Malena Ortiz
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Malena Ortiz Cruz | ||
Date of birth | [1] | 16 July 1997||
Place of birth | Madrid, Spain[2] | ||
Height | 1.59 m (5 ft 3 in) | ||
Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
Team information | |||
Current team | Servette | ||
Number | 10 | ||
Youth career | |||
2012–2013 | Rayo Vallecano | ||
2013–2016 | CD Canillas | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2016–2020 | CD Tacón | 19 | (1) |
2020–2022 | Real Madrid | 2 | (0) |
2022– | Servette | 19 | (6) |
International career‡ | |||
2014–2016 | Azerbaijan U19 | 9 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 11:00, 10 April 2023 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 12:09, 10 April 2023 (UTC) |
Malena Ortiz Cruz (born 16 July 1997) is a footballer who plays as a midfielder for Servette. Born in Spain, she represented Azerbaijan at youth international level.
Personal life
Ortiz was born in Spain to a Cuban mother and a Spanish father.[3] Her twin sister, Samara, is also a footballer.[4]
Outside of football, she studied for a degree in Nutrition and Food Technology at Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia.[3] In 2021, she sent a number of football boots to Cuba to help support the development of football in the country.[5]
Club career
Ortiz started her career in Rayo Vallecano's academy along with her twin sister.[5][6] The sisters both ended up playing for CD Canillas and then its successor CD Tacón, a club that would itself progress to become Real Madrid.[3][5] At CD Tacón, Malena Ortiz became captain but, shortly after the Real Madrid rebranding, in April 2021, Ortiz suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury in her left knee.[7] That summer, Samara Ortiz would join Brøndby, meaning that the sisters were separated for the first time.[8]
In January 2022, she signed for Swiss club Servette, joining six other Spanish players in their squad.[9] This departure came only seven months after renewing her contract with Real Madrid and having only played 16 minutes for the club.[8][10] At Servette, she recovered from the injury that had disrupted her career at Real Madrid.[11]
International career
Having become a citizen of Azerbaijan in 2014, on 13 September of the same year Ortiz made her debut for their under-19 national team in a match against Ukraine.[3][12]
References
- ^ Malena Ortiz at Soccerway. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
- ^ "Malena". Bdfutbol. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
- ^ a b c d Menayo, David (15 January 2020). "Samara y Malena, dos gemelas de corazón blanco". Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 April 2023.
- ^ "Dos futbolistas de origen cubano integran plantilla del Real Madrid". ADN Cuba (in Spanish). 14 July 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
- ^ a b c Nieto, Jose (23 November 2021). "Malena Ortiz y su impacto sobre el fútbol femenino en Cuba: el gesto de la jugadora del Real Madrid". El Español (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 April 2023.
- ^ "Malena Ortiz". Playmaker Stats. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
- ^ Griñán, Marta (4 April 2021). "La madridista Malena Ortiz se rompe el ligamento cruzado". Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 April 2023.
- ^ a b Jiménez, Mayca (3 January 2022). "Malena Ortiz se despide del Real Madrid y apunta al Servette". Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 April 2023.
- ^ Menayo, David (10 January 2022). "El 'Spanish Servette' ficha a la exmadridista Malena Ortiz". Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 April 2023.
- ^ Jiménez, Mayca (29 June 2021). "Malena Ortiz, quinta renovación en el nuevo Real Madrid". Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 April 2023.
- ^ Vaney, Florian (4 May 2022). "La footballeuse Malena Ortiz: Du Real Madrid à Servette, une quête pour devenir unique". Tribune de Genève (in French). Retrieved 10 April 2023.
- ^ "Ukraine U19 vs. Azerbaijan U19". Soccerway. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
External links
- Profile at Real Madrid
- 1997 births
- Living people
- Women's association football midfielders
- Spanish women's footballers
- Real Madrid Femenino players
- Servette FC Chênois Féminin players
- Azerbaijani women's footballers
- Spanish people of Cuban descent
- Footballers from Madrid
- Liga F players
- Swiss Women's Super League players
- Twin sportspeople
- Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland
- Expatriate women's footballers in Switzerland