Enter Vicky Lopez, Spain's 18-year-old star-in-waiting

New York Times

11 hours ago

In the 81st minute, Aitana Bonmati waited between the two technical areas for the action on the pitch to stop so she could come on.
Spain faced Portugal in their first Euro 2025 match without their Ballon d'Or winner in the starting line-up and minus one of their three key players in a well-established midfield alongside Patri Guijarro and Alexia Putellas.
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Less than a week ago, the Catalan player was hospitalised with viral meningitis, and there were fears that she would not be able to participate in the tournament. Her appearance in the first match of the group stage had been practically ruled out, and there were doubts as to whether she would be fit for the second match against Belgium.
'We have to stop Aitana,' Spain head coach Montse Tome said as she urged caution at the pre-match press conference while announcing that the progress of Bonmati's recovery was positive. At that point, Bonmati had one thing on her mind: playing. And she achieved the feat of returning to action for 10 minutes in her team's opening 5-0 win against Portugal.
Bonmati's absence from the start forced Tome to think of an alternative for the starting XI, and Vicky Lopez was her chosen replacement.
As Lopez left the field when Bonmati came on in the 80th minute, Spain were already winning 4-0. But Lopez wanted to leave the field via the touchline instead of crossing the pitch to go to the bench, as is customary, so as not to waste time and allow her Barcelona team-mate to have more minutes of play.
She was applauded by her fans, and rightly so: the 18-year-old had a great game, scoring a goal in the seventh minute. And that was despite twisting her left ankle two training sessions before the match. Although it was only a slight injury, she still had to ice her ankle.
Lopez played with the joy of her age but the calmness of a veteran. In the seventh minute, she took advantage of a cross from Mariona Caldentey to ghost in unmarked between the Portuguese defence, get the tip of her boot to the ball and make it 2-0.
Of the five dribbles she attempted, she was successful in all of them. She made 46 successful passes out of 52, and won six of the eight duels she had.
'(Vicky) is a player who has now had her opportunity; a young footballer with whom we need to be patient,' Tome said at the post-match press conference. 'We have a lot of confidence in her talent. We have given her playing time and she has done very well.'
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Although she is the youngest player in Spain's squad, Lopez has been generating a lot of excitement for many years. Barcelona signed her in 2022 from Madrid CFF when she was only 16 to have her live at La Masia and play for Barca B. In fact, she is one of the first products of the women's team to live at La Masia, which has been open to women's football since 2021.
It was there that she forged a friendship with Lamine Yamal, who has been seen several times at the Johan Cruyff Stadium this season watching Barcelona Femeni. Both were named Golden Girl and Golden Boy, respectively, in 2024.
Perhaps it was from this friendship that Lopez, or Yamal, got the idea of playing 'dembow' songs before their matches. Dembow is a music genre with roots in the Caribbean, particularly popular in the Dominican Republic, which influenced reggaeton but has a faster rhythm — and when you see Lopez play, it looks like she's playing to that rhythm.
'Before the match, Patri (Guijarro) played me some dembow songs to motivate me,' Lopez told RTVE after the match.
Like Lamal, Lopez moves with agility and explosiveness and has superb dribbling skills. It was after witnessing her practice these skills on a beach in Benidorm that Madrid CFF signed her at the age of nine.
She was the youngest player — both male and female — to make her Champions League debut at just 16 years and 148 days old. She was also the youngest player to make her debut for the Spanish national team. So young in fact that she is still studying, combining her football career with a degree in business administration and management.
Lopez also has an ambitious and uninhibited way of speaking that is far removed from the prudence of players from older generations. While the Spanish players have wanted to avoid being labelled favourites in interviews or press conferences, Lopez sees it differently.
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'For me, Spain will always be the favourite,' she said in an interview with Agencia EFE this week. 'If we have fun, they can't stop us.'
Lopez made that declaration with a defiant, mischievous and playful look — and her words are like a breath of fresh air that mirror the generational change already under way in Barcelona's men's team with Yamal the spearhead.
Sources at the Barcelona Femeni, who wish to remain anonymous in order to maintain their working relationships, explained to The Athletic that they see Lopez as a footballer that people will pay to go and see play at the stadium. They are aware that she is one of their greatest assets.
Lopez is well-supported by those around her. She gets on particularly well with Salma Paralluelo, who acts as her big sister and with whom she also shares a room in the national team.
In Pere Romeu's Barcelona team, as well as the Spanish national team, midfield positions are in high demand. With two Ballon d'Or winners in Putellas and Bonmati, and then Guijarro, Lopez will not have it as easy. Yet Lopez has got Spain off to the best possible start at the Euros.
Time will tell if she can challenge Bonmati or Putellas for a starting place, or if she can play alongside them in one of the attacking positions. For now, she has planted the seed and let those who haven't seen her play know that she has quality to spare.