Alicia Fuentes Molina (born 27 May 1978), commonly known as Ali, is a Spanish retired

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played mainly as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. She was at her peak between 1997 and 2003, when she won three Spanish leagues and four Spanish cups and she was a member of the

Spain women's national football team The Spain women's national football team ( es, Selección Española de Fútbol Femenina) has represented Spain in international Women's association football, women's football competition since 1980, and is controlled by the Royal Spanish Footb ...

, taking part in the 1997 European Championship.

Club career

Born in

Totalán Totalán is a village and municipality in the province of Málaga, part of the autonomous community of Andalusia in southern Spain. It is located in the comarca of La Axarquía. The municipality is situated approximately 22 kilometres from the pr ...

Málaga Málaga (, ) is a municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 578,460 in 2020, it is the second-most populous city in Andalusia after Seville and the sixth most pop ...

, Fuentes' first team was

Atlético Málaga Atlético, Spanish for ''athletics'', or Athletico in English, may refer to: Sports Teams Athletico *Athletico SC (Lebanon), a Lebanese football academy *Athletic Bilbao, or Atletico Bilbao, Basque students athletic club (also forming Athletic Cl ...

, the main women's club in the province. With Atlético she won both the

national championship A national championship(s) is the top achievement for any sport or competition, contest within a league of a particular nation or nation state. The title is usually awarded by contests, ranking systems, stature, ability, etc. This determines the be ...

and the

national cup The English National Cup is an annual basketball knock-out competition held between professional, semi-professional and amateur teams from the various divisions of the National Basketball League. For most of the competition's history, the draw has ...

in 1998. In 2000, she signed for

Levante UD Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D. (, ca-valencia, Llevant Unió Esportiva ) is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club in Valencia, in the Valencian Community, namesake autonomous community. Founded on 9 September 1909, Levante ...

, taking part in their golden age. In her three seasons there she won two leagues and three cups, and she played the first edition of the

UEFA Women's Cup The UEFA Women's Champions League, previously called the UEFA Women's Cup (2001–2009), is a European women's association football competition. It involves the top club teams from countries affiliated with the European governing body UEFA. The ...

. In 2003, she returned to

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...

to play for Estudiantes Huelva. One year later she left Estudiantes for newly promoted

Sevilla FC Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville, the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. It plays in Spanish football's top flight, La Liga. Sevilla have won the UEFA Euro ...

, which was the championship's runner-up in 2006. In 2007, she left Sevilla for

Apolo Properties Apolo may refer to: * Apolo, La Paz, a town in the La Paz Department in Bolivia * Apolo Anton Ohno, a US-American Olympic gold medal-winning short track speed skater who also won ''Dancing with the Stars'' in 2007 * Apolo Kivebulaya, Ugandan Angli ...

, a second-tier team with an ambitious project. However, it wasn't promoted and for the next season Fuentes returned to the top league in newly promoted

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded ...

. After two years in Barcelona, Fuentes returned to Atlético Málaga in 2010. When Málaga was relegated in 2012 she returned to Barcelona to play for another newly promoted team, Levante Las Planas.

International career

Fuentes started to play for the

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

in 1997, just in time to be called up for the 1997 European Championship, Spain's first appearance in a final tournament. She played three of Spain's four games, always entering in the second half. She remained in the national team for five more years, making her last appearances in the 2003 World Cup qualifiers, while she played for Levante UD.Statistics
in

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

's website In 2012–13 she was one of three remaining active players of the 1997 Euro squad, along with

Maider Castillo Maider Castillo Muga (born 3 August 1976) is a Spanish former football defender, who most recently played for Levante UD of the Primera División. She also played briefly in Japan's L. League for Takarazuka Bunny. She was a long-standing me ...

and

RCD Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league sy ...

Vanesa Gimbert Vanesa Gimbert Acosta (born 19 April 1980) is a Spanish retired women's soccer, football who played as a Defender (association football), defender or midfielder. She played for clubs including Levante UD (women), Levante, Sevilla FC (women), Sev ...

References

External links

Profile
at Txapeldunak.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Fuentes, Alicia 1978 births Living people Spanish women's footballers Spain women's international footballers Liga F players Levante UD Femenino players FC Barcelona Femení players Málaga CF Femenino players Sevilla FC (women) players Queens League players Women's association football utility players Women's association football defenders Women's association football midfielders Women's association football forwards FC Levante Las Planas players Footballers from the Province of Málaga