Maite Oroz

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Orozand the second or maternal family name is Areta.

Maite Oroz

Oroz with Real Madrid in 2021
Personal information
Full name	Maite Oroz Areta
Date of birth	(1998-03-25) 25 March 1998 (age 25)
Place of birth	Huarte, Spain
Height	1.56 m (5 ft 1 in) [1]
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Real Madrid
Number	8
Youth career
2004–2010	Huarte
2010–2013	Osasuna
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2013–2014	Osasuna
2014–2015	Athletic Club B	23	(10)
2015–2020	Athletic Club	107	(8)
2020–	Real Madrid	85	(6)
International career‡
2013 [2] [3]	Spain U16
2013–2015	Spain U17	13	(4)
2016–2017	Spain U19	16	(8)
2016–2018	Spain U20	9	(0)
2017–2020	Basque Country	2	(0)
2017–2020	Navarre	1	(0)
2021–	Spain	11	(4)
Medal record Women's football Representing   Spain UEFA Women's Nations League Winner 2024 France–Netherlands–Spain
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 19 May 2023 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 29 September 2023

Maite Oroz Areta (born 25 March 1998) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Liga F club Real Madrid and the Spain women's national team. She made her senior club debut with Athletic Club in 2015 and departed in 2020.

Club career

Born in Huarte, Navarre, Oroz began playing football with boys in the village team CD Huarte from the age of 6, ^[2] joining the youth system at Osasuna in nearby Pamplona aged 12. From that early age, she was marked out as a promising talent due to her skill on the ball, creativity and confidence. ^{[2] [3]} She played with Osasuna's senior team for a season in the Segunda División before the women's section of the club was disbanded in 2014, leading her to join Athletic Club. ^[4]

Oroz warming up with Athletic Club, 2017

Following a year with the club's B-team, ^[2] she made her senior team debut in September 2015 and became a regular from then on, making 30 appearances in the 2015–16 Primera División as Athletic finished as champions. She played and scored in the subsequent 2016–17 UEFA Champions League, ^[5] but the club did not progress beyond the opening knockout round.

In September 2018, Oroz sustained a serious injury, rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament of her left knee during a league match against Atlético Madrid ^[6] (one of several such injuries suffered by players in Athletic's various teams over a short period) ^[7] which ruled her out for the entire 2018–19 season. ^[8] Along with teammate and friend Damaris Egurrola, ^[9] she decided to leave the club when her contract expired in summer 2020. ^[10] In July 2020, after she had already agreed to join Real Madrid Femenino, a court case regarding the legality of 'compensation lists' for players in Spanish women's football confirmed that her new employers would not have to pay a fee to Athletic Club. ^[11]

She immediately became a part of Real Madrid's history by being one of the 11 players to start in their first official match in October 2020 (with almost a full team of new signings, they lost 4–0 at home to Barcelona). ^[12] Two weeks later she was among the scorers in their first victory, and by March 2023 had made her 100th appearance for the Merengues, reaching the milestone in the same match as goalkeeper Misa Rodríguez. ^[13]

International career

Oroz was involved with Spanish national age-group teams at several levels and with much success, being a member of the under-17 squad that claimed the bronze medal at the 2013 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship, ^[3] silver at the 2014 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup and gold at the 2015 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship; ^[2] the under-19 squad which reached the final of the 2016 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship then won the 2017 tournament; and the under-20 squad who were runners-up at the 2018 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, ^[14] having also been involved in the 2016 edition. ^[1]

In October 2019, she was called up to the inaugural squad for España Promesas (essentially Spain B), along with two clubmates. ^{[15] [16]}

She has also played for the unofficial Basque Country and Navarre representative teams, making her debut for both in 2017. ^{[17] [18]}

International goals

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	11 November 2022	Estadio Municipal Álvarez Claro, Melilla, Spain	Argentina	2–0	7–0	Friendly
2.	16 February 2023	Industree Group Stadium, Gosford, Australia	Jamaica	1–0	3–0	2023 Cup of Nations
3.	26 September 2023	Estadio Nuevo Arcángel, Córdoba, Spain	Switzerland	5–0	5–0	2023–24 UEFA Women's Nations League
4.	31 October 2023	Letzigrund, Zürich, Switzerland	Switzerland	7–1	7–1	2023–24 UEFA Women's Nations League

Honours

Spain

• UEFA Women's Nations League: 2023–24 ^[19]

References

1. Maite Oroz, Soccerway
2. Maite Oroz, la nueva perla de Lezama [Maite Oroz, Lezama's new pearl], La Liga, 21 April 2016 (in Spanish)
3. Maite Oroz: "Representar a España es una responsabilidad" [Maite Oroz: "Representing Spain is a responsibility"], Diario AS, 13 March 2014 (in Spanish)
4. "Desaparece Osasuna femenino" [Osasuna women disappears]. Vavel (in Spanish). 7 June 2014. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
5. Minimum lead for the second leg in Denmark, Athletic Club, 5 October 2016
6. Injury of Maite Oroz: rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), Athletic Club, 24 September 2018
7. Las roturas de LCA son ya una epidemia [ACL tears are becoming an epidemic], Marca, 25 September 2018 (in Spanish)
8. Medical report of the women’s team, Athletic Club, 16 April 2019
9. Damaris and Maite Oroz, an inseparable pair, Athletic Club, 29 December 2019
10. Athletic Club Bilbao will feel the losses of Maite Oroz and Damaris Egurrola, Vavel, 30 March 2020
11. "El triunfo del 'padre coraje' de una futbolista, que luchó tres años en un piquete" [The triumph of the 'courageous father' of a footballer, who fought three years on a picket]. El Confidencial (in Spanish). 23 July 2020. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
12. "Real Madrid 0-4 Barcelona femenino: resumen, goles y resultado del partido" [Real Madrid 0-4 Barcelona women: summary, goals and result of the match]. Diario AS (in Spanish). 10 October 2020. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
13. "Misa Rodríguez and Maite Oroz reach 100 games for Real Madrid" [Misa Rodríguez and Maite Oroz reach 100 games for Real Madrid]. Diario AS (in Spanish). 12 March 2023. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
14. Japan cruise to maiden world title, FIFA, 24 August 2018
15. Oroz, Azkona and Damaris, with the Spanish Promesas, Athletic Club, 30 October 2019
16. Oficial: La RFEF crea la Selección Absoluta Promesas, una nueva selección femenina de fútbol (Official: The RFEF creates the Absolute Promises Selection, a new women's team), SEfutbol (in Spanish), 29 October 2019
17. Euskal Selekzioa 2–1 Chequia, Basque Football Federation, 25 November 2017 (in Basque)
18. Navarra 1-3 Catalunya; Bon regal de Nadal (Navarre 1-3 Catalonia; fine present for Christmas), FutFem.cat, 22 December 2017 (in Catalan)
19. "Women's Nations League final: World Cup winners Spain beat France 2–0 in Seville". BBC Sport. 28 February 2024. Retrieved 28 February 2024.

External links

• Maite Oroz at Athletic Bilbao