Spanish footballer (born 1987)
Verónica Boquete Giadáns (born 9 April 1987) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a forward or midfielder for Italian Serie A club Fiorentina. Boquete has played professional club football for fifteen different clubs in eight different countries– her native Spain, the United States, Russia, Sweden, France, Germany, China, and most recently, Italy. She also formerly captained the Spain national team between 2013 and 2017, where she was a major part of their successful qualifications to the 2013 UEFA Women's Euro and the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup. Boquete has additionally captained the Galicia national team for the team's entire history.
Boquete is widely regarded as one of the greatest Spanish footballers of all time and one of the best footballers of her generation. She stood out with RCD Espanyol in her early career, winning two Copas de la Reina with the club between 2008 and 2011, additionally earning a Pichichi Trophy for her 39 goals scored in the 2010–11 Superliga Femenina campaign, which remains a Spanish first division record. After departing Spain, Boquete's next long-term move came in 2012, where she joined Swedish side Tyresö FF. In 2014, she became the first Spanish player to appear in a UEFA Women's Champions League final, and later in the year became the first Spanish footballer to be nominated for the FIFA Women's World Player of the Year Award. Boquete finally reached Champions League success in 2015 and become the first Spanish player to win the UEFA Women's Champions League, which she accomplished with FFC Frankfurt. Since departing Frankfurt, Boquete has played for teams in France, China, the United States, and Italy, and has most recently spent four years in the latter country between AC Milan and Fiorentina.
She represented the Spanish national team for 12 years, debuting in February 2005 when she was 17 years old. As captain of the Spanish national team between 2013 and 2017, Boquete played a crucial role in qualifying them to the 2013 Euros, Spain's first Women's Euro appearance since 1997, as well as their first ever Women's World Cup appearance in 2015. Following their group stage elimination from the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, Boquete famously led the players of the Spain national team in protest against the continued employment of Ignacio Quereda, who they alleged was verbally and physically abusive. Following Quereda's resignation and Jorge Vilda's subsequent hiring, her role in the team gradually lessened until she was controversially omitted from Spain's 2017 UEFA Women's Euro squad. Her national team career effectively ended in 2017, and she retired with 62 appearances and then-team record 38 goals scored.
Boquete has long been outspoken against the unfair and unequal treatment of female footballers, especially within her home country of Spain. In 2013, Boquete petitioned Electronic Arts to include women in their popular game series "FIFA", which was eventually successful with women being implemented into the game for the first time in "FIFA 16". Prior to the 2015 Women's World Cup in Canada, Boquete joined other prominent female footballers in filing a lawsuit against FIFA for gender discrimination for the use of artificial turf in Canada's World Cup venues. In 2023, she was vocal in her support of Jenni Hermoso, who was forcibly kissed on the lips by RFEF President Luis Rubiales in trophy celebrations at the 2023 Women's World Cup final, an event that was later dubbed the Rubiales affair.
Early life.
Verónica Boquete Giadáns was born on 9 April 1987 in Santiago de Compostela to Nicasio Boquete and Mercedes Giadans. Boquete was inspired to play football by her father, who was a coach in Spain's Third Division, and her brother Adrián, who also played football. She recounts that when she was a child, she was the only girl in her city that played with boys. For a year, she was only allowed to train with the all-boys team, as there was a rule that girls were not allowed to play matches for boy's teams. After her father and the club's president helped take her case to the CSD to change the rule, she played in teams of boys until she was fifteen years old. Boquete credits her outspoken nature to the discrimination she dealt with as a young female footballer.
In addition to her time playing football, she also played futsal in teams of other girls. In 2004, at the age of 15, Boquete joined the girl's section of S.D. Xuventú Aguiño, a futsal team based in her home region of Galicia. Scouting by national team coaches at Aguiño led to her first call-up for Spain's U-19 national team. After winning the 2004 U-19 Women's Euro, Boquete received offers from many Spanish clubs but decided to finish her Bachillerato before making her first big career move.
Club career.
Prainsa Zaragoza.
Boquete left Galicia at 18 to pursue a career in football, first playing for Prainsa Zaragoza in 2005. She chose Zaragoza despite offers from more successful clubs, such as Levante, Rayo Vallecano, and Espanyol, because she knew she would have had a more prominent role there.
In May 2008, Zaragoza released her from the club before the end of the season and would no longer include her in their squads. In the three years she spent in Zaragoza, Boquete averaged a goal every two matches.
RCD Espanyol.
Boquete moved to RCD Espanyol in August 2008 following her departure from Prainsa Zaragoza. She made her debut on 11 September 2008 in the Copa Catalunya against Barcelona, which Espanyol won 2-0. On 21 June 2009, Boquete played the first major final of her career, the Copa de la Reina final, against her former club Prainsa Zaragoza. Espanyol won by a resounding 5-1 scoreline, and Boquete won the first major title of her career. In the 2008-09 Superliga campaign, Boquete scored a personal best 15 goals. For her accomplishments with Espanyol, Boquete was chosen as Galicia's Athlete of the Year in 2009.
In the 2009–10 Superliga Femenina, the league title continued to evade Espanyol, who reached the final again but lost 1-0 to Rayo Vallecano. On 5 June 2010, Boquete competed in her second consecutive Copa de la Reina final, this time against Rayo Vallecano. Boquete had a much more prominent role in this final compared to last year's, assisting Mery's second goal in a 3-1 victory for "Los Periquitos".
