Verónica Boquete Giadáns (born 9 April 1987) is a Spanish 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 lea ...
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)
** Smal ...
or
midfielder
In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...
for Italian
Serie A
The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...
club
Fiorentina
ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...
. Boquete has played professional club football for fifteen different clubs in eight different countries– her native Spain, the United States, Russia, Sweden, France, Germany, China, and most recently, Italy. She also formerly
captained the
Spain national team between 2013 and 2017, where she was a major part of their successful qualifications to the
2013 UEFA Women's Euro and 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 f ...
. Boquete has additionally captained the
Galicia national team for the team's entire history.
Boquete is widely regarded as one of the greatest Spanish footballers of all time and one of the best footballers of her generation.
She stood out with
RCD Espanyol
Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as RCD Espanyol, is a Spanish professional sports club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The club competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spa ...
in her early career, winning two
Copas de la Reina with the club between 2008 and 2011, additionally earning a
Pichichi Trophy
In Spanish Association football, football, the Pichichi Trophy () is awarded by the sports newspaper ''Marca (newspaper), Marca'' to the top goalscorer of each La Liga season. Named after the Athletic Bilbao striker Pichichi (footballer), Rafael ...
for her 39 goals scored in the
2010–11 Superliga Femenina
The 2010–11 Superliga season will be the 23rd since its establishment. Rayo Vallecano
Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in the Villa de ...
campaign, which remains a
Spanish first division
The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...
record. After departing Spain, Boquete's next long-term move came in 2012, where she joined Swedish side
Tyresö FF
Tyresö Fotbollsförening is a Swedish football club in Tyresö, a municipality in Stockholm County. The club was founded in 1971 and is primarily known for its main women's team, which competed in the top-tier league Damallsvenskan between 19 ...
. In 2014, she became the first Spanish player to appear in a
UEFA Women's Champions League final, and later in the year became the first Spanish footballer to be nominated for the
FIFA Women's World Player of the Year
The FIFA World Player of the Year was an association football award presented annually by the sport's governing body, FIFA, between 1991 and 2015 at the FIFA World Player Gala. Coaches and captains of international teams and media representative ...
Award. Boquete finally reached Champions League success in
2015
2015 was designated by the United Nations as:
* International Year of Light
* International Year of Soil __TOC__
Events
January
* January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...
and become the first Spanish player to win the
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.
...
, which she accomplished with
FFC Frankfurt
Eintracht Frankfurt is a German women's association football club based in Frankfurt. Its first team currently plays in the German top flight, Frauen-Bundesliga. From 1998 to 2020, the club was known as 1. FFC Frankfurt.
Eintracht have won sev ...
. Since departing Frankfurt, Boquete has played for teams in France, China, the United States, and Italy, and has most recently spent four years in the latter country between
AC Milan
(), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...
and
Fiorentina
ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...
.
She represented the
Spanish national team for 12 years, debuting in February 2005 when she was 17 years old. As captain of the Spanish national team between 2013 and 2017, Boquete played a crucial role in qualifying them to the
2013 Euros, Spain's first Women's Euro appearance since
1997
Events January
* January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States.
* January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis.
* January 1 ...
, as well as their first ever Women's World Cup appearance in 2015. Following their group stage elimination from 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 f ...
, Boquete famously led the players of the Spain national team in protest against the continued employment of
Ignacio Quereda
Ignacio Quereda Laviña (born 24 July 1950) is a Spanish football coach who managed the Spain women's national football team between 1988 and 2015.
Playing career
Born in Madrid, Quereda was raised in Badajoz where his family moved when he was ...
, who they alleged was verbally and physically abusive. Following Quereda's resignation and
Jorge Vilda
Jorge Vilda Rodríguez (born 7 July 1981) is a Spanish football coach and UEFA Pro Licence holder, who is currently the head coach of the Morocco women's national team, since 12 October 2023. Previously, he was the head coach of the Spain wome ...
's subsequent hiring, her role in the team gradually lessened until she was controversially omitted from Spain's
2017 UEFA Women's Euro squad. Her national team career effectively ended in 2017, and she retired with 62 appearances and then-team record 38 goals scored.
Boquete has long been outspoken against the unfair and unequal treatment of female footballers, especially within her home country of Spain. In 2013, Boquete petitioned
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by former Apple Inc., Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry ...
to include women in their popular game series
''FIFA'', which was eventually successful with women being implemented into the game for the first time in ''
FIFA 16
''FIFA 16'' is a football simulation video game developed by EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports label. It was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4,
Xbox 360, Xbox One, Android and iOS.
The g ...
''. Prior to the 2015 Women's World Cup in Canada, Boquete joined other prominent female footballers in filing a lawsuit against
FIFA
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...
for gender discrimination for the use of
artificial turf
Artificial turf is a surface of synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass, used in sports arenas, residential lawns and commercial applications that traditionally use grass. It is much more durable than grass and easily maintained wi ...
in Canada's World Cup venues. In 2023, she was vocal in her support of
Jenni Hermoso
Jennifer Hermoso Fuentes (born 9 May 1990) is a Spanish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for Liga MX Femenil club Tigres UANL (women), Tigres UANL and the Spain women's nationa ...
, who was forcibly kissed on the lips by
RFEF
The Royal Spanish Football Federation (; RFEF) is the governing body of football in Spain. Founded on 29 September 1913, it is based in La Ciudad del Fútbol of Las Rozas, a municipality near Madrid.
RFEF organizes the national cup competitio ...
President
Luis Rubiales
Luis Manuel Rubiales Béjar (born 23 August 1977) is a former Spanish Association football, football official and professional player who played as a Defender (association football), defender, appearing in 53 La Liga matches over three seasons. ...
in trophy celebrations at the
2023 Women's World Cup final, an event that was later dubbed the
Rubiales affair
The Rubiales case () refers to the fallout, both social and sporting, caused by the conduct of Luis Rubiales, the president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), beginning in August 2023. After allegations of inappropriate behavior duri ...
.
Early life
Verónica Boquete Giadáns was born on 9 April 1987 in
Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de Compostela, simply Santiago, or Compostela, in the province of Province of A Coruña, A Coruña, is the capital of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city ...
to Nicasio Boquete and Mercedes Giadans.
Boquete was inspired to play football by her father, who was a coach in Spain's
Third Division, and her brother Adrián, who also played football.
She recounts that when she was a child, she was the only girl in her city that played with boys. For a year, she was only allowed to train with the all-boys team, as there was a rule that girls were not allowed to play matches for boy's teams.
After her father and the club's president helped take her case to the
CSD to change the rule, she played in teams of boys until she was fifteen years old.
Boquete credits her outspoken nature to the discrimination she dealt with as a young female footballer.
