Irene del Río Peláez (born 6 October 1991) is a Spanish 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 club football for

Real Oviedo Real Oviedo is a Spanish football club based in Oviedo, Asturias. Founded on 26 March 1926 as a result of the merger of two clubs who had maintained a large sporting rivalry for years in the city: ''Real Stadium Club Ovetense'' and ''Real Club De ...

and Barcelona, and also represented Spain at under-17 and under-19 youth international levels.

Club career

Del Río played for

for 12 seasons, and was later the team's captain. She made her debut for Oviedo in the

Superliga Femenina The Primera División de la Liga de Fútbol Femenino, currently known as Liga F (finetwork Liga F for sponsorship reasons), is the highest level of sports league, league competition for women's football in Spain. It is the women's equivalent of t ...

at the age of 15. In 2011, she won the

Quini Enrique Castro González (; 23 September 1949 – 27 February 2018), known as Quini , was a Spanish footballer who played as a striker. In a career totally connected with Sporting de Gijón and FC Barcelona, he was widely regarded as one of ...

award for being the top Asturian goal scorer in the 2010–11 season, and also the Women's Draft Football Award for best under-20 player. In June 2015, she signed for

Primera División Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air, a former airline * Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues * Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas * Alí Primera, Venezuelan musician, compos ...

champions Barcelona. She was the second Asturian to play for Barcelona, after Montse Tomé. She played for Barcelona in the

2015–16 UEFA Women's Champions League The 2015–16 UEFA Women's Champions League was the 15th edition of the European women's club football championship organised by UEFA, and the 7th edition since being rebranded as the UEFA Women's Champions League. The final was played at the Map ...

, where they reached the quarter finals before being beaten by

Paris Saint-Germain Féminine Paris Saint-Germain Féminine (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris SG, or simply Paris or PSG, are a French professional football club based in Paris. Founded in 1971, they compete in Division 1 Féminine, the top divis ...

. She came on as a substitute in the first leg of the quarter final, which finished 0–0. She was in the Barcelona team that lost the

2016 Copa de la Reina de Fútbol The 2016 Copa de la Reina de Fútbol was the 34th edition of the Spanish women's football national cup. It ran from 18 to 26 June 2016 and was contested by the top eight teams in the 2015–16 Primera División. Both the quarterfinals were sing ...

Final to Atlético Madrid Femenino, and won the

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

Final. Whilst she was playing for Barcelona, they finished second in the 2015–16 and 2016–17 Primera División seasons.

International career

Del Río has played for Spain under-17s and Spain under-19s. She made her debut for Spain under-17s at the age of 15. In 2009, she trained with the under-19 team at La Ciudad del Fútbol. At the time, she had previously appeared in under-19 matches against France under-19s and Lithuania under-19s. In 2011, del Río was called up to the senior squad; she was the only player in the squad who did not play in the Primera División, as Real Oviedo played in the Segunda División Pro at the time. Del Río was in the extended pre-squad list for 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 ...

in Canada, but was not selected in the final squad for the tournament.

Post-playing career

After retiring from football, del Río worked as a

physical trainer A personal trainer is an individual who creates and delivers safe and effective exercise programs for apparently healthy individuals and groups, or those with medical clearance to exercise. They motivate clients by collaborating to set goals, p ...

for FC Barcelona Femení during the 2019–20 season.

Personal life

Del Río is from Asturias, Spain. At school, she was the only girl who played football. As a youngster, del Río undertook

rhythmic gymnastics Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which gymnasts perform on a floor with an apparatus: hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon. The sport combines elements of gymnastics, dance and calisthenics; gymnasts must be strong, flexible, agile, dexterous and coord ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rio, Irene del 1991 births Living people Spanish women's footballers Women's association football midfielders FC Barcelona Femení players Real Oviedo (women) players 21st-century Spanish women Footballers from Oviedo Liga F players FC Barcelona non-playing staff