The 24 internationals called up by George
Vilda for the last two matches of the qualifying round for the 2022 European Championship in England, they began their concentration in the Ciudad del Fútbol of Las Rozas (Madrid) on Monday.
The four goalkeepers and twenty outfield players summoned for the matches against the Azerbaijani teams in Baku and Poland in Madrid, on February 18 and 23, are already at the federal headquarters, where they were received by the president of the National Committee of Women's Soccer of the Royal Spanish Soccer Federation, Rafael del Amo; by the absolute selector, Jorge Vilda; the second coach, Montse Tomé; and the technical assistant, Kenio Gonzalo.
For this concentration, Barcelona brings nine players who come from winning the Queen's Cup: goalkeeper Sandra Paños, defenders Andrea Pereira, Mapi León and Leila Ouahabi, midfielders Patri Guijarro, Alexia Putellas and Aitana Bonmatí and attackers Mariona Caldentey and Jenni Hermoso, who with 36 goals in 81 games is two goals away from equaling Vero Boquete as the top scorer for the Spanish team.
Real Madrid is the second-largest club, with goalkeeper Misa Rodríguez, defenders Marta Corredera and Ivana Andrés, midfielder Maite Oroz and forward Marta Cardona; followed by Levante, with the attackers Eva Navarro, Alba Redondo and Esther González – top scorer of the Primera Iberdrola this season, with 18 goals – and goalkeeper María López Valenzuela, who debuts with the senior team.
Defenders Ona Batlle (Manchester United) and Irene Paredes (Paris Saint-Germain) and goalkeeper Lola Gallardo (Olympique de Lyon) traveled from abroad. The last two will not travel to Baku on Wednesday, according to Jorge Vilda at a press conference, since their clubs are not obliged to give them up for a trip that would imply a quarantine of more than seven days upon their return to France.
The squad is completed by defenseman Laia Aleixandri (Atlético de Madrid), midfielder Nerea Eizagirre (Real Sociedad) and forward Lucía García (Athletic Club).
They will premiere this afternoon in the Ciudad del Fútbol
The 24 players will train this afternoon (6:30 pm) at the Ciudad del Fútbol. On Tuesday they will complete a gym session in the morning and a field workout in the afternoon.
The trip to Baku is scheduled for Wednesday, where they will carry out the official training before Thursday's game at the ASK Arena stadium from 9:00 p.m. (local time).
The expedition will return to Spain on Friday, with the ticket for the 2022 European Championship in their hand in the event of defeating the Azerbaijani team.
In the only previous match, which dates from October 4, 2019 in A Coruña, La Roja won 4-0.
If the leaders of Group D fail to beat the bottoms, on February 23 they would have another opportunity to certify their classification at the federal headquarters. In the Ciudad del Fútbol of Las Rozas, the Spanish team will receive the Polish squad at the close of the qualifying phase for the next continental event.