With inaugural SheBelieves Cup participants France and Germany once again not returning and last year’s debutante Brazil preferring the allure of France, the Netherlands, and Canada, the United States Women’s National Team needed to find a new participant for its four-team friendly tournament. Eventually, the USA settled on #13-ranked Spain, who you might remember from that nail-biting Round of 16 match in last year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup (official highlights).
While Spain’s players may have revenge on their mind, head coach Jorge Vilda is focused on preparing for the back half of qualifying for the 2021 UEFA Women’s Euro, which will be hosted by fellow SheBelieves Cup team England. Although Spain easily won its first two qualifying matches last autumn, the Iberian team hit a slight road bump in the form of a nil-nil away draw with Poland.
For this friendly tournament, Vilda has recalled 18 players from his 2019 WWC squad, including FC Barcelona striker Jenni Hermoso who scored Spain’s equalizer against the USA and is tied for most goals in the Primera División’s current season at 20, with Nigerian Asisat Oshoala.
Notable Absences
However, Spain will be without a key cog of their midfield, Vicky Losada, who is still not one-hundred percent after a recent Achilles tendon injury (sport.es #1). Losada has not played for her national team since the WWC, as she suffered a left hamstring injury in early September and was out until late November (sport.es #2).
Another WWC player, Andrea Falcón, suffered a tear of her left knee’s ACL in mid-December (fcbarcelona.es), and is thus unavailable for the next several months. Two other players, Silvia Meseguer and Marta Torrejon retired from international soccer (as.com).
The reason for the absence of Spain’s final WWC player, outside back Celia Jiménez of Reign FC (NWSL profile) is somewhat unclear. Jiménez, who is on loan to the Perth Glory (W-League profile), started in the Glory’s most recent match (22-Feb-2020), and thus appears to be fit and available for selection. Jiménez, a native of Andalusia, played NCAA soccer for Alabama (collegiate profile). One likely explanation is that Vilda needed to make room on the roster to give a trial run to another outside back candidate…
New(er) Additions
Receiving her first senior call-up is 24 year-old (right) outside back Ainhoa Vicente of Athletic Club (Bilbao). (EuropaPress.es)
Three other players earned their first caps in 2019: 21 year-old forward Sheila García of Rayo Vallecano, who has been recalled for the first time since the Women’s World Cup, plus Levante defender Ona Batlle and Real Sociodad forward Marta Cardona, who have both been regular post-WWC call-ups. Batlle is a veteran of Spain’s 2018 U-20 WWC and 2016 U-17 WWC squads.
Batlle, a veteran of Spain’s 2018 U-20 WWC and 2016 U-17 WWC squads, and García both earned their first caps in May 2019, against Cameroon. (es.fifa.com) Cardona got her first cap in October during a Women’s Euro qualifier against Azerbaijan. (eldesmarque.com)
Vilda had this to say about Sheila García – translated from the roster announcement press conference (sefutbol.com):
“She is a player we know from the lower categories and is having an exceptional season with Rayo. What attracts us the most is her talent… She has the merits to be with the national team.
The final non-WWC player, 27 year-old Ángela Sosa, was a controversial omission, at least according to her detailed Spanish Wikipedia page. The Atlético Madrid midfielder only earned her first senior cap in November 2018.
SPAIN’S ROSTER FOR 2020 SHEBELIEVES CUP 2020
Team name hyperlinks go to the player’s LaLiga.com profiles, which include basic current season statistics.
Goalkeepers (3):
Dolores “Lola” Gallardo (Atlético Madrid)
Sandra Paños (FC Barcelona)
Maria “Mariasun” Quiñones (Real Sociedad)
Defenders (8):
Ivana Andrés (Levante UD)
Ona Batlle (Levante UD)
Marta Corredera (Levante UD)
María “Mapi” Leon (FC Barcelona)
Leila Ouahabi (FC Barcelona)
Irene Paredes (Paris Saint-Germain F.C.)
