Left-footed rocket launches Spain to Switzerland

When everything was pointing to a 2-1 Spain victory over Japan, with two minutes left in the match, magic happened. Unsurprisingly, it was Athenea who pulled a stunner out of the hat to leave the Butarque stands—sold out for the farewell match before the National Team before heads to Switzerland—in awe. Right after the match she described her goal as follows: “I saw that Mariona got the ball, she took a moment, passed it to me and with the very first touch I said this one’s mine, and luckily it went in just like it did. I’ve been practising striking it like that all year, I’m very happy to get minutes, help the team and excited for the Euros.”

The final minutes seem to be a lucky charm for the Cantabrian. Against Belgium, coming off the bench, she scored two goals in the 77th and 78th minutes. Yesterday, just moments after stepping onto the pitch, in the 88th minute, she found the net once again: “I give it my all in whatever role I’m given, I come on and give my best, luckily, things are going well and I’m really up for it.”

The Real Madrid forward heads into the major European tournament fully fired up, highly motivated and eager to succeed: “This team never gives up, fights until the end, always shows up, and whoever plays, they do well. We’re all really happy with the win, feeling good and excited for the Euros to begin and for this journey with Spain to continue, and hopefully it ends in the best possible way.”