Laia Codina Panedas is a Spanish professional footballer born on 22 January 2000 in Campllong, a small town in the Province of Girona, Catalonia. She began playing football at the age of four with Unió Deportiva Cassà, competing in boys’ teams until she was 14. In 2014 she joined FC Barcelona’s academy. Alongside her football career she has studied journalism at the Universidad de Vic. She currently plays for West Ham United in the Women’s Super League and represents the Spain national team. Siblings Laia has one sibling, an older sister named Mariona Codina. In December 2022 Laia shared photographs…
Author: Kevin Koech
María Inmaculada Gabarro Romero, known professionally as Inma Gabarro, is a Spanish professional footballer born on 5 November 2002 in Espartinas, in the province of Seville, Spain. She plays primarily as a forward or attacking midfielder and currently represents Everton in the Women’s Super League while also featuring for the Spain national team. She developed a passion for the game early, initially trying tennis before switching fully to football after watching her family members play. She began organised football in her hometown with the municipal school side C.D. Espartinas-Tilde before joining the Sevilla FC youth system. Siblings Inma has two…
Jana Fernández Velasco is a Spanish professional footballer born on 18 February 2002 in Martorell, in the Baix Llobregat district of the Province of Barcelona. Known for her technical ability, versatility, leadership qualities and composure on the ball, she rose through the ranks at FC Barcelona’s famed La Masia academy before establishing herself as a first-team player. Trilingual in Catalan, Spanish and English, Velasco has spoken of how her language skills helped her adapt after moving abroad. She currently represents London City Lionesses in the Women’s Super League and the Spain national team. Siblings Jana has one sibling, a younger…
María Méndez Fernández is a Spanish professional footballer born on 10 April 2001 in Oviedo, Asturias. She plays as a centre-back for Liga F club Real Madrid and the Spain women’s national team. She is known for her defensive solidity, aerial ability, leadership qualities, and capacity to contribute goals from set pieces, particularly headers. She earned the nickname “Pecas” during her early career at Real Oviedo. Méndez rose through the ranks of Spanish women’s football and has become a regular presence in both domestic and international competitions. Siblings María is the younger sister of Miguel Méndez. Miguel, born around 1996,…
Eva María Navarro García, known as Eva Navarro, is a Spanish professional footballer born on 27 January 2001 in Yecla, in the Murcia region of Spain. Navarro represents Real Madrid in Spain’s Primera División and the Spain women’s national team. She developed her early passion for the game in a football-oriented family environment in Yecla, where opportunities for girls were limited, leading her to play with boys’ teams and futsal sides from a young age. Her parents, Cayetano Navarro and Eva García, provided strong support, including long daily drives to training sessions in Alicante. Siblings Eva has brothers who share…
María Isabel Rodríguez Rivero, widely known as Misa Rodríguez or simply Misa, is a Spanish professional footballer born on 22 July 1999 in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria. Raised in the La Garita neighbourhood of Telde on the island of Gran Canaria, she developed an early passion for sport that included rhythmic gymnastics, judo, running, swimming and cycling before focusing on football. As a child she initially played as a striker, later switching to goalkeeper in her early teens, inspired in part by her grandfather Eleuterio, who had also been a goalkeeper. She has long been a Real Madrid supporter,…
Victoria López Serrano Felix, known as Vicky López, is a Spanish professional footballer born on 26 July 2006 in the Vallecas neighborhood of Madrid. The daughter of Spanish father Jesús López Serrano Pérez and Nigerian mother Joy Felix, she holds dual Spanish and Nigerian heritage and represents Spain at international level. She plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for FC Barcelona in Liga F and the Spain women’s national team. López rose to prominence as one of the most talented young players in women’s football, known for her street-honed flair, speed, technical skill, and maturity beyond her years. Her…
