Verónica Boquete

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…

2004–2006: Youth national team career

Boquete's first international experience with Spain came with their U-19 team, which she played with in 2004. She later went on to win the 2004 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship with Spain and compete in the 2004 FIFA U-19 Women's World Cup.

2005–2012: National team debut

Boquete's senior Spain women's national football team debut came in February 2005, in a 0–0 friendly draw with the Netherlands.

2012–2014: Euro and World Cup qualifications

Spain reached qualification playoffs for the 2013 UEFA Women's Euro following a second place finish in qualification group B. Boquete was injured for the first leg of the playoff against Scotland, which Spain drew 1-1. She was able to compete in the second leg on 24 October 2012. The match eventually progressed to extra time, and both teams were still drawing by minute 113, but Scotland had away goal advantage and were minutes away from qualifying. Spain were then given a penalty deep into extra time, which Boquete took and missed. Just three minutes later, Boquete redeemed herself by scoring the winning extra time goal from a volley in the 122nd minute, effectively qualifying Spain for their first UEFA Women's Euro since 1997. Boquete later reflected on this goal as the most important one of her career. In June 2013, national team coach Ignacio Quereda confirmed Boquete as a member of his 23-player squad for the UEFA Women's Euro 2013 finals in Sweden.

2015–2016:…

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.

Boquete speaks Spanish, Portuguese, English, and Italian. While at Prainsa Zaragoza, Boquete completed her studies in the Teaching of Physical Education at the University of Zaragoza in 2009. She owns a Boxer dog named Lía. Her signature celebration is putting her outspread palm over her face, which mimics the shape of an octopus. It is a gesture of connection to her friends and family of Galicia, where octopus is a culinary staple. Additionally, Boquete prefers to wear the number 21 on her jersey in honor of Espanyol's Dani Jarque, who died of a heart attack in 2009 while she was at the club. Since October 2017, Boquete has been a member of Common Goal, an organization of footballers who pledge to donate at least 1% of their yearly salary to football charities. Specifically, she supports a charity based in Saint Lucia, which aims to help women achieve social and economic advancement through sport.

Lawsuit against FIFA

In 2014, Boquete, alongside other prominent players at the 2015 Women's World Cup, filed a gender discrimination lawsuit with the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal against FIFA for choosing host stadiums for the World Cup with pitches made of artificial turf. Artificial turf is known to be more dangerous to players, as it is more likely lead to more frequent injuries with longer recovery periods compared to grass pitches, and the rubber pellets in the turf itself can cause burns (often called turf burn) which can lead to skin infections. The lawsuit…