In addition to her time playing football, she also played futsal in teams of other girls. In 2004, at the age of 15, Boquete joined the girl's section of S.D. Xuventú Aguiño, a futsal team based in her home region of
Galicia.
Scouting by national team coaches at Aguiño led to her first call-up for Spain's U-19 national team. After winning the
2004 U-19 Women's Euro, Boquete received offers from many Spanish clubs but decided to finish her
Bachillerato
The Spanish Baccalaureate (, ) is the post-16 stage of education in Spain, comparable to the A Levels in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, Highers in Scotland, the French Baccalaureate in France or the International Baccalaureate. It follows t ...
before making her first big career move.
Club career
Prainsa Zaragoza
Boquete left Galicia at 18 to pursue a career in football, first playing for
Prainsa Zaragoza in 2005. She chose Zaragoza despite offers from more successful clubs, such as
Levante,
Rayo Vallecano
Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in the Villa de Vallecas district of Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish foot ...
, and
Espanyol
Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as RCD Espanyol, is a Spanish professional sports club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The club competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spa ...
, because she knew she would have had a more prominent role there.
In May 2008, Zaragoza released her from the club before the end of the season and would no longer include her in their squads.
In the three years she spent in Zaragoza, Boquete averaged a goal every two matches.
RCD Espanyol
Boquete moved to
RCD Espanyol
Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as RCD Espanyol, is a Spanish professional sports club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The club competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spa ...
in August 2008 following her departure from Prainsa Zaragoza. She made her debut on 11 September 2008 in the
Copa Catalunya
The Copa Catalunya () is a knockout competition organised by the Catalan Football Federation for football clubs in the Catalonia autonomous community of Spain.
History
Between 1903 and 1940, it was known as the ''Catalan football championship ...
against Barcelona, which Espanyol won 2-0.
On 21 June 2009, Boquete played the first major final of her career, the
Copa de la Reina
Copa or COPA may refer to:
COPA
COPA may refer to:
* Child Online Protection Act, a former U.S. law to protect minors from certain material on the internet
* Canadian Owners and Pilots Association
* Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association
* Parlia ...
final, against her former club
Prainsa Zaragoza. Espanyol won by a resounding 5-1 scoreline, and Boquete won the first major title of her career. In the
2008-09 Superliga campaign, Boquete scored a personal best 15 goals.
For her accomplishments with Espanyol, Boquete was chosen as Galicia's Athlete of the Year in 2009.
In the
2009–10 Superliga Femenina
The 2009–10 Superliga season was the 22nd since its establishment. Rayo Vallecano were the defending champions, having won their title in the previous season.
League expansion and format changes
On 26 May 2009, the Royal Spanish Football Feder ...
, the league title continued to evade Espanyol, who reached the final again but lost 1-0 to Rayo Vallecano. On 5 June 2010, Boquete competed in her second consecutive
Copa de la Reina
Copa or COPA may refer to:
COPA
COPA may refer to:
* Child Online Protection Act, a former U.S. law to protect minors from certain material on the internet
* Canadian Owners and Pilots Association
* Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association
* Parlia ...
final, this time against
Rayo Vallecano
Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in the Villa de Vallecas district of Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish foot ...
. Boquete had a much more prominent role in this final compared to last year's, assisting
Mery
Mery or Méry may refer to:
Places
* Méry, section of town Esneux, Belgium
* Méry, Chambéry, Savoie department, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, France
*Méry-la-Bataille, Oise department, France
* Méry-Bissières-en-Auge, Calvados department, N ...
's second goal in a 3-1 victory for ''Los Periquitos''.
2010: Summer in Buffalo and Chicago
In 2010, Boquete moved to the USA for the summer to play for the
Buffalo Flash
The Western New York Flash (WNY Flash) was an American women's soccer club based in Elma, New York, that most recently competed in the United Women's Soccer league in 2018. They won league championships in four different leagues: the USL W-Leag ...
of the USL W-League, a semi-professional and developmental league. She only featured for the Flash for a month, but still made an impact by scoring eight goals in nine matches.
On 31 July 2010, Boquete scored a brace in the
2010 USL W-League Championship helping lead the Flash to victory over the
Vancouver Whitecaps
Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Vancouver. The Whitecaps compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March 18, ...
.
She was named MVP of the tournament and her performances captured the attention of the
Chicago Red Stars
Chicago Stars Football Club is an American professional soccer team based in the Chicago metropolitan area that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). A founding member of the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league as the Chic ...
of the
WPS.
Boquete was preparing to leave the country when she got a call from the Chicago Red Stars asking her to play for them for the remainder of the
2010 WPS season
The 2010 Women's Professional Soccer season was the second season for the WPS, the top level professional women's soccer league in the United States. Regular season champion FC Gold Pride won the WPS Championship on September 26 with a 4–0 vict ...
.
She joined the Red Stars on 8 August 2010, but had some immigration issues before coming to the team that caused her to miss three matches. When she arrived at the very end of the season, she helped Chicago win their final two matches of the season, recording a goal and two assists across both games. Boquete recounted later in her playing career that in Chicago, she was finally able to see a future where she could become a professional footballer.
2010–2011: Return to Espanyol
Boquete returned to Spain following the conclusion of the 2010 WPS season, only missing two matches at the beginning of the
2010–11 Superliga Femenina
The 2010–11 Superliga season will be the 23rd since its establishment. Rayo Vallecano
Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in the Villa de ...
.
In her year back with Espanyol, she was unable to repeat her past accomplishments in the Copa de la Reina, but found great success individually.
After finishing atop Group A of the second round of the Superliga, Espanyol qualified for the final once more against Rayo Vallecano. In the first leg, Boquete scored both of her team's goals in a 2-2 away draw. In the second leg, Espanyol lost to Rayo 1-2 at home. She ended her season as the
top scorer of the league, and her 39 goals in 26 matches remains the single-season goalscoring record in the
Spanish women's first division.
Espanyol reached the
2011 Copa de la Reina final, but Boquete was not present as she had already joined the
WPS's
Philadelphia Independence
The Philadelphia Independence was an American professional association football, soccer club that was based in the Philadelphia suburb of Chester, Pennsylvania. The team joined Women's Professional Soccer as an expansion team in 2010 and played ...
in the United States. They lost in extra time to
Barcelona
Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
.
Philadelphia Independence
Boquete came to wider international prominence after signing for
Philadelphia Independence
The Philadelphia Independence was an American professional association football, soccer club that was based in the Philadelphia suburb of Chester, Pennsylvania. The team joined Women's Professional Soccer as an expansion team in 2010 and played ...
of the American
Women's Professional Soccer
Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) was the top-level professional women's soccer league in the United States. It began play on March 29, 2009. The league was composed of seven teams for its first two seasons and fielded six teams for the 2011 ...
