Latest news with #CopaDeLaReina
The Guardian
12-06-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Esther González: ‘Now girls can grow up in Spain knowing we have Ballon d'Or winners'
Esther González is at the top of her game. The 32-year-old striker's list of accolades – World Cup winner, three-time Liga F champion, NWSL champion, Copa de la Reina victor and Concacaf W Champions Cup winner – is matched by few in the sport. But as a young girl growing up in southern Spain, her path was uncertain, rife with obstacles: 'As a child, I dreamed of what I wanted to be when I grew up. It was a soccer player. But, let's say, circumstances didn't allow me to see women's soccer or anything close to women's soccer.' Growing up with three sisters, González's earliest memories of football were playing with her hermanas in their small village in Andalusia. She dreamed of being a footballer, but there wasn't a path before her. The shy young talent with a nose for goals would play with the local boys: they needed a goalscorer and she stepped in. As González grew, her father took her on car journeys of more than four hours each way to get to training. Today González and Spanish women's football are in a much different place: 'The change in mentality that took place in Spain was incredible, because until about five years ago the visibility we had was very low,' she says. 'So we really had to work hard and many times we had to work in the shadows. Girls can now grow up knowing that in Spain there are Ballon d'Or players who can become world champions.' Since the inaugural Ballon d'Or Feminin in 2018, four of six trophies have gone to two Spanish players, twice each to Barcelona's Alexia Putellas and Aitana Bonmatí. On the challenges they all faced, González says: 'I feel lucky because I am part of that transition, because I have lived the part from when, let's say, we had almost no opportunities to live … ' The drive to succeed despite inordinate obstacles is evident in the way González plays, and the unique journey she's taken. The 5ft 3in forward is skilled in the air despite her height, has a remarkable intuition for time and space, astutely adapts her game to the opposition, and contributes defensively. She left Real Madrid in 2023 as their all-time leading scorer, with 39 goals in 77 games, and co-leads the NWSL golden boot race with seven goals in 11 games. 'I'm not just a player, but a player who thinks a lot, who works hard on matches even before they start, because I try to determine who I'm facing and who I'm not.' This summer in Switzerland, González will be one of four Spain players from the NWSL at the Euros. Now at Gotham FC, she says the challenge of something new, something unique, was behind her move to the US. She was attracted to Gotham's ambitions, the league's competitive depth. 'When I left Spain to come here, I came to prove that I was also a much more complete player, better than the one who only knows how to touch the ball, than the one who also knows how to adapt.' González signed for Gotham FC in the summer of 2023, and quickly made an impact, scoring the winning goal in the NWSL Championship. In May in Mexico, she scored Gotham's winner in a 1-0 victory over Tigres in the Concacaf W Champions Cup, securing her second trophy Stateside. Two more goals followed for Spain in the Nations League, but González is not resting on her laurels. 'I hope I'm not in my best moment. I hope to have better moments, that the best is yet to come.' Ambitious, focused, invigorated by hard-earned achievements – just like her national team. After winning their first World Cup in 2023, and enduring the fallout from the Rubiales scandal, Spain's confidence in major tournaments has improved on 2022, when La Roja lost 2-1 to England in the quarter-final (that goal scored by González). 'In order to create things you have to first believe that you can achieve them,' she says. 'As a team, we believe we can achieve everything.' Of the Euros, where Spain share a competitive group with Italy, Belgium and Portugal, she adds: 'It will be difficult, tough, there will be times when we're tired, when there's also a lot of traveling involved, but to achieve things, you have to believe that you can achieve them. And so I believe and work to make that happen.' Is there anything you have always wanted to ask the USWNT and former Chelsea coach Emma Hayes? Then now is your chance. I was lucky to score a goal. It must be because I'm wearing Pernille Harder's shirt' – Christian Eriksen after scoring a goal for Denmark's men against Northern Ireland. The team wore women's jerseys in a friendly against Northern Ireland in Copenhagen. USL summit: The USA's second top-flight professional women's football league, the USL Super League, will have its first Championship final as a division one sports league on Saturday evening. The regular season's runners-up Tampa Bay Sun face fourth-placed Fort Lauderdale United. Bumpy ride: In Cary, North Carolina, a squad of USWNT veterans (including World Cup-winning legends such as Hope Solo, Carli Lloyd, Heather O'Reilly and Ali Krieger) teamed up with rising NCAA stars to win the TST Women's Tournament for a second straight year. The US team beat Bumpy Pitch FC 3-0 to claim the seven-a-side tournament's $1m prize. Over the weekend, the 25-year-old Chicago Stars forward Ally Schlegel scored her first goal of the year from 34.4 yards– that's a Chicago record. Arsenal have announced that all of the club's home WSL matches will be played at the Emirates next season. Suzanne Wrack has more. And if you missed Tuesday's edition of Moving the Goalposts, catch up on our interview with Aisha Masaka right here.
