Maite Oroz Areta (born 25 March 1998) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Liga F club Real Madrid CF and the Spain women's national team. She made her senior club debut with Athletic Club in 2015 and departed in 2020.

Club career

Born in Huarte,

Navarre Navarre (; es, Navarra ; eu, Nafarroa ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre ( es, Comunidad Foral de Navarra, links=no ; eu, Nafarroako Foru Komunitatea, links=no ), is a foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, ...

, Oroz began playing football with boys in the village team

CD Huarte Club Deportivo Huarte is a Spanish football team based in Huarte/Uharte in the autonomous community of Navarre. Founded in 1975, it plays in . Its stadium is Estadio ''Areta'' with a capacity of 1,500 seaters. Season to season ---- *20 seasons ...

from the age of 6,Maite Oroz, la nueva perla de Lezama
aite Oroz, Lezama's new pearl La Liga, 21 April 2016 (in Spanish) joining the youth system at Osasuna in nearby Pamplona aged 12. From that early age, she was marked out as a promising talent due to her skill on the ball, creativity and confidence. She played with Osasuna's senior team for a season in the

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

before the women's section of the club was disbanded in 2014, leading her to join Athletic Club. Following a year with the club's B-team, she made her senior team debut in September 2015 and became a regular from then on, making 30 appearances in the 2015–16 Primera División as Athletic finished as champions. She played and scored in the subsequent

2016–17 UEFA Champions League The 2016–17 UEFA Champions League was the 62nd season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 25th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. The final was pla ...

, but the club did not progress beyond the opening knockout round. In September 2018, Oroz sustained a serious injury, rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament of her left knee during a league match against

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish profess ...

(one of several such injuries suffered by players in Athletic's various teams over a short period) which ruled her out for the entire 2018–19 season. Along with teammate and friend Damaris Egurrola, she decided to leave the club when her contract expired in summer 2020. In July 2020, after she had already agreed to join Real Madrid Femenino, a court case regarding the legality of 'compensation lists' for players in Spanish women's football confirmed that her new employers would not have to pay a fee to Athletic Club.

International career

Oroz was involved with Spanish national age-group teams at several levels and with much success, being a member of the under-17 squad that claimed the bronze medal at the

2013 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship The 2013 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship was the sixth edition of the UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship. The first matches were played on 3 September 2012. With the return of Slovakia, who haven't played since the inaugural edition, and U-17 n ...

,Maite Oroz: "Representar a España es una responsabilidad"
aite Oroz: "Representing Spain is a responsibility" Diario AS, 13 March 2014 (in Spanish) silver at the

2014 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup The 2014 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup was the fourth edition of the youth association football tournament for women under the age of 17. The final tournament was hosted in Costa Rica. The competition was played from 15 March to 4 April 2014. Jap ...

and gold at the

2015 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship The 2015 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship was the eighth edition of the UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship, the annual European youth football competition contested by the women's under-17 national teams of the member associations of UEFA. Icela ...

; the under-19 squad which reached the final of the

2016 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship The 2016 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship was the 15th edition of the UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship (19th edition if the Under-18 era is included), the annual European international youth football championship contested by the women's under- ...

then won the 2017 tournament; and the

under-20 Junior is a category of athletics in which athletes compete under the age of 20 years. Countries all around the world compete in athletics. World Junior Athletics Competitions are held every two years which contain the best junior competitors in ...

squad who were runners-up at the

2018 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup The 2018 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup was the ninth edition of the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, the biennial international women's youth football championship contested by the under-20 national teams of the member associations of FIFA, since its i ...

, having also been involved in the 2016 edition. In October 2019, she was called up to the inaugural squad for ''España Promesas'' (essentially Spain B), along with two clubmates. She has also played for the unofficial

Basque Country Basque Country may refer to: * Basque Country (autonomous community), as used in Spain ( es, País Vasco, link=no), also called , an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain (shown in pink on the map) * French Basque Country o ...

and

representative teams, making her debut for both in 2017.Navarra 1-3 Catalunya; Bon regal de Nadal
(Navarre 1-3 Catalonia; fine present for Christmas), FutFem.cat, 22 December 2017 (in Catalan)

International goals

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oroz, Maite Living people 1998 births Spanish women's footballers Footballers from Navarre Women's association football midfielders People from Cuenca de Pamplona Athletic Club (women) players Liga F players Real Madrid Femenino players Spain women's international footballers Athletic Club (women) B players CA Osasuna Femenino players Spain women's youth international footballers 21st-century Spanish women