Melissa Marie Ortiz Matallana (born 24 January 1990) is an American-born Colombian Olympic and professional

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 ...

who plays for the Colombia national team as a striker or attacking midfielder.

Early life

Ortiz was born in

West Palm Beach, Florida West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lagoon. The populati ...

. She graduated from Cardinal Newman High School in 2008.

College career

Ortiz played for

Lynn University Lynn University is a private university in Boca Raton, Florida. Founded in 1962, the university awards associate, baccalaureate, master's, and doctoral degrees. It is named for the Lynn family (Christine E. and Eugene M. Lynn). It has a total ...

for four years where she was nominated for the 2011 Sunshine State Conference Co-Player and Offensive Player of the Year. She became the first player in the program's history to receive both awards in the same season. Additionally, she was the very first Offensive Player of the Year and second Player of the Year. At Lynn, Ortiz accumulated over 100 points, becoming the 10th player in school history to accomplish this feat. Her SSC Player and Offensive Player of the Year recognition gave her the perfect trifecta award, as in 2008 she was the SSC Freshman of the Year. Ortiz was also the second player at Lynn to be a four-time All-SSC selection.

Club career

KR Reykjavik

She played the 2013 season in group A of

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

's second division 1. delid kvenna with

KR Reykjavik KR is the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 and WMO country code for South Korea. KR or Kr may also refer to: Sports * KR (basketball club), associated with Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur * Knattspyrnufélag Reykjavíkur, an Icelandic football club * Kickoff ...

in their first season out of the first division Úrvalsdeild kvenna since 1984. Oritz's four goals in eleven appearances helped the team to with the second division regular season, but Reykjavik lost the promotion play-off.

Boston Breakers

On 5 December 2013 Ortiz signed for the

Boston Breakers The Boston Breakers were an American professional soccer club based in the Boston neighborhood of Allston. The team competed in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). They replaced the original Breakers, who competed in the defunct Women's ...

of the National Women's Soccer League, but on 3 April 2014, the Breakers waived Ortiz.

Cúcuta Deportivo

In 2017, Ortiz played for Cúcuta Deportivo Club in the first women's Colombian Professional League ''DIMAYOR''. Cúcuta made it to the quarter finals of the league playoffs.

International career

Ortiz made 5 appearances for the Colombia U-20 team, representing the country in the

2010 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup The 2010 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup was the 5th edition of the tournament. It was held in Germany, who will also host the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup a year later from 13 July to 1 August 2010. Sixteen teams, comprising representatives from al ...

where she scored the team's best goal in a 3–1 loss to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. In 2009, Ortiz made her debut for the Colombia senior team. She was named alternate in the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup in Germany, then to the full team in the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. On 28 July 2012 at Hampden Park, Ortiz came on as a substitute in the 3–0 loss to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

team that included

Alex Morgan Alexandra Morgan Carrasco (born Alexandra Patricia Morgan; July 2, 1989) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a striker and captains for San Diego Wave FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the highest division o ...

, Abby Wambach and future teammate

Heather O'Reilly Heather Ann O'Reilly (born January 2, 1985) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Irish club Shelbourne of the Women's National League. She played for the United States women's national soccer team (USWNT), w ...

of the

. On 31 July 2012 she played in front of a crowd of 13,184 at

St James' Park St James' Park is a football stadium in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the home of Premier League club Newcastle United F.C. With a seating capacity of 52,305 seats, it is the eighth largest football stadium in England. St James' Pa ...

which is home to Newcastle United against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

where they lost 1–0 in the final Group G game. After the Colombian Federation's several year pause from competition, Ortiz returned to represent the country in the 2014 CONMEBOL Copa America where she scored 1 goal against Venezuela and helped qualify Colombia to the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, 2015 Pan-American Games, and 2016 Rio Olympics. She also competed and was named with her teammates silver medalists of the Central American Games Veracruz in the 2014. Colombia lost in the final to

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

2–0. Ortiz was active with the national team all through 2015 in preparation for the FIFA Women's World Cup. Just a week before the tournament, she tore her right Achilles tendon during a scrimmage in Colorado. This left her out of competition from the World Cup and Pan-American Games. In 2016, Ortiz returned to action from injury and was named to the Olympic roster as an alternate. Ortiz has 28 international team appearances and 3 goals.

References

External links

*
Sunshine State Conference player profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ortiz, Melissa 1990 births Living people People with acquired Colombian citizenship Colombian women's footballers Women's association football forwards Women's association football midfielders Colombia women's international footballers Olympic footballers of Colombia Footballers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Colombian expatriate women's footballers Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Iceland Expatriate women's footballers in Iceland American women's soccer players Soccer players from Florida People from West Palm Beach, Florida American sportspeople of Colombian descent Lynn Fighting Knights women's soccer players American expatriate women's soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in Iceland