The world champion with Spain and FC Barcelona midfielder Aitana Bonmatí was the female winner of the 2023 Ballon d’Or.
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Born 25 years ago in the Catalan town of Vilanova i la Geltrú, Aitana was trained like the midfielder from La Mancha in the Barça youth ranks, and like him he wears the number 6 with the Red and stands out for his technique, his creative football and his vision of the game, in addition to a good shot with both legs.
He is also on his way to emulating the extensive track record of Andrés Iniesta,
Since making his debut in the Barça first team in 2016, he has not stopped opening his trophy case. Four leagues, five Queen’s Cups, three Spanish Super Cups, and two Champions Leagues, one in 2021 and the most recent this year, in which she was proclaimed best player and which, together with the World title, has opened the doors of Ball for her. of Gold, the third to fall into the hands of a footballer born in Spain after Luis Suárez (1960) and his Barça teammate Alexia Putellas (2021, 2022).
She was also chosen best player of the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, in which she scored three goals, and UEFA Player of the Year, with five goals in the Champions League.
“We have a very big speaker”
When collecting the UEFA trophy, she admitted to being “very ambitious, very non-conformist”, at the same time that she showed her most vindictive side when alluding to the forced kiss of the then president of the Spanish Football Federation Luis Rubiales to his partner Jenni Hermoso during the trophy presentation ceremony.
“As a society we must not allow abuse of power in a work relationship, as well as lack of respect, so from my colleague Jenni to all the women who suffer the same, we are with you and we are working to improve this society “, he claimed.
Because Aitana Bonmatí – Aitana as she appears on the number of her Barcelona or La Roja jersey – has also stood out for the social and protest aspect that has always provided her public image.
“In the end we are people, beyond footballers and I think that we have a very big speaker where people can look at us to be their role model to follow,” she said months ago in an interview with AFP.
It’s partly in his blood. Her surname Bonmatí actually corresponds to her mother, her parents being members of a movement decades ago demanding a legal change that would allow her mother’s surname to appear first.
Apart from being involved in various actions in favor of welcoming refugees, she was one of the ’15 rebels’ who took the step of refusing to go with the Spanish team until improvements were made to the internal functioning.
Months later, with calmer waters and after various rapprochement movements by the Spanish Federation, she reconsidered her decision and along with other teammates returned to the Spanish team, then directed by Jorge Vilda.
His graceful physique, with his meter and 61 centimeters of height, and his face not without youthful features hide great mental resistance, but also physical. At the beginning of October, the footballers’ union FIFPro published a report on the players, according to which “no player has played more games since July 16, 2018” than the Barça midfielder (242). A period in which she chained a streak of 140 consecutive games.
A workload that can sometimes involve mental health problems, a topic that Aitana never shied away from talking about and that she acknowledges that she attends psychological therapy.
Her last commitment to Barça was sealed at the end of December 2021 until 2025. Together with Putellas, the women’s Ballon d’Or continues to give off Barça brilliance.
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