Christina Murillo Ruiz (born 28 January 1993) is an American-born Mexican former

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 as a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for the Mexico women's national team.

College career

Murillo was a four-year starter at the

University of Michigan , mottoeng = "Arts, Knowledge, Truth" , former_names = Catholepistemiad, or University of Michigania (1817–1821) , budget = $10.3 billion (2021) , endowment = $17 billion (2021)As o ...

where she played 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 ...

and

center back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. She did not play in 2014, instead choosing to train full-time with the Mexican Women's National Team ahead of the

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup was the seventh FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international soccer championship contested by the women's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Canada for the ...

. Her

Senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

season she was named team

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

and made the All-

Big Ten The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

First team. She made 82 appearances and scored 2 goals for the

Wolverines The wolverine (), (''Gulo gulo''; ''Gulo'' is Latin for " glutton"), also referred to as the glutton, carcajou, or quickhatch (from East Cree, ''kwiihkwahaacheew''), is the largest land-dwelling species of the family Mustelidae. It is a muscul ...

. She recorded a team high seven assists her senior year. Additionally, she is tied with a program record for most assists in a single game.

Club career

Murillo signed for the WPSL team Motor City FC in April 2016. In August 2017, Murillo signed for Lithuanian club Gintra Universitetas and competed in

UEFA Women's Champions League 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 ...

. She later signed to the Chicago Red Stars in the NWSL before officially retiring in 2019.

Personal life

Murillo's husband is Richard Sánchez, also a footballer who, like her, was born in the United States, but has represented Mexico internationally. He currently plays for

Hartford Athletic Hartford Athletic is an American professional soccer team based in Hartford, Connecticut. The club was founded in 2018 and started play in the USL Championship in 2019. It is the only pro soccer team in Connecticut. History On June 8, 2021, Ha ...

. Murillo currently works for

Chicago Fire FC (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

References

External links

*
Profile
at

Mexican Football Federation The Mexican Football Federation (; abbreviated as Femexfut or FMF) is the governing body of association football in Mexico. It adm the Mexico national team, the Liga MX and all affiliated amateur sectors, and controls promoting, organizing, direc ...

*
University of Michigan player profile
* 1993 births Living people Mexican women's footballers Women's association football central defenders Mexico women's international footballers 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup players Pan American Games bronze medalists for Mexico Pan American Games medalists in football Footballers at the 2015 Pan American Games Gintra Universitetas players Mexican expatriate women's footballers Mexican expatriate sportspeople in Lithuania Expatriate women's footballers in Lithuania American women's soccer players Soccer players from Ventura County, California American sportspeople of Mexican descent Michigan Wolverines women's soccer players American expatriate women's soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in Lithuania Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games Chicago Fire FC non-playing staff {{Mexico-women-footy-bio-stub