(WPS) in 2011. The club made the transfer official on 21 January, but she played out the rest of her league season with Espanyol before coming to the club on 4 June.
She was a key player in Independence's
2011 season having scored 5 goals (4 of which were match-winning goals) and assisting another 4. Philadelphia reached the final of the playoffs against the
Western New York Flash
The Western New York Flash (WNY Flash) was an American women's soccer club based in Elma, New York, that most recently competed in the United Women's Soccer league in 2018. They won league championships in four different leagues: the USL W-Leag ...
, which advanced to penalties after being tied in extra time. Boquete took and converted her penalty, but the team ended up losing 4-5 at the end of the shootout. At the end of the season, she was awarded the
Player of the Year Award
Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year. In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award.
Association football
In association football, this award is held on b ...
after making just 11 league appearances. In addition, she had been awarded the Player of the Week award three times.
Energiya Voronezh
On 12 September 2011, Boquete was confirmed to be moving to Russian side
Energiya Voronezh. It was reported that she would be earning €80,000 a year at the club. With Energiya, she made her debut in the UEFA Women's Champions League on 29 September against
Bristol Academy.
She scored her first Champions League goal in the second leg of the Round of 32 tie against Bristol. Energiya were knocked out by fellow Russian side
Rossiyanka in the following round. Boquete did not stay at the club for long, departing for Tyresö in January. The team folded due to financial struggles the following year.
Tyresö FF

In January 2012 Boquete announced a transfer to Swedish
Damallsvenskan
The (; ), known as OBOS for sponsorship reasons, is the highest division of women's football in Sweden. It is one of the best women's leagues in the world, and was founded in 1988.
The division consists of a league of 14 teams. From 2013, t ...
club
Tyresö FF
Tyresö Fotbollsförening is a Swedish football club in Tyresö, a municipality in Stockholm County. The club was founded in 1971 and is primarily known for its main women's team, which competed in the top-tier league Damallsvenskan between 19 ...
on a two-year contract. At Tyresö, she found herself to be part of a "superteam" alongside other women's football greats such as
Marta
Marta may refer to:
People
* Marta (given name), a feminine given name
* Märta, a feminine given name
* Marta (surname)
* Marta (footballer) (born 1986), Brazilian professional footballer
Places
* Marta (river), an Italian river that flow ...
, her childhood role model,
Caroline Seger
Sara Caroline Seger (born 19 March 1985) is a Swedish former Association football, footballer who played as a midfielder and club captain for Damallsvenskan club FC Rosengård. She was the long-standing captain of the Sweden women's national foo ...
,
Ali Krieger
Alexandra Blaire Krieger (born July 28, 1984) is an American former professional Association football, soccer player who played as a right back or center back. She made more than 100 appearances for the United States women's national soccer team ...
,
Jennifer Hermoso
Jennifer Hermoso Fuentes (born 9 May 1990) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a forward for Liga MX Femenil club Tigres UANL and the Spain national team. She is the all-time top scorer for Spain, and was part of her country's c ...
,
Lisa Dahlkvist
Lisa Karolina Viktoria Dahlkvist (born 6 February 1987) is a Swedish former professional Association football, footballer who played as midfielder. She previously played in the Swedish Damallsvenskan for Umeå IK, Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC, Tyresö ...
,
Caroline Graham Hansen
Caroline Graham Hansen (; born 18 February 1995) is a Norwegian professional footballer who plays as a Midfielder#Winger, winger for Spanish Liga F club FC Barcelona Femení, FC Barcelona and the Norway women's national football team, Norway w ...
, and
Christen Press
Christen Annemarie Press (born December 29, 1988) is an American professional Women's association football, soccer player, entrepreneur, and sports journalist. She plays for Angel City FC of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and the Unit ...
, amongst others.
Tyresö won the Damallsvenskan title for the first time in the
2012 season. Boquete was named the Damallsvenskan's Midfielder of the Year for 2012, and finished her season with 8 assists, the third-most in the league.
In August 2013, Boquete was nominated for the
UEFA Women's Player of the Year Award
The UEFA Women's Player of the Year Award (previously known as the UEFA Best Women's Player in Europe Award) was an association football award given to the female footballer that is considered the best player playing for a football club in Europe ...
for the first time. She ended up finishing fifth in the voting. Boquete once again concluded that year's Damallsvenskan season as the third-highest assister, this time reaching 9 assists. She was also included in the league's Best XI of the season.
Amongst rumors that the club was facing financial troubles, Boquete announced that she would be leaving the club once their season ended. The club reached the
2014 UEFA Women's Champions League Final, which was played against
Wolfsburg
Wolfsburg (; Eastphalian language, Eastphalian: ''Wulfsborg'') is the fifth-largest city in the Germany, German state of Lower Saxony, on the river Aller (Germany), Aller east of Hanover and west of Berlin.
Wolfsburg is famous as the locat ...
on 22 May. In the months leading up to the final, Boquete suffered two major injuries – an overload of her
calf muscle
The triceps surae consists of two muscles located at the calf – the two-headed gastrocnemius and the soleus. These muscles both insert into the calcaneus, the bone of the heel of the human foot, and form the major part of the muscle of the po ...
and a
ligament
A ligament is a type of fibrous connective tissue in the body that connects bones to other bones. It also connects flight feathers to bones, in dinosaurs and birds. All 30,000 species of amniotes (land animals with internal bones) have liga ...
tear in her
quadriceps
The quadriceps femoris muscle (, also called the quadriceps extensor, quadriceps or quads) is a large muscle group that includes the four prevailing muscles on the front of the thigh. It is the sole extensor muscle of the knee, forming a large ...
of her right leg. She managed to recover in time to start the final, and two minutes after Marta scored Tyresö's first goal, Boquete poked in their second following a
cross
A cross is a religious symbol consisting of two Intersection (set theory), intersecting Line (geometry), lines, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of t ...
from Marta. Tyresö went into halftime victorious, but conceded twice quickly into the second half. They ended up losing the match 3–4, which was Boquete's final match for the club. Tyresö declared
bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...
and folded very soon after their Champions League Final loss, an expected development following a long period of financial problems.
Portland Thorns
On 7 April 2014,
Portland Thorns FC
Portland Thorns FC is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Portland, Oregon, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Established in 2012, the team began play in 2013 in the then-eight-team NWSL ...
acquired Boquete (along with midfielder
Sarah Huffman) from the
Western New York Flash
The Western New York Flash (WNY Flash) was an American women's soccer club based in Elma, New York, that most recently competed in the United Women's Soccer league in 2018. They won league championships in four different leagues: the USL W-Leag ...
in exchange for
Courtney Wetzel,
Kathryn Williamson, and Portland's first-round pick in the 2015 NWSL College Draft. Western New York originally held her
NWSL
The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a women's professional Association football, soccer league and the highest level of the United States soccer league system#Women's leagues, United States soccer league system (alongside the USL Supe ...
rights. She joined the Thorns following Tyresö's participation in the
2013-14 UEFA Women's Champions League tournament, making her first appearance for the Thorns on 7 June 2014 versus the
Western New York Flash
The Western New York Flash (WNY Flash) was an American women's soccer club based in Elma, New York, that most recently competed in the United Women's Soccer league in 2018. They won league championships in four different leagues: the USL W-Leag ...