Catalina Tomàs Coll Lluch, widely known as Cata Coll, is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Liga F club FC Barcelona and the Spain national team. Born on 23 April 2001 in Pòrtol, a town in the municipality of Marratxí on the island of Mallorca, she stands 1.70 metres tall and wears the number 13 shirt. Her choice of number 13 was inspired by former Real Mallorca goalkeeper Dudu Aouate, one of her childhood idols alongside Barcelona goalkeeper Sandra Paños. Named after Catherine of Palma, a patron saint of Mallorca, Coll has risen from local boys’…
Edna Imade is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for Bayern Munich in the Frauen-Bundesliga and represents the Spain women’s national team. Her mother, Floren, was pregnant with twins while fleeing difficult conditions in Nigeria, including conflict and instability. About three months later, they continued the journey to Spain by boat, known as a patera. Upon arriving in Spain, Edna’s father was detained and deported, after which contact with him was lost. Her mother and the two infants were taken in by a convent of nuns in Algeciras before eventually settling in Carmona, near Seville. Edna grew up…
María Pilar León Cebrián, widely known as Mapi León, is a Spanish professional footballer born on 13 June 1995 in Zaragoza, Spain. She stands approximately 1.69 metres tall and primarily plays as a centre-back, though she has also featured as a left-back. Raised in the La Almozara district of Zaragoza by her parents Javier, a mechanic, and Pilar, she developed a passion for sport from a young age. She initially tried volleyball at age seven, along with other activities such as baseball and futsal. She later turned down an art-school scholarship to focus on football. A club official spotted her…
Clàudia Pina Medina is a Spanish professional footballer born on 12 August 2001 in Montcada i Reixac, near Barcelona. She plays primarily as a forward, left winger or attacking midfielder for FC Barcelona in Liga F and the Spain women’s national team. Regarded as one of the finest strikers in the women’s game, she is known for her sharp goalscoring instinct, technical ability and close bond with her family in her hometown. Her mother, Beatriz Medina, runs a sports-themed bar called Bar Gol in Montcada i Reixac that features football-inspired dishes and memorabilia from Clàudia’s career, while her father Arturo…
Ona Batlle Pascual is a Spanish professional footballer born on 10 June 1999 in Vilassar de Mar, a town in the province of Barcelona, Catalonia. She plays primarily as a full-back, capable of operating on either the right or left flank, and is known for her technical ability, speed, versatility, and contributions in both defense and attack. She currently represents Arsenal in the Women’s Super League and the Spain national team. Batlle rose through the ranks of women’s football in Spain and England, establishing herself as one of the leading full-backs of her generation through consistent performances at club and…
Alèxia Putellas Segura, widely known as Alexia Putellas, is a Spanish professional footballer from Catalonia, born on 4 February 1994 in Mollet del Vallès near Barcelona. She plays primarily as a midfielder or forward and is regarded as one of the greatest women’s footballers of her generation. A lifelong FC Barcelona supporter, she rose to global prominence through her technical skill, vision, leadership, and consistency at the highest level. Putellas has long captained club and country sides, earned the nickname “La Reina” (The Queen), and helped elevate women’s football in Spain and beyond through both her performances and her advocacy.…
Eugenie “Genie” Bouchard is a Canadian former professional tennis player, born on February 25, 1994, in Montreal, Quebec. The daughter of investment banker Michel Bouchard and Julie Leclair, she grew up in the Westmount neighbourhood of Montreal and later trained extensively in Florida after moving there at age 12 with her mother. Bouchard rose to international prominence in the mid-2010s as one of the most successful Canadian tennis players of her generation. She reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 5 in October 2014, becoming the first Canadian to break into the top five in the WTA rankings. After…
Sloane Stephens is an American professional tennis player born on March 20, 1993, in Plantation, Florida. Raised primarily by her mother, Sybil Smith, a pioneering All-American collegiate swimmer at Boston University who was the first African-American woman named a first-team All-American in Division I swimming history, Stephens grew up in an athletic household. Her biological father, John Stephens, was a Pro Bowl running back who played in the NFL primarily for the New England Patriots. After her parents separated when she was an infant, she was raised by her mother and stepfather, Sheldon Farrell. Stephens began playing tennis at age…