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Captain of FC Barcelona women’s team have won twice the world player of the year award.
Alexa had to pass through the surgery room twice for an injury on the field, something she still recovering while the Spanish media went with the foremost redundant and most silly campaign with her team mate Jenni Hermoso to reduce her playing skills while she was in recovery trials after she was recognized as the best player in the world for four consecutive years and winning two awards for it.
With that said, we leave clear that after those intentional injuries on her, Alexia has achieved something that any other female player in the history of the sport has not achieved, becoming the greatest female football athlete in the history of the sport and remaining in the No. 1 position statistically speaking.
Proud to Get Recompense
After receiving the second trophy from the great Andriy Shevchenko, Putellas said “when I won a year ago I told myself I had to get even better and serve the team. I’d like to thank all my team-mates, the staff, president Joan Laporta, the board, everyone who works at the club and of course my family for always being at my side and for being a part of this prize. I’m proud to play for Barça, my lifetime club.”
But she also had words about her difficult absence right now through injury. “When I got injured I didn’t think I’d be here today, but it makes me proud to get recompense for all that hard work” she said. “I miss playing so much and doing what I like to do the most.”
Golden Girl
This was the fourth time that there has been an award not only for the best men’s player in the world but also the best woman. Norway’s Ada Hegerberg was the inaugural winner in 2018 and Megan Rapinoe of the US collected the trophy in 2019. After the 2020 edition was cancelled due to Covid-19, Alexia now has a record two wins to her name.
She is the first ever Catalan winner in either the men’s or women’s categories.
Things You Did Not About Alexia
Growing up in Catalonia, women’s football star Alexia Putellas was surrounded by a family of die-hard Barcelona fans.
Despite traveling from their home in Mollet del Valles to Camp Nou often to watch the men’s team play, she didn’t expect that years later she too would be stepping out onto that pitch captaining a Barcelona side.
From her multiple personal accolades to her achievements with club and country, there is no doubt that the attacking midfielder has helped shaped the modern game of women’s football.
Think you know the Spanish superstar? Think again.
Here are things you did not know about Barcelona captain and Spain international, Alexia Putellas.
Alexia Putellas: Delight At The Double
The 29 year old’s first ever football club was Sabadell – the only youth team in the Barcelona area with a specific women and girls section at the time.
When Putellas was seven, she managed to join the club with help from a family friend – despite Sabadell officially only accepting girls from the age of eight. It wasn’t long before she was made one of the club’s captains, despite being a lot younger than the majority of her teammates.
It was here that Putellas’ leadership skills became evident, and the club experienced continuous success under the now Barcelona captain.
However, the Sabadell’s girls’ team was not a priority, which led to Putellas leaving the club to spend a year at Barcelona’s academy, La Masia. After being left with no team for her age group at La Masia, she joined Espanyol’s girls team where she went on to make her senior debut at the age of 16.
After an impressive stint with Levante, Alexia Putellas rejoined Barcelona in 2012.
In her first season with the club, she won her first ever league title after a 2-1 win at Athletic Bilbao in front of a bumper crowd.
When asked about the most special game of her career in a George V Magazine interview, it’s this game that she reflects on.
“The game at San Mamés in my first year, my first league. We won in front of 25,000 people, which back then 10 years ago didn’t usually happen.”
Following the league win, Barcelona went on to win their first ever domestic double – beating Zaragoza 4-0 in the Copa de la Reina final.
Putellas made headlines after scoring her side’s third goal and being named the Copa de la Reina final MVP.
“I remember the first year [at Barcelona], that at 18 I was already a starter and I played practically everything,” she told George V Magazine.
“We won the double, the following year we repeated… practically every year I have managed to put a title in my personal record and I think that the evolution has been very good. Every time I get closer to the player I want to be and it is clear that this benefits the club. A club that I love very much, so I’m delighted.”
Alexia Putellas: History Maker
As well as making history on the pitch, Putellas is no stranger to breaking barriers off of it.
In 2021, she became the third ever footballer – and first female player – to receive the prestigious Creu de Sant Jordi, an award to honour services to Catalonia. The two previous footballing recipients were Lionel Messi and Johan Cruyff.
Putellas also became the first ever woman to be projected onto Dubai’s Burj Khalifa. An image of her face was beamed onto the iconic building during the Globe Soccer Awards in 2023.
On the pitch, Putellas has become known for setting – and shattering – records.
From being the first woman to score in a competitive match at Camp Nou, to scoring in the first ever women’s El Clasico against Real Madrid – she also led Barcelona to a record-breaking season in 2021.
That season the attacking midfielder managed 18 goals in 31 games, and her side picked up 99 points from a possible 102, finishing the season with a +152 goal difference.
Disclaimer:
Putellas has been in an On and Off relationship since 2019 with Prince Jorge Jimenez Neubauer Torres V, the owner of this Magazine.