. She scored her first goal for the Thorns on 15 June 2014 versus the
Washington Spirit
The Washington Spirit are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It is a continuation of the D.C. United Women of the USL W-League (1995� ...
. She went on to score four goals and record six assists in her 15 total appearances for the Thorns, culminating with the team's semi-final loss against
FC Kansas City
FC Kansas City was an American professional women's soccer club based in Kansas City, Missouri. The team was one of the eight founding clubs of the National Women's Soccer League in 2012, and began play in 2013. They were two-time NWSL champio ...
on 23 August 2014. Her six assists set a single-season record for the Thorns, which was broken by
Tobin Heath
Tobin Powell Heath (born May 29, 1988) is an American professional soccer player and entrepreneur. Playing primarily as a forward and midfielder for the United States national team, she won gold at the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, 2012 Lon ...
two seasons later.
During her time in Portland, she won the league's Player of the Week award three times.
She was also nominated for a second consecutive
UEFA Women's Player of the Year Award
The UEFA Women's Player of the Year Award (previously known as the UEFA Best Women's Player in Europe Award) was an association football award given to the female footballer that is considered the best player playing for a football club in Europe ...
in July, where she again finished fifth in the voting. At the end of the
2014 NWSL season
The 2014 National Women's Soccer League season was the second season of the National Women's Soccer League, the top division of women's soccer in the United States. Including the NWSL's two professional predecessors, Women's Professional Soccer ( ...
, she placed second in the voting for the NWSL MVP Award, she was named to the league's Best XI, and was voted to be Portland's Player of the Year by the club's fans.
FFC Frankfurt
On 25 August 2014, following the conclusion of the Portland Thorns' season, Boquete signed with
1. FFC Frankfurt, the 2014 runners-up in the
Frauen-Bundesliga
The Frauen-Bundesliga (German language, German for ''Women's Federal League''), currently known as the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of league competition for women's association football in Germany.
I ...
. While she was with Frankfurt, she was nominated for the first time to the
2014 FIFA Women's World Player of the Year Award, the predecessor to the
Ballon D'or Féminin
The Ballon d'Or Féminin (), also known as the Women's Ballon d'Or, is an association football award presented by ''France Football'' that honours the player deemed to have performed the best over the previous season.
Overview
The Ballon d'Or ...
. With this nomination, she became the first Spanish woman to be nominated to the Ballon d'Or. She finished in 8th place out of 10 nominees with 6 percent of the voting.Boquete reached her second consecutive UWCL final with Frankfurt. She started the
final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
*Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training
*Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...
on 14 May 2015, despite continuous discomfort in her ankle and quadriceps. Frankfurt ended up winning 2-1 against
PSG, and with this win, Boquete became the first Spanish player in history to win a UEFA Women's Champions League title.
She was named to the
UWCL Squad of the Season for 2014-15, and finished her campaign with 6 goals and 4 assists.
Bayern Munich
On 27 May 2015, Boquete signed for the reigning Bundesliga champions,
Bayern Munich
Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...
, on a two-year contract. Shortly after signing, Boquete picked up a hamstring injury during pre-season that kept her out of play for five months. She still picked up her third consecutive nomination to the UEFA Women's Player of the Year Award and finished 4th in the final voting, a place higher than the previous two years. She made her official comeback on 20 November 2015, playing 20 minutes in a
Frauen-Bundesliga
The Frauen-Bundesliga (German language, German for ''Women's Federal League''), currently known as the Google Pixel Frauen-Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of league competition for women's association football in Germany.
I ...
match against
Leverkusen
Leverkusen () is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, on the eastern bank of the Rhine. To the south, Leverkusen borders the city of Cologne, and to the north the state capital, Düsseldorf. The city is part of the Rhine-Ruhr Metropolitan ...
.
After returning from injury, Boquete found herself struggling to adapt to Bayern's playing style. The club defended their Bundesliga title victory, but fell to FC Twente in the Round of 32 of the
2015-16 UEFA Women's Champions League knockout stage. Boquete left the club at the end of the season, uncharacteristically making just 9 appearances and scoring no goals.
Paris Saint-Germain
After a personally unsuccessful season with Bayern, she was signed by French club
Paris Saint-Germain
Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...
on a two-year contract. Boquete arrived with motivations of helping PSG win their first UEFA Women's Champions League title. At PSG, Boquete spent a lot of her time coming off the bench.
In her first season at PSG, the club reached the
2017 UEFA Women's Champions League final
The 2017 UEFA Women's Champions League Final was the final match of the 2016–17 UEFA Women's Champions League, the 16th season of Europe's premier women's club association football, football tournament organised by UEFA, and the eighth season si ...
, the third of her career. Boquete subbed on for PSG in the 57th minute and played through both periods of extra time to reach a penalty shootout. Boquete converted her penalty, but PSG ended up losing the match in dramatic fashion after an unsuccessful penalty attempt from PSG's goalkeeper
Katarzyna Kiedrzynek and a successful penalty conversion from Lyon's goalkeeper
Sarah Bouhaddi
Sarah Bouhaddi (born 17 October 1986) is a French professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Saudi Women's Premier League club Al-Ula.
Club career
After spending 13 seasons with Lyon, Bouhaddi joined Paris Saint-Germain on 16 S ...
.
By early 2018, Boquete became dissatisfied with her reduced playing time and agreed a mutual termination of her contract with Paris Saint-Germain.
Beijing BG Phoenix
Following her stints in Bayern and PSG where she struggled to find her place in either team, Boquete accepted an offer from
Beijing BG Phoenix, her first footballing experience outside of Europe or the United States. She signed a one-season deal with the Chinese club and was given her customary number 21 jersey. The club finished 6th place out of 8 in the
2018 Chinese Women's Super League.
Utah Royals
On 4 January 2019, Boquete announced her signing to the
Utah Royals FC
The Utah Royals (formerly Utah Royals FC) are an American professional soccer team based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Established on November 16, 2017, as an expansion team, ...
of the
National Women's Soccer League
The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a women's professional Association football, soccer league and the highest level of the United States soccer league system#Women's leagues, United States soccer league system (alongside the USL Supe ...
. She was named to the NWSL Team of the Month for May 2019.