Yahoo
08-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
The 3️⃣ key questions ahead of the Copa de la Reina final
FC Barcelona and Atlético de Madrid bring the curtain down on the women's football season in Spain with the Copa de la Reina final in Huesca. With the Women's Euro on the horizon and the proud memory of the Champions League final in Lisbon, the Blaugrana stars want to redeem themselves with a new title that will allow them to return to being the great national dominators. For its part, Atlético de Madrid is looking to take a title back to the capital against the big favorites. A historic duel in Spanish football This final between Barcelona and Atlético de Madrid is the fourth that both clubs have played in this competition, becoming the most repeated confrontation for the title. Additionally, it is played in an unusual setting for a final, the El Alcoraz stadium in Huesca, which gives it a special character for both the local fans and several Aragonese players who will be on the pitch. The memory of 2026 Barcelona arrives as a clear favorite: it has won six of the last eight editions and has a streak of 21 consecutive victories in the Cup. Advertisement Despite the accumulated fatigue from the international calendar, the team seeks to close the season with the national triple crown (League, Cup, and Super Cup). For its part, Atlético de Madrid, which has two Cups in its record, trusts in repeating the feat of 2016, when it defeated Barça. Although they have lost all direct matches against the Blaugrana this season, they arrive with hope and without pressure. Several players at home A spectacular atmosphere is expected at El Alcoraz, with sold-out tickets and a capacity for more than 9,000 fans. The match will feature the participation of several Aragonese players such as Salma Paralluelo, Mapi León, Marta Cardona, and Patricia Larqué, who will feel at home in such a special match. Advertisement This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here. 📸 PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA - AFP or licensors
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
The 3️⃣ standout players from the Copa de la Reina final
Barça was crowned champion of the Copa de la Reina and we bring you the three great figures of the final. Claudia Pina Without a doubt, the great figure of the match has been the Barça number 9. She opened the scoring and then sealed the goal of tranquility. Without Pina, there would be no title this afternoon. Her quality to define was above average. Ewa Pajor There can't be goals without assistants and Ewa Pajor was key to the construction of each Barça attack. Advertisement Additionally, she left with the assist on Claudia Pina's first goal in the final. Esmee Brugts In the last figure of the match, we have to mention Esmee Brugts, who had to take charge of the center due to Mapi León's absence. Now, it didn't weigh on the Dutch defender at all. She played a great final and provided tranquility from the back. This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
🚨 Barcelona seal domestic double with Copa de la Reina victory
Barcelona Femení claimed a domestic double after a 2-0 win over Atlético de Madrid in the Copa de la Reina final. Scorers: Pina 25', 75' Clàudia Pina broke the deadlock midway through the first half by meeting Ewa Pajor's cutback to the edge of the penalty area and firing past Lola Gallardo. Advertisement Atleti's attempted fightback after the interval saw Gio Garbelini almost haunt her old club by seizing on a Cata Coll error but was denied by an offside call in the build-up. Pina compounded the Colchoneros' misery by claiming a brace with a sublime first-time volley after the ball broke for her from a half-clearance just outside the box. The Blaugrana have now won the Copa five times in the previous six seasons and extended their record as the competition's most successful team with 11 victories. 📸 JOSEP LAGO - AFP or licensors
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
The 3️⃣ key questions ahead of the Copa de la Reina final
FC Barcelona and Atlético de Madrid bring the curtain down on the women's football season in Spain with the Copa de la Reina final in Huesca. With the Women's Euro on the horizon and the proud memory of the Champions League final in Lisbon, the Blaugrana stars want to redeem themselves with a new title that will allow them to return to being the great national dominators. For its part, Atlético de Madrid is looking to take a title back to the capital against the big favorites. A historic duel in Spanish football This final between Barcelona and Atlético de Madrid is the fourth that both clubs have played in this competition, becoming the most repeated confrontation for the title. Additionally, it is played in an unusual setting for a final, the El Alcoraz stadium in Huesca, which gives it a special character for both the local fans and several Aragonese players who will be on the pitch. The memory of 2026 Barcelona arrives as a clear favorite: it has won six of the last eight editions and has a streak of 21 consecutive victories in the Cup. Advertisement Despite the accumulated fatigue from the international calendar, the team seeks to close the season with the national triple crown (League, Cup, and Super Cup). For its part, Atlético de Madrid, which has two Cups in its record, trusts in repeating the feat of 2016, when it defeated Barça. Although they have lost all direct matches against the Blaugrana this season, they arrive with hope and without pressure. Several players at home A spectacular atmosphere is expected at El Alcoraz, with sold-out tickets and a capacity for more than 9,000 fans. The match will feature the participation of several Aragonese players such as Salma Paralluelo, Mapi León, Marta Cardona, and Patricia Larqué, who will feel at home in such a special match. Advertisement This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here. 📸 PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA - AFP or licensors
