This is Irene Paredes, new mother and captain of the Spanish soccer team

Optimism is not lacking for the players of the Spanish soccer team in order to play a great role in Euro 2022. A competition to which they arrive among the group of favorites, despite the loss due to injury of two of their main stars, Alexia Putellas and Jenni Hermoso, winner and finalist of the Ballon d’Or 2021, respectively.

As captain and veteran of the Reda great role in this sense must be played by the brave Basque defense of Fútbol Club Barcelona, Irene Paredes. The Gipuzkoan celebrated his 31st birthday in the UKmoderating expectations but with enthusiasm.

“It is good that people generate so much expectation, that means that we are interested and they follow us. It’s true that we’ve played good games against the big teams and that people come up right away, but we are calm. We know how difficult it is to play a European Championship, very short competitions in which any detail tips the balance for one side or the other”, he said at the start of the competition in an interview for ‘Marca’.

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Paredes has come a long way to get here, with a path that has led her to donning the elastics of some of the best teams in the world. Experienced and talented, soccer was not always her priority.

Small he had excelled in judo and athletics, but finally the ball weighed more. It is not in vain that he remembers himself playing soccer at the age of three in his town square. But it was jumping from the modest Zarautz in which he began to play to the powerful Real Sociedad, which ended up sealing his future in the green.

After three seasons as a ‘txuri urdin’, Irene Paredes signed for the eternal rival, Athletic Bilbao. There she won her first league and grew as a player. So much so that she caught the attention of the mighty Paris Saint-Germain. In the ranks of the French team, she would achieve another great victory by winning the first PSG women’s league title.

His collection of trophies has increased even more after his recent signing in the team that dominates women’s football in Spain, FC Barcelona. Irene has conquered all the national titles, but she is hungry for more.

“That’s why and for that I get out of bed every day, I take care of my rest, my diet, my workouts… All. It is the goal. Then I don’t decide who is captain, nor who keeps coming. It is not in my hands that we win something. I wish. I’m going to try that one hundred percent, that’s for sure,” he said in conversation with the EFE agency.

As for his personal life, The soccer player was recently a mother for the first time with her partneralso an athlete and former Spanish hockey international, Lucia Ybarra. The happy mothers shared an image with the newborn on their social networks, months after posing smiling next to an ultrasound and ensuring that “A new adventure begins…”

Hers has been one of the most recent examples that motherhood is a real option for athletes in general and soccer players in particular, although it is something quite recent. It was not until 2019 that Maider Irisarri became the first professional soccer player to become a mother. “I want to show that you can be a mother and a footballer at the same time”, he declared after stepping back onto the grass.

Combining his great professional moment with personal happiness, Irene also recently celebrated her first wedding anniversary with Lucía. Both did not hesitate to share several images on their networks to remember that appointed day.

Returning to the playing fields, the footballer was involved a few months ago in the alleged teasing of the Real Madrid goalkeeper, after the victory of the azulgranas in their historic clash in the Champions League. Given her controversy, the Basque woman issued a statement on her networks in which she distanced herself from her accusations, assuring that she has always been educated in “Sportsmanship, respect and camaraderie”.