At the end of the
2019 NWSL season
The 2019 National Women's Soccer League season was the seventh season of the National Women's Soccer League, the top division of women's soccer in the United States. Including the NWSL's two professional predecessors, Women's Professional Soccer ...
, she had the third-most assists in the league with 6.
Amidst internal issues and
controversy
Controversy (, ) is a state of prolonged public dispute or debate, usually concerning a matter of conflicting opinion or point of view. The word was coined from the Latin '' controversia'', as a composite of ''controversus'' – "turned in an op ...
within the
Real Salt Lake
Real Salt Lake (RSL) is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Fou ...
organization, Boquete confirmed in November 2020 that she would not be returning to Utah for the
2021 NWSL season, and that she would go back to playing football in Europe. She ended her stint with the Royals having scored one goal and recording eight assists.
AC Milan
Boquete joined Italian side
AC Milan
(), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...
on 9 November 2020. In her first season, she made 19 total appearances for the club across all competitions, and was an important factor in the team's eventual
Champions League qualification. At the end of 2020, Boquete was named to the 2020
FIFPRO Women's World 11. She accepted the award, but reflected on social media that she did not believe she deserved a place in the XI.
In the second leg of the
2020–21 Coppa Italia
The 2020–21 Coppa Italia (branded as the TIMVISION Cup for sponsorship reasons during the final) was the 74th edition of the national domestic Italian football tournament.
Napoli were the defending champions, but were defeated by Atalanta in th ...
semifinal, Boquete scored a
brace
Brace (formerly known as ''Brace For War'') was an Australian mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion. Brace was founded in 2005 by Kya Pate. In an interview with MMA Kanvas Kya Pate detailed what it is like to be the promoter of Australian MMA.
Si ...
to help Milan triumph 4-2 (5-4 aggregate) over their historic rivals
Inter
Inter may refer to:
Association football clubs
* Inter Milan, an Italian club
* SC Internacional, a Brazilian club
* Inter Miami CF, an American club
* Inter Playa del Carmen, a Mexican club
* FC Inter Sibiu, a Romanian club
* FC Inter Turku, ...
. Prior to the Coppa Italia final, the club agreed to extend her contract for a year, which was announced on 20 May 2021. She competed in the 2021 Coppa Italia final on 30 May 2021, which eventually went to penalties after a 0-0 extra time result. Boquete took and missed her team's first penalty, and Milan fell to
Roma
Roma or ROMA may refer to:
People, characters, figures, names
* Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas.
* Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun
* Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...
1-3 on penalties.
In the following season, she had a less prominent role, and only made 6 league appearances.
Boquete confirmed her early departure from the club on 1 January 2022. Prior to her departure announcement, she was not part of Milan's squad for any of their seven most recent matches, fueling reports of conflict with head coach
Maurizio Ganz.
Fiorentina
On 6 January 2022, Boquete joined
Fiorentina
ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...
on a deal until the end of the season.
International career
2004–2006: Youth national team career
Boquete's first international experience with Spain came with their U-19 team, which she played with in 2004. She later went on to win the
2004 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship
The UEFA Women's U-19 Championship 2004 Final Tournament was held in Finland between 28 July – 8 August 2004. Players born after 1 January 1985 were eligible to participate in this competition. Spain won the cup after defeating Germany 2–1 in ...
with Spain and compete in the
2004 FIFA U-19 Women's World Cup.
2005–2012: National team debut
Boquete's senior
Spain women's national football team
The Spain women's national football team, officially known as the Spain national football team (), has represented Spain in international Women's association football, women's football competitions since 1980. It is governed by the Royal Spanis ...
debut came in February 2005, in a 0–0
friendly draw with the
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
.
2012–2014: Euro and World Cup qualifications
Spain reached qualification playoffs for the 2013 UEFA Women's Euro following a second place finish in qualification group B. Boquete was injured for the first leg of the playoff against Scotland, which Spain drew 1-1.
She was able to compete in the second leg on 24 October 2012. The match eventually progressed to extra time, and both teams were still drawing by minute 113, but Scotland had
away goal advantage and were minutes away from qualifying. Spain were then given a penalty deep into extra time, which Boquete took and missed. Just three minutes later, Boquete redeemed herself by scoring the winning extra time goal from a
volley in the 122nd minute, effectively qualifying Spain for their first UEFA Women's Euro since
1997
Events January
* January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States.
* January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis.
* January 1 ...
. Boquete later reflected on this goal as the most important one of her career.
In June 2013, national team
coach
Coach may refer to:
Guidance/instruction
* Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities
* Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process
** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers
Transportation
* Coac ...
Ignacio Quereda
Ignacio Quereda Laviña (born 24 July 1950) is a Spanish football coach who managed the Spain women's national football team between 1988 and 2015.
Playing career
Born in Madrid, Quereda was raised in Badajoz where his family moved when he was ...
confirmed Boquete as a member of his 23-player squad for the
UEFA Women's Euro 2013
The 2013 UEFA Women's Championship, commonly referred to as Women's Euro 2013, was the 11th European Championship for List of women's national association football teams#UEFA, women's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament ...
finals in Sweden.
2015–2016: World Cup and Quereda dispute
On 11 May 2015, Quereda announced his 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 f ...
, with Boquete being named captain. Prior to the tournament, the RFEF and Spain's coaching staff had greatly mishandled the team's arrival to Canada. They arrived only two days in advance after being forced to take multiple
layover
250px, Layover for buses at LACMTA's Los_Angeles.html" ;"title="Warner Center Transit Hub, Los Angeles">Warner Center Transit Hub, Los Angeles
In scheduled transportation, a layover (also way station, or connection) is a point where a vehic ...
s on their flight to the country.
Additionally, they were poorly physically prepared and did not participate in any
friendly matches in the six months leading up to the tournament, all events that established a great sense of tension in Spain's squad.
Spain had a difficult tournament, drawing their first match against
Costa Rica
Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...
and losing the next one against
Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
. In the final group game against
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...
at
Lansdowne Stadium
TD Place Stadium (originally Lansdowne Park and formerly Frank Clair Stadium) is an outdoor stadium in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is located at Lansdowne Park, on the southern edge of The Glebe neighbourhood, where Bank Street (Ottawa), Bank S ...
in
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...
, both teams were playing for a place in the last 16; Boquete opened the scoring although Spain was unable to hold the lead and lost 2–1. After the match, Quereda was filmed screaming in the face of
Vicky Losada
María Victoria "Vicky" Losada Gómez (, ; born 5 March 1991) is a Spanish association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for Brighton & Hove Albion W.F.C., Brighton & Hove Albion, which she also Captain (association football), cap ...
, who was in tears on the team bench.
Boquete also claims that the players were verbally accosted by RFEF officials following their elimination from the tournament, saying that
he officials"sacrificed time with their families so
he players
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads
* He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English
* He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana)
* Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...
could 'have some fun.'"