2010: Summer in Buffalo and Chicago.
In 2010, Boquete moved to the USA for the summer to play for the Buffalo Flash of the USL W-League, a semi-professional and developmental league. She only featured for the Flash for a month, but still made an impact by scoring eight goals in nine matches. On 31 July 2010, Boquete scored a brace in the 2010 USL W-League Championship helping lead the Flash to victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps. She was named MVP of the tournament and her performances captured the attention of the Chicago Red Stars of the WPS.
Boquete was preparing to leave the country when she got a call from the Chicago Red Stars asking her to play for them for the remainder of the 2010 WPS season. She joined the Red Stars on 8 August 2010, but had some immigration issues before coming to the team that caused her to miss three matches. When she arrived at the very end of the season, she helped Chicago win their final two matches of the season, recording a goal and two assists across both games. Boquete recounted later in her playing career that in Chicago, she was finally able to see a future where she could become a professional footballer.
2010–2011: Return to Espanyol.
Boquete returned to Spain following the conclusion of the 2010 WPS season, only missing two matches at the beginning of the 2010–11 Superliga Femenina. In her year back with Espanyol, she was unable to repeat her past accomplishments in the Copa de la Reina, but found great success individually.
After finishing atop Group A of the second round of the Superliga, Espanyol qualified for the final once more against Rayo Vallecano. In the first leg, Boquete scored both of her team's goals in a 2-2 away draw. In the second leg, Espanyol lost to Rayo 1-2 at home. She ended her season as the top scorer of the league, and her 39 goals in 26 matches remains the single-season goalscoring record in the Spanish women's first division. Espanyol reached the 2011 Copa de la Reina final, but Boquete was not present as she had already joined the WPS's Philadelphia Independence in the United States. They lost in extra time to Barcelona.
Philadelphia Independence.
Boquete came to wider international prominence after signing for Philadelphia Independence of the American Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) in 2011. The club made the transfer official on 21 January, but she played out the rest of her league season with Espanyol before coming to the club on 4 June. She was a key player in Independence's 2011 season having scored 5 goals (4 of which were match-winning goals) and assisting another 4. Philadelphia reached the final of the playoffs against the Western New York Flash, which advanced to penalties after being tied in extra time. Boquete took and converted her penalty, but the team ended up losing 4-5 at the end of the shootout. At the end of the season, she was awarded the Player of the Year Award after making just 11 league appearances. In addition, she had been awarded the Player of the Week award three times.
Energiya Voronezh.
On 12 September 2011, Boquete was confirmed to be moving to Russian side Energiya Voronezh. It was reported that she would be earning €80,000 a year at the club. With Energiya, she made her debut in the UEFA Women's Champions League on 29 September against Bristol Academy. She scored her first Champions League goal in the second leg of the Round of 32 tie against Bristol. Energiya were knocked out by fellow Russian side Rossiyanka in the following round. Boquete did not stay at the club for long, departing for Tyresö in January. The team folded due to financial struggles the following year.
Tyresö FF.
In January 2012 Boquete announced a transfer to Swedish Damallsvenskan club Tyresö FF on a two-year contract. At Tyresö, she found herself to be part of a "superteam" alongside other women's football greats such as Marta, her childhood role model, Caroline Seger, Ali Krieger, Jennifer Hermoso, Lisa Dahlkvist, Caroline Graham Hansen, and Christen Press, amongst others.
Tyresö won the Damallsvenskan title for the first time in the 2012 season. Boquete was named the Damallsvenskan's Midfielder of the Year for 2012, and finished her season with 8 assists, the third-most in the league. In August 2013, Boquete was nominated for the UEFA Women's Player of the Year Award for the first time. She ended up finishing fifth in the voting. Boquete once again concluded that year's Damallsvenskan season as the third-highest assister, this time reaching 9 assists. She was also included in the league's Best XI of the season.
Amongst rumors that the club was facing financial troubles, Boquete announced that she would be leaving the club once their season ended. The club reached the 2014 UEFA Women's Champions League Final, which was played against Wolfsburg on 22 May. In the months leading up to the final, Boquete suffered two major injuries – an overload of her calf muscle and a ligament tear in her quadriceps of her right leg. She managed to recover in time to start the final, and two minutes after Marta scored Tyresö's first goal, Boquete poked in their second following a cross from Marta. Tyresö went into halftime victorious, but conceded twice quickly into the second half. They ended up losing the match 3–4, which was Boquete's final match for the club. Tyresö declared bankruptcy and folded very soon after their Champions League Final loss, an expected development following a long period of financial problems.
Portland Thorns.
On 7 April 2014, Portland Thorns FC acquired Boquete (along with midfielder Sarah Huffman) from the Western New York Flash in exchange for Courtney Wetzel, Kathryn Williamson, and Portland's first-round pick in the 2015 NWSL College Draft. Western New York originally held her NWSL rights. She joined the Thorns following Tyresö's participation in the 2013-14 UEFA Women's Champions League tournament, making her first appearance for the Thorns on 7 June 2014 versus the Western New York Flash. She scored her first goal for the Thorns on 15 June