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Women’s National Team

Riazor pays tribute to the three centenarians

Alexia Putellas, Jenni Hermoso and Irene Pareces receive well-deserved recognition before Spain v Belgium.
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Tue, 16/07/2024 - 22:00

The Riazor Stadium was the ideal setting to pay tribute to three legends of Spanish national football. Alexia, Jenni and Irene are key parts of the golden era of Spanish football history.

The Barcelona player has a total of 118 appearances for the Spanish national team. The midfielder, from Mollet del Vallès, was the first player to reach the magical figure of 100 games representing the Spanish colours. It was on 1 July 2022 in a friendly match between Spain and Italy played at the Teofilo Patini Stadium in Castel di Sangro. The Catalan also scored the goal for the Spanish national team in that match, which ended in a 1-1 draw.

Since her debut in the senior national team colours, on 28 June 2013 against Denmark, Alexia's growth has been exponential. In this time, she has played 118 games for Spain, scoring 30 goals. She has also won the World Cup and the UEFA Women's Nations League with the national team and has won two Ballon d'Or awards (2021 and 2022).

Her debut with La Roja came on 21 June 2012 in a qualifier for the 2013 European Championships in a match in which the Spanish national team beat Turkey 4-0 at the Ciudad del Fútbol in Las Rozas.

Since then, the Madrid-born player has played 116 games in which she has scored 56 goals for Spain. Jenni reached the 100th cap for the national team at the last World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, on 26 July 2023, in the second match of the group stage against Zambia. Spain beat the African team by 5 goals to nil at Eden Park Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand, and the ‘10’ scored twice. Like Alexia and Irene, Jenni played a key role in winning the World Cup last summer and the Nations League in February in La Cartuja.

For her part, the captain was the first to pull on the famous Spanish colours. The Guipuzcoa-born player made her debut on 20 November 2011 at the Buftea National Football Center in a 4-0 win for Spain against Romania.

Along the way, the centre-back has gone on to add to her legend, 107 games and 12 goals later one can see why she has also been selected to wear the captain's armband. Like her team-mates, Irene Paredes has participated in various editions of the European and World Cups, having won the World Cup in August 2023 in Sydney and lifted the Nations League into the skies above La Cartuja in Seville. The centre-back from Legazpi reached her 100th cap for the Spanish national team on 1 December 2023 in the match between Spain and Italy at the Pasarón Stadium in Pontevedra.

Three national team legends who, on and off the pitch, continue to write their name on the world stage and in the history books of Spanish football.

Women's Euro 2025