The events that transpired after the South Korea match caused tensions to overflow within the Spain national team camp, leading to a player revolt against Quereda, who had been coach of the national team for 27 years. On 19 June, each of the 23 players in their 2015 World Cup squad published an open letter asking for Quereda to be dismissed as national team coach.
It was the second time that players of the Spain national team wrote a letter to ask for Quereda's dismissal, with the
first incident happening in 1997. This time, Boquete was the unwritten leader of the player revolt, and gave multiple interviews and press conferences to defend the actions of the players. Once the team returned to Spain, Boquete spoke to the media in the
Madrid–Barajas airport
Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport is the main international airport serving Madrid, the capital city of Spain. At in area, it is the second-largest airport in Europe by physical size behind Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport. In 2019, 61.8 ...
and told them that the players were a united front, and that they demand that the RFEF create a "serious project." Over the coming days, the players in the squad spoke to media individually to expand and elaborate on their grievances. Overall, the players accused Quereda of mishandling his role as coach both on and off the pitch. They complained that they used outdated training methods from the beginning of Quereda's tenure, that they were unprepared for the tournament after arriving late and not playing any matches for months, and that they didn't receive any analysis or background on their World Cup opponents.
Further, the players alleged that Quereda was highly controlling, had a history of
blacklisting
Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list; if people are on a blacklist, then they are considere ...
players he didn't like, made comments on players weights, and that he would frequently say rude and misogynistic things.
Quereda eventually resigned on 29 July after a weeks-long standoff with the players.
The RFEF thanked him for his 27 years of service for the national team, praising him for "creating a solid structure" and achieving "outstanding results."
In his place, the Federation appointed
Jorge Vilda
Jorge Vilda Rodríguez (born 7 July 1981) is a Spanish football coach and UEFA Pro Licence holder, who is currently the head coach of the Morocco women's national team, since 12 October 2023. Previously, he was the head coach of the Spain wome ...
, who had coached and found success with multiple Spanish women's youth national team sections.
In the midst of this change, Boquete was awarded with the Bronze Medal of the
Royal Order of Sporting Merit, a Spanish civil
order of merit
The Order of Merit () is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by Edward VII, admission into the order r ...
for distinguished service in sports, on 29 July.
2016–present: 2017 Euro exclusion and aftermath
Under Vilda's leadership, Boquete was gradually phased out of the team over the next two years alongside Spain's other veteran players. However, she did feature in some of Spain's later qualification matches for the
2017 UEFA Women's Euro. ''La Roja'' officially clinched Euro qualification on 12 April 2016 against the
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...
, where Boquete scored 2 in a 3-1 win. By June 2017, she had only featured in 6 of Spain's nineteen matches since the 2015 World Cup.
On 20 June 2017, she was surprisingly and controversially omitted from Spain's squad for that year's
UEFA Women's Euro
The UEFA European Women's Championship, also called the UEFA Women's Euro, held every four years and one year after the men's UEFA European Championship first held in 1984, is the main competition in women's association football between nationa ...
.
Shortly after, she posted a letter to the public on social media expressing her sadness for not being called up, and wishing good luck to her teammates at the competition.
When reflecting on being dropped from the Spanish squad for the Euros, she often laments that neither Vilda nor any staff member from the national team communicated their decision to her. Following the Euros, Boquete was never chosen to play for Spain again and was effectively
blacklisted
Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list; if people are on a blacklist, then they are considere ...
from national team duty. In a 2018 interview, Boquete told ''
These Football Times
''These Football Times'' is a leading independent association football magazine and online publication that emphasizes long-form journalism. Each bi-monthly print issue aims to focus on a specific area of the sport or an individual club, with Th ...
'' that her omission from the squad was "not a surprise," that she "could see it happening," and had been "preparing for it for months."
In a 2020 interview with ''
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'', Boquete said "I know my time with the national team is over, and I know it's not because of my football." Boquete's national team career ended with an accumulation of 62 caps and 38 goals, the latter being a team record that stood for four years until
Jenni Hermoso
Jennifer Hermoso Fuentes (born 9 May 1990) is a Spanish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for Liga MX Femenil club Tigres UANL (women), Tigres UANL and the Spain women's nationa ...
overtook her in February 2021. Since leaving the national team, she has given commentary on many Spain women's national team matches, including during the
2023 FIFA Women's World Cup
The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup was the ninth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international women's association football, football championship contested by List of women's national association football teams, women's nat ...
.
Throughout the years following her omission from Spain's 2017 Euro squad, Boquete would continue to speak publicly about her difficult experiences in the national team. On 28 October 2021, she was featured in a
Movistar+
Movistar Plus+ (formerly Movistar+) is the trade name of the subscription platform for digital television owned by , which operates in Spain. The service is distributed via optical fiber and ADSL as well as with satellites such as Astra. The pl ...
documentary called ''Romper El Silencio'' ("Break the Silence"), where she detailed her experiences while playing in the Spanish national team under Quereda. Boquete, alongside former teammates
Vicky Losada
María Victoria "Vicky" Losada Gómez (, ; born 5 March 1991) is a Spanish association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for Brighton & Hove Albion W.F.C., Brighton & Hove Albion, which she also Captain (association football), cap ...
,
Natalia Pablos
Natalia Teresa Pablos Sanchón (born 15 October 1985), known simply as Natalia, is a Spanish former footballer who played as a forward. She spent most of her club career at Rayo Vallecano and was a member of the Spain women's national team.
C ...
, and
Mar Prieto
María del Mar Prieto Ibáñez is a Spanish football player. Throughout her career she played for Oroquieta Villaverde, AD Torrejón, Levante UD and Atlético Madrid in Spain's Superliga and Takarazuka Bunny in Japan's L. League.
She was a ...
, said in the documentary that Quereda was psychologically abusive, vocally
homophobic
Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...
, controlling, and that he created a toxic playing environment in the national team for decades.
In 2022, during the
''Las 15'' conflict, Boquete would continue to offer her support to the 15 players demanding better conditions within the national team.
Following Jorge Vilda's dismissal as Spain's head coach in the aftermath of the
Rubiales affair
The Rubiales case () refers to the fallout, both social and sporting, caused by the conduct of Luis Rubiales, the president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), beginning in August 2023. After allegations of inappropriate behavior duri ...
, Boquete posted a photo of herself on
X smiling and holding a bottle of champagne with the caption "Vintage Champagne, 8 years of maturation in the bottle," a nod to Vilda's eight years in charge of Spain.
Response to Luis Rubiales kissing Jenni Hermoso
After the Spain national team won the
2023 FIFA Women's World Cup
The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup was the ninth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international women's association football, football championship contested by List of women's national association football teams, women's nat ...
