On Friday the women’s team made its debut in the European Championship held in England. Spain dominated the game against a modest opponent like Finland, although in international competitions no game should be underestimated to avoid unpleasant surprises (the initial 0-1 scare is proof). The next match will see a more difficult duel against Germany, who on their debut won 4-0 against Denmark. The road is long and this is just the beginning of a European Championship that gives unknown emotions and stories.
1) Hedvig Lindahl: the Atlético Madrid and Sweden goalkeeper sets a longevity record in this competition. At 39 years old, she is the oldest soccer player in this edition. She now defends the door of her national team but when she started she played as a striker. In her homeland she has become an idol: goalkeeper of the year nine times and especially in 2015 she won the ‘Diamantbollen’, the golden ball dedicated to female footballers. In her career, she has made 187 appearances with the national team but has never won a trophy with the yellow shirt: two silver medals at the Olympic Games (Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2021) and one at the 2003 European Championship.
2) Amanda Andradottir: From the oldest to the youngest in the European Championship: 18 years and 200 days for the Icelandic midfielder from Kristianstad. Despite her age, she already has six appearances in the Iceland team. Football blood flows in her blood: her father, Andri Sigborsson, defended the gates of Iceland in seven games. While her uncle, Kolbeinn Sigborsson, holds the record for goals with the Iceland team (26) along with Gudjohnsen, in addition to having won three leagues with Ajax.
The protagonists of the European Championship
Lindahl, Miedema and Hegerberg with their respective national teams
3) Vivianne Miedema: One of the strikers with the most active goals. In 5 years she has scored 111 goals in the English championship with Arsenal, while with the Dutch national team she has another 94 goals. At just 25 years old, Miedema has already collected numerous awards as top scorer: in the 2013-2014 Dutch League, in the 2016-2017 Champions League, in the 2018-2019 English League, and in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. On top of everything she proved to be a professional off the pitch as well, earning a master’s degree in ‘Fútbol Business’ last year.
4) Ada Hegerberg: The first Golden Ball of 2018. From that moment everything changed: sponsors, success and above all goals, many goals. Hegerberg has become the main face of Hublot, ambassador of Nike and of the Champions League final in 2019. Espn has published a documentary in 2020, “My name is Ada Hegerberg”. The Norwegian and Lyon star has scored a total of 236 goals in 210 games since 2014, winning 7 championships and 5 Champions Leagues. In 2013 she came second in the European Championship and after controversies with the Norwegian Federation that left her out of the selection for five years, she has now returned to win the title.
5) Alexia Putellas: The most anticipated Spanish star, the last ballon d’or. The knee injury the day before the start of the competition does not detract from his prominence. More than 160 goals from her with the Barcelona shirt made her the diamond of this team with aspirations to the title. The Spanish midfielder has accompanied the team in its debut against Finland and yesterday she has greeted the group to return to Spain and be able to recover from the injury to the Crusader suffered before the start of the European Championship.
