success".
"And we're gonna claim it," he chuckled.
"They had a great three weeks early on in their campaign, and we're gonna say it really helped them go through to win the title."
When the two teams took to the field, Smith and the rest of Palmy were "absolutely" behind La Roja - showing off his Spain jersey.
He doesn't believe the team left early because they were bored, saying they were set to depart the next day. He thinks the story was a "blowout" by overseas media.
"They were at a crossroads of their campaign," he said.
"They wanted to get ready for the next part of their World Cup campaign, so they left a day early and set themselves up in Wellington at their new digs there."
Smith believes there was a purpose to their training in a "quieter" town - so they could focus on winning.
"They were here to win, and that was very obvious… and they did."
And the city's pride hasn't been wounded.
"We're no Madrid, we're no Auckland, we're not even Wellington when it comes to the bright lights, but we're pretty comfortable in our own skin.
"You make your own fun, whether it's Madrid or Palmy."
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