, then-president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation (
RFEF
The Royal Spanish Football Federation (; RFEF) is the governing body of football in Spain. Founded on 29 September 1913, it is based in La Ciudad del Fútbol of Las Rozas, a municipality near Madrid.
RFEF organizes the national cup competitio ...
),
Luis Rubiales
Luis Manuel Rubiales Béjar (born 23 August 1977) is a former Spanish Association football, football official and professional player who played as a Defender (association football), defender, appearing in 53 La Liga matches over three seasons. ...
, kissed Spain forward
Jennifer Hermoso
Jennifer Hermoso Fuentes (born 9 May 1990) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a forward for Liga MX Femenil club Tigres UANL and the Spain national team. She is the all-time top scorer for Spain, and was part of her country's c ...
on the lips without her consent during Spain's trophy presentation. The incident prompted fierce international backlash and criticism, with Rubiales eventually being removed from his position as president and resigning in the following months. Largely due to her role in removing Ignacio Quereda as Spain coach in 2015, Boquete became a central figure in criticism of Rubiales, national team coach Jorge Vilda, Vilda's staff, and the RFEF as a whole.
On 25 August, Boquete brought together 80 other current and former Spanish international footballers into a
WhatsApp
WhatsApp (officially WhatsApp Messenger) is an American social media, instant messaging (IM), and voice-over-IP (VoIP) service owned by technology conglomerate Meta. It allows users to send text, voice messages and video messages, make vo ...
group chat which she titled "Off to War," where they organized to write and sign a letter stating that they would not return to the national team unless Luis Rubiales was removed from his position within the RFEF.
Days later, Boquete wrote an article about the demeaning treatment of women footballers in Spain, hoping that the international outcry following the incident would bring structural reform to Spanish football, rather than merely replacing Rubiales with someone similar. She further attributed Rubiales's behavior to a wider, cultural issue within the RFEF that requires systematic change.
Later on, in a September interview with German publication ''
Der Spiegel
(, , stylized in all caps) is a German weekly news magazine published in Hamburg. With a weekly circulation of about 724,000 copies in 2022, it is one of the largest such publications in Europe. It was founded in 1947 by John Seymour Chaloner ...
'', Boquete alleged that the RFEF hacked Hermoso's phone to find compromising images and videos that would help discredit her to the public.
In addition, she criticized the
Spain men's national team's "delayed" and "weak" statement about the incident, and further criticized the RFEF for appointing
Montsé Tomé to replace Jorge Vilda. She argued that that "
ométolerated too many things
rom Rubiales and that there were more qualified coaches with more experience that should have replaced Vilda. She further argued that Tomé's appointment was an attempt from the RFEF to put a woman in charge to "keep the players from complaining."
International goals
In popular culture
In June 2013 Boquete became the first Spanish female footballer whose
biography
A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curri ...
has been published. Titled ''Vero Boquete, la princesa del deporte rey'' (Vero Boquete, the princess of the king's sport), it was written by ''
Marca Marca may refer to:
Places
* Marca, Sălaj, a commune in Sălaj County, Romania
* Marca, a tributary of the Barcău in Sălaj County, Romania
* an alternative name for Merca, Somalia
* Marca District, in the province Recuay, Peru
* Marçà, a vil ...
'' writer David Menayo.
Successful FIFA video game women's petition
In 2013, Boquete started a petition on
Change.org
Change.org is a website which allows users to create and sign petitions in an attempt to advance various social causes by raising awareness and influencing decision-makers. The site is a US-based for-profit company and claims to have 551 million ...
, which called upon video game producer
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by former Apple Inc., Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry ...
to introduce female players in its
''FIFA'' series and attracted 20,000 signatures in 24 hours. The petition was eventually successful, as EA Sports revealed in May 2015 that she and the rest of
Spain
Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
would join 11 other female international teams (
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
,
Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
,
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...
,
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
,
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
,
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
,
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
,
Mexico
Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...
,
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...
and the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
) in ''
FIFA 16
''FIFA 16'' is a football simulation video game developed by EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports label. It was released for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4,
Xbox 360, Xbox One, Android and iOS.
The g ...
'', which was released in September 2015 (on the 22nd in North America and the 24th in Europe) for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and also on Windows PC.
Estadio Verónica Boquete
On 8 November 2018, the city hall of
Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de Compostela, simply Santiago, or Compostela, in the province of Province of A Coruña, A Coruña, is the capital of the autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, in northwestern Spain. The city ...
agreed to rename their main stadium to ''
Estadio Verónica Boquete de San Lázaro es:Estadio is the spanish language word for Stadium
A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered s ...
'', in recognition of Boquete.
Personal life
Boquete speaks Spanish, Portuguese,
English,
and Italian. While at Prainsa Zaragoza, Boquete completed her studies in the Teaching of Physical Education at the
University of Zaragoza
The University of Zaragoza, sometimes referred to as Saragossa University () is a public university with teaching campuses and research centres spread over the three provinces of Aragon (Spain).
Founded in 1542, it is one of the List of oldest u ...
in 2009.
She owns a
Boxer Boxer most commonly refers to:
*Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing
* Boxer (dog), a breed of dog
Boxer or boxers may also refer to:
Animal kingdom
* Boxer crab
* Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans
* Boxer snipe ee ...
dog named Lía.
Her signature celebration is putting her outspread palm over her face, which mimics the shape of an
octopus
An octopus (: octopuses or octopodes) is a soft-bodied, eight-limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda (, ). The order consists of some 300 species and is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids, cuttlefish, and nautiloids. Like oth ...
. It is a gesture of connection to her friends and family of Galicia, where octopus is a culinary staple.
Additionally, Boquete prefers to wear the number 21 on her jersey in honor of
Espanyol
Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as RCD Espanyol, is a Spanish professional sports club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The club competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spa ...
's
Dani Jarque, who died of a heart attack in 2009 while she was at the club.
Since October 2017, Boquete has been a member of
Common Goal, an organization of footballers who pledge to donate at least 1% of their yearly salary to football charities. Specifically, she supports a charity based in
Saint Lucia
Saint Lucia is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. Part of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Saint Vincent ...
, which aims to help women achieve social and economic advancement through sport.
Lawsuit against FIFA
In 2014, Boquete, alongside other prominent players at the 2015 Women's World Cup, filed a gender discrimination lawsuit with the
Ontario Human Rights Tribunal
The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario () is an administrative tribunal in Ontario, Canada that hears and determines applications brought under the ''Ontario Human Rights Code'', the provincial statute that sets out human rights in Ontario prohibiti ...
against
FIFA
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...
for choosing host stadiums for the World Cup with
pitches made of
artificial turf
Artificial turf is a surface of synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass, used in sports arenas, residential lawns and commercial applications that traditionally use grass. It is much more durable than grass and easily maintained wi ...