Andrea Pereira (FC Barcelona)
Ainhoa Vicente (Athletic Club)
Midfielders (6):
Aitana Bonmati (FC Barcelona)
Patri Guijarro (FC Barcelona)
Alexia Putellas (FC Barcelona)
Amanda Sampedro (Atlético Madrid)
Ángela Sosa (Atlético Madrid)
Virginia Torrecilla (Atlético Madrid)
Forwards (6):
Mariona Caldentey (FC Barcelona)
Marta Cardona (Real Sociedad)
Lucía García (Athletic Club)
Nahikari García (Real Sociedad)
Sheila García (Rayo Vallecano)
Jennifer “Jenni” Hermoso (FC Barcelona)
The following table lists basic details (heights, dates of birth, age) for all players, plus international caps and goals tallies for players from Spain’s 2019 Women’s World Cup squad, as of the conclusion of that tournament.
Most dates of birth and heights are pulled from FIFA’s final “List of Players” for the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup (PDF, archived link). For most players not on Spain’s WWC 2019 squad, the player’s LaLiga.com profile was used for height and date of birth. (One player, Ona Batlle was on Spain’s 2018 U-20 WWC roster.)
The Rfef’s website (sefutbol.com) has historical statistics for its men’s national team, but not the women’s. However, thanks to FIFA requiring teams participating in senior tournaments to submit rosters with caps and goals information, accurate tallies for those stats are readily available for most of Spain’s players, at least through the conclusion of the WWC. Spain has only played four matches since the WWC (a friendly versus France, plus three Women’s Euro qualifying matches), so it would be possible to calculate up-to-date caps and goals for the WWC squad players, but that would still leave a handful of non-WWC players with incomplete tallies.
Dates of births for Marta Cardona, Sheila García, and Ángela Sosa, and Ainhoa Vicente are pulled from LaLiga.com and may be off by one day (apparently due to a website coding issue).
Ages are calculated, based on the first day of the tournament (5 March 2020).
Table 1: Spain’s Roster for 2020 SheBelieves Cup – Detailed
| Through Post
Height | WWC'19 WWC
Player P. D.O.B. Age ft/in cm | Caps Goals Goals
Dolores Gallardo GK 06/10/1993 26.74 5'7" 171 | 30 0
Sandra Paños GK 11/04/1992 27.33 5'6" 168 | 34 0
Maria Quiñones GK 10/29/1996 23.35 5'7" 171 | 3 0
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ivana Andrés DF 07/13/1994 25.65 5'5" 164 | 22 0
Ona Batlle DF 06/10/1999 20.74 5'5" 165 |
Marta Corredera DF 08/08/1991 28.57 5'4" 162 | 72 5
María Leon DF 06/13/1995 24.73 5'7" 169 | 29 1
Leila Ouahabi DF 03/22/1993 26.95 5'8" 172 | 29 1
Irene Paredes DF 07/04/1991 28.67 5'10" 178 | 68 8 1
Andrea Pereira DF 09/19/1993 26.46 5'5" 164 | 26 0
Ainhoa Vicente DF 08/20/1995 24.54 5'5" 166 |
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Aitana Bonmati MF 01/18/1998 22.13 5'4" 162 | 14 1 3
Patri Guijarro MF 05/17/1998 21.80 5'7" 170 | 22 3 1
Alexia Putellas MF 02/04/1994 26.08 5'9" 175 | 70 14
Amanda Sampedro MF 06/26/1993 26.69 5'3" 159 | 49 11
Ángela Sosa MF 01/16/1993 27.13 5'5" 165 |
Virginia Torrecilla MF 09/04/1994 25.50 5'8" 173 | 62 6 1
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mariona Caldentey FW 03/19/1996 23.96 5'5" 164 | 25 2 1
Marta Cardona FW 05/26/1995 24.78 5'3" 160 |
Lucía García FW 07/14/1998 21.64 5'4" 163 | 18 1
Nahikari García FW 03/10/1997 22.99 5'3" 160 | 13 1
Sheila García FW 03/14/1997 22.98 5'4" 162 |
Jennifer Hermoso FW 05/09/1990 29.82 5'9" 174 | 73 31 1
Sources: sefutbol.com (positions), FIFA (dates of births, heights, caps, goals), LaLiga.com (dates of birth, heights), UEFA.com (post-WWC goals)
Select current season Primera División statistics for all domestic-based players are included in the next table. The La Liga website has basic, though incomplete statistics (e.g., a “Fouls” column is listed, but all entries are zero) for players in the women’s top division. Only one player, Irene Paredes of France’s PSG, is not based in Spain. Her current French league stats are included at the bottom of the table for reference.
