Michelle Francini Montero Venegas (born 29 August 1994) is a Costa Rican

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 plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for A.D. Municipal Pérez Zeledón and the Costa Rica national team.

Early life

Montero was born in Sarapiquí in

Heredia Province Heredia () is a province of Costa Rica. It is in the north-central part of the country. As a result, the province covers areas as diverse as the agriculture-rich Northern plains to the more metropolitan areas such as the city of Heredia in the ...

Club career

UCEM Alajuela

While still in high school, Montero signed for UCEM Alajuela. On 5 May 2013, she scored five goals in a 6–1 victory against Carrillo.

AD Moravia

Montero initially retired in 2017, but signed with AD Moravia in 2019 following an invitation from coach Bernal Castillo.

C.S. Herediano

In January 2020, Montero joined

C.S. Herediano Club Sport Herediano (), commonly known as Herediano and nicknamed El Team, is a Costa Rican multisport club based in Heredia, Heredia province. Although they compete in a number of different sports, Herediano is mostly known for its association ...

when

took over running of AD Moravia's senior team.

Liga Deportiva Juvenil de Macas

In February 2020, Montero and her Herediano teammate María José Morales joined

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 ...

side Liga Deportiva Juvenil de Macas on a seven-month loan. Both loans were terminated in July.

Hapoel Be'er Sheva F.C.

In February 2021, Montero signed with

Ligat Nashim Ligat Nashim ( he, ליגת נשים, lit. ''Women's League'') is the Israeli women's football league. It has been run by the Israel Football Association since 1998. Format The league is divided into two divisions, with the top division, tit ...

side

Hapoel Be'er Sheva Hapoel Be'er Sheva Football Club ( he, מועדון הכדורגל הפועל באר שבע, ''Moadon HaKaduregel Hapoel Be'er Sheva'') is an Israeli football club from the city of Be'er Sheva, that competes in the Israeli Premier League. The cl ...

. Her three-month stint coincided with the

2021 Israel–Palestine crisis A major outbreak of violence in the ongoing Israeli–Palestinian conflict commenced on 10 May 2021, though disturbances took place earlier, and continued until a ceasefire came into effect on 21 May. It was marked by protests and police riot ...

, which she later said impacted her mental health.

Cruz Azul

In July 2021, Montero signed with

Liga MX Femenil The Liga MX Femenil, officially known as the Liga BBVA MX Femenil for sponsorship reasons, is the highest division of women's football in Mexico. Supervised by the Mexican Football Federation, this professional league has 18 teams, each coincidi ...

side

Cruz Azul Club de Futbol Cruz Azul or simply Cruz Azul () is a professional football club based in Mexico City, Mexico. It competes in the Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football. Because "azul" means "blue" in Spanish, the club has traditionally ...

, becoming the team's first foreign player.

A.D. Municipal Pérez Zeledón

In May 2022, Montero signed with Costa Rican Women's Premier Division team A.D. Municipal Pérez Zeledón.

International career

Montero represented

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

in the

2014 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship The 2014 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship was the seventh edition of the CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship. The United States went into the tournament as defending champions and successfully retained their title. The tournament was hosted by th ...

, scoring in the third-place playoff against

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

. She was later included in Costa Rica's squad for the

2014 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup The 2014 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup was an international association football tournament and the world championship for women's national teams under the age of 20, presented by Grant Connell, organized by the sport's world governing body FIFA. ...

, scoring in a 5–1 loss to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Montero made her senior debut for

on 30 November 2021, scoring in a 5–2 friendly win against

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...

References

External links

* * * 1994 births Living people Sportspeople from Heredia Province Costa Rican women's footballers Women's association football forwards Hapoel Be'er Sheva F.C. (women) players Cruz Azul (women) footballers Ligat Nashim players Liga MX Femenil players Costa Rican expatriate women's footballers Costa Rican expatriates in Israel Expatriate women's footballers in Israel Costa Rican expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Expatriate women's footballers in Mexico Costa Rica women's international footballers {{CostaRica-women-footy-bio-stub