The Rebirth of María León in the National Team

“I was so eager to come back and say: ‘Here I am, this is who I am. I don’t know if you’d forgotten, but I’m going to remind you why I’ve been here and why I’m still at the top!’”

With this statement, María León returns to what has been her home for many years, since she was very young. She wears the Spain shirt again with the same excitement, emotion, and pride as in her early days: “Very few people get the chance to represent Spain. There are 23 in the squad, and of those, only 11 can start a match and defend their country. What a privilege to have this opportunity!”

That privilege is less about luck and more about hard work, effort, discipline, and a healthy dose of determination. Reflecting on her beginnings, León said: “Nobody out-stubborns me.”

The once-shy teenager who at 15 or 16 felt small and overwhelmed by the unknown has grown into a player with an energetic and strong personality, earning her place in the senior team. Even now, she gets emotional recalling those early achievements:

“It gives me goosebumps. It was the reward for years of hard work, and I carved out a place for myself in the national team.”

After more than three years away, María León is back in the national squad.

The memories still bring tears to her eyes as she puts on her country’s jersey once again, thinking not only of herself but also of the family and friends who share her joy: “They’ll be so happy, I’m going to get emotional… Coming here, being this happy, feeling this excited is wonderful. I’m enjoying it like a child, and my family is overjoyed. Friends and family all saying, ‘Congratulations, you’re back… I hope it’s to enjoy it, and I am!’”

Her happiness is evident, whether in tears or in a broad smile. She faces a “new era, a new moment with beautiful things ahead,” with the immediate objective of the Nations League semi-finals, which she approaches “with great enthusiasm.” This new stage may even bring a return to scoring. So far, she has two international goals, one particularly special:

“When you come back, you can choose which name to put on your jersey. One day I thought, poor mum, I never put her surname, so I put Cebrián — and I happened to score with a header! I thought, ‘Could it really happen that the one day I use it, I score?’ It was beautiful, it was great.”

María León has been capped 54 times for Spain, scoring twice.

The girl who grew up obsessed with the anime Captain Tsubasa (‘Oliver y Benji’), who made her mother bring her a football every day, has lived her ‘champion’s dream,’ working magic with a ball at her feet, just like in the show. She recalls how, when she wanted to play, “there weren’t many girls playing, mostly boys, and then me,” until she joined a futsal team with her brother and met another girl, which “gave me confidence and peace of mind.”

Today, that confidence and understanding of her profession bring her back to the national team “more patient, calmer, more serene, with the same or even greater desire.” The resurgence of María León with Spain is here:

“I’m like the Phoenix, it’s a rebirth. I have been reborn within the National Team.”