. Artificial turf is known to be more dangerous to players, as it is more likely lead to more frequent injuries with longer recovery periods compared to grass pitches, and the
rubber pellets in the turf itself can cause burns (often called
turf burn) which can lead to skin infections.
The lawsuit gained support from prominent athletes like the
NBA
The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...
's
Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bean Bryant ( ; August 23, 1978 – January 26, 2020) was an American professional basketball player. A shooting guard, he List of NBA players who have spent their entire career with one franchise, spent his entire 20-year career with t ...
and
USMNT
The United States men's national soccer team (USMNT), officially recognized as USA by FIFA, represents the United States in men's international soccer. The team is governed by the United States Soccer Federation, which is a member of FIFA sinc ...
goalkeeper
Tim Howard
Timothy Matthew Howard (born March 6, 1979) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a goalkeeper. He is the part-owner of club Dagenham & Redbridge as well as an international ambassador in the United States for Premie ...
. Despite support from fans and fellow athletes, the lawsuit failed and the tournament went ahead as planned on artificial turf pitches.
Honours
; RCD Espanyol
*
Copa de la Reina de Fútbol
The Copa de la Reina (Queen's Cup) is an annual cup competition for Spanish women's association football teams organized by the Royal Spanish Football Federation. Its full name is ''Campeonato de España - Copa de Su Majestad la Reina'' (''Champ ...
:
2009
2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...
,
2010
The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
Buffalo Flash
*
USL W-League USL W-League may refer to:
* USL W League
* USL W-League (1995–2015)
The USL W-League was a North American amateur women's soccer developmental organization. The league was a semi-professional, open league, giving college players the oppor ...
Championship:
2010
The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
; Tyresö FF
*
Damallsvenskan
The (; ), known as OBOS for sponsorship reasons, is the highest division of women's football in Sweden. It is one of the best women's leagues in the world, and was founded in 1988.
The division consists of a league of 14 teams. From 2013, t ...
:
2012
2012 was designated as:
*International Year of Cooperatives
*International Year of Sustainable Energy for All
Events January
*January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins.
* January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
; 1. FFC Frankfurt
*
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.
...
:
2014–15
; Bayern München
*
Bundesliga
The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...
:
2015–16
; Spain
*
UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship
The UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship or simply UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship, is an annual competition in women's football for European national teams of players under 19 years of age. National under-19 teams whose countries belon ...
:
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...
*
Algarve Cup
The Algarve Cup is an invitational tournament for national teams in women's association football hosted by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF). Held annually in the Algarve region of Portugal since 1994, it is one of the most prestigious and ...
:
2017
2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly.
Events January
* January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...
Individual
*
Bronze Medal of the Royal Order of Sporting Merit: 2015
*
FIFA FIFPro Women's World11: 2020
*
WPS Michelle Akers Player of the Year:
2011
The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
*
Primera División Golden Boot:
2010–11
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...
*
UEFA Women's Championship Team of the Tournament:
2013
2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years).
2013 was designated as:
*International Year of Water Cooperation
*International Year of Quinoa
Events
January
* January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...
*
NWSL Best XI
NWSL Best XI and Second XI are annual awards presented to the best and second-best eleven players in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL).
the teams of the season awards are voted on by players (40%), owners/general managers/coaches (25%), ...
:
2014
The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...
*
Damallsvenskan
The (; ), known as OBOS for sponsorship reasons, is the highest division of women's football in Sweden. It is one of the best women's leagues in the world, and was founded in 1988.
The division consists of a league of 14 teams. From 2013, t ...
Best XI:
2013
2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years).
2013 was designated as:
*International Year of Water Cooperation
*International Year of Quinoa
Events
January
* January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...
*
USL W-League USL W-League may refer to:
* USL W League
* USL W-League (1995–2015)
The USL W-League was a North American amateur women's soccer developmental organization. The league was a semi-professional, open league, giving college players the oppor ...
MVP:
2010
The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
*
Damallsvenskan
The (; ), known as OBOS for sponsorship reasons, is the highest division of women's football in Sweden. It is one of the best women's leagues in the world, and was founded in 1988.
The division consists of a league of 14 teams. From 2013, t ...
Midfielder of the Season:
2012
2012 was designated as:
*International Year of Cooperatives
*International Year of Sustainable Energy for All
Events January
*January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins.
* January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
*
WPS Best XI:
2011
The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
References
External links
*
*
Rfef.esPlayer Damallsvenskan stats at
SvFFPlayer German domestic football stats at
DFB DFB may refer to: Music
* Dem Franchize Boyz, an Atlanta hip hop group
* Dysfunctional Family BBQ, a New York festival
Sport
* DFB-Pokal, a football cup competition in Germany
Organisations
* Furka Steam Railway (), Switzerland
* German Footbal ...
Profile at
FFC Frankfurt
Eintracht Frankfurt is a German women's association football club based in Frankfurt. Its first team currently plays in the German top flight, Frauen-Bundesliga. From 1998 to 2020, the club was known as 1. FFC Frankfurt.
Eintracht have won sev ...
Profile at
RCD Espanyol
Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as RCD Espanyol, is a Spanish professional sports club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The club competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spa ...
Profile at
Bayern Munich
Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...
*
Philadelphia IndependenceProfileat Footofeminin.fr
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boquete, Veronica
1987 births
Living people
Footballers from Santiago de Compostela
Women's Professional Soccer players
Women's association football midfielders
Women's association football forwards
Spanish women's footballers
Spain women's youth international footballers
Spain women's international footballers
Chicago Red Stars players
Philadelphia Independence players
Tyresö FF players
FC Energy Voronezh players
RCD Espanyol (women) players
Eintracht Frankfurt (women) players
FC Bayern Munich (women) players
Paris Saint-Germain FC (women) players
Zaragoza CFF players
Beijing BG Phoenix F.C. players
Portland Thorns FC players
Utah Royals players
AC Milan Women players
ACF Fiorentina (women) players
Damallsvenskan players
Liga F players
Première Ligue players
Frauen-Bundesliga players
National Women's Soccer League players
Serie A (women's football) players
Spanish expatriate women's footballers
Expatriate women's soccer players in the United States
Spanish expatriate sportspeople in the United States
Expatriate women's footballers in Russia
Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Russia
Expatriate women's footballers in Germany
Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Germany
Expatriate women's footballers in France
Spanish expatriate sportspeople in France
Expatriate women's footballers in China
Spanish expatriate sportspeople in China
Expatriate women's footballers in Italy
Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Italy
2015 FIFA Women's World Cup players
Castelao Medal recipients
UEFA Women's Champions League–winning players
21st-century Spanish sportswomen