Column Legend:
- MP: Matches Played
- MS: Matches Started
- Min.: Minutes Played
- G.: Total goals scored (including via penalty kicks)
- PK: Penalty kicks scored
- A: Assists
- YC: Yellow Cards
Table 2: Current Season League Stats for Spain’s Players (as of 25-Feb-2020)
Player P. MP MS Min. | G. PK A | YC | Club Dolores Gallardo GK 11 11 990 | | 2 | Atlético Madrid Sandra Paños GK 18 18 1620 | | 0 | FC Barcelona Maria Quiñones GK 14 14 1260 | | 0 | Real Sociedad -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ivana Andrés DF 20 20 1756 | 0 0 | 1 | Levante UD Ona Batlle DF 19 19 1697 | 2 0 | 3 | Levante UD Marta Corredera DF 13 8 759 | 2 1 | 1 | Levante UD María Leon DF 18 18 1537 | 0 2 | 2 | FC Barcelona Leila Ouahabi DF 13 12 819 | 0 1 | 1 | FC Barcelona Andrea Pereira DF 16 16 1395 | 0 0 | 0 | FC Barcelona Ainhoa Vicente DF 17 16 1272 | 0 1 | 4 | Athletic Club -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Aitana Bonmati MF 19 13 1134 | 5 5 | 0 | FC Barcelona Patri Guijarro MF 17 16 1444 | 2 0 | 0 | FC Barcelona Alexia Putellas MF 19 18 1484 | 10 3 8 | 2 | FC Barcelona Amanda Sampedro MF 17 14 1216 | 1 2 | 1 | Atlético Madrid Ángela Sosa MF 20 19 1593 | 9 3 5 | 2 | Atlético Madrid Virginia Torrecilla MF 19 9 972 | 0 2 | 4 | Atlético Madrid -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mariona Caldentey FW 16 14 1253 | 6 1 5 | 0 | FC Barcelona Marta Cardona FW 16 13 1116 | 2 2 | 1 | Real Sociedad Lucía García FW 17 15 1397 | 9 0 | 2 | Athletic Club Nahikari García FW 13 13 1058 | 11 2 1 | 0 | Real Sociedad Sheila García FW 19 18 1616 | 3 1 | 3 | Rayo Vallecano Jennifer Hermoso FW 18 17 1425 | 20 3 4 | 1 | FC Barcelona -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Irene Paredes DF 14 14 1260 | 0 1 | 3 | PSG (France)
Sources: LaLiga.com, FBref.com ( only for Paredes’ stats)
NOTABLES
Domestic Domination: 22 of Spain’s 23 players hail from 6 Spanish Primera División teams, with FC Barcelona continuing to dominate by providing 9 players. Atlético Madrid is next with 4 players, while Levante and Real Sociedad each have 3 representatives. Athletic Club (Bilbao) is the only other club with more than one player. Only one player, Irene Paredes, plays outside Spain, for PSG, in France.
Age Stats: The median age of the roster is 25.50, with an average age of 25.18. The youngest player is One Batlle, who will turn 21 in June. The oldest player is forward Jennifer Hermoso who turns 30 in May.
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For more news about the Spanish Women’s National Team, see the Spain WNT tag, which has recaps of Spain’s recent Women’s Euro qualifying matches as well as notes on recent rosters.
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