When Barça was light-years away from winning the Champions League

BarcelonaAlexia Putellas, Patri Guijarro or Aitana Bonmatí. They are three examples of Spanish players who have already lifted the Champions League three times and on May 23rd they dream of repeating it for the fourth time. It seems an obligation to fight every season to be in the final of the top European competition and, even, to have to win it, but a few years ago only chosen footballers could lift the title of champions. One of these – the first Spanish woman to achieve it – was Vero Boquete (Santiago de Compostel·la, 1987), who won the Champions League with Eintracht Frankfurt in the 2014-15 season. “When I left Spain [in 2010], the league was not professional and there were very few foreigners. I was one of the first players to go abroad and earn my respect,” she explains to ARA.

A respect for which we must continue to fight today. “Unfortunately, women in football continue to suffer sexist comments. It is part of a social process that will take us some time to eliminate completely,” assures Boquete, who combines her career as a footballer with narrations of various matches on Spanish channels. “Football is a reflection of society. Latin countries, Spain and Italy are more sexist than Nordic countries, although it is true that in recent years there has been improvement,” she adds.

The Galician player, who recently moved up to Serie A with Como 1907, was part of the "best team in Europe", Tyresö. The Swedish team brought together players like Ali Krieger, Caroline Seger, Christen Press, Marta, Jenni Hermoso, Vero Boquete, or a young Graham Hansen. “You could see she was a player with a differential talent that needed polishing. When she arrived, she was quite individualistic because she was used to that kind of play, but during the season she was with us, she grew and it was clear she would become one of the best”, she confesses regarding the blaugrana footballer.

Despite having the talent, Tyresö came close to winning the Champions League after losing in the final against Wolfsburg in the 2013-14 season (3-4). Vero Boquete scored one of the goals in that match. “It was a very beautiful stage, surely where I enjoyed playing football the most and with a coach, Tony Gustavsson, who has marked my career a lot. It wasn't easy to go to a team that was nothing, from a small town where they told you that in two years you would be playing the Champions League final, but I believed it”, she recalls.

Beyond the sporting aspect

Beyond the sporting successes, Boquete holds onto what she has achieved off the field. The Galician was the first player to give her name to a football stadium. It was at the Compostel·la stadium, her hometown, which is named Estadi Municipal Verónica Boquete. “It is the greatest title of my career, it is a social achievement. I grew up training in the car park of that stadium because we didn't have a pitch and I also used to go there to watch top-level football,” she values.

Boquete has also denounced the low presence of women in various football positions. The next season – awaiting whether there will be movement or not on the benches – the First Women's Division will have three women (out of sixteen teams) as coaches: Sara Monforte (Espanyol), Irene Ferreras (Granada), and Andrea Esteban (Alabès). Furthermore, in the top categories of men's football, there are also no women on the benches. “Throughout history, men's football has marginalized women. It has been very difficult for us to play and make our way into other areas. There are more and more capable women who are preparing themselves more and better, but this sport still owes us,” she states.

“We also have to look at who makes the decisions. How many female sporting directors or presidents are there in the major European leagues? Very few. Women have also been denied positions in decision-making roles, and that makes it harder for them to get in,” she adds. Now Boquete is managed by a woman at Como 1907, Selena Mazzantini. “It makes you give an extra, you play for her because we are aware of how difficult it is for a woman to be able to sit on the bench. She can also better understand some dynamics, but there aren’t many differences. There are good and bad coaches, just like with male coaches,” explains Boquete, who does not hide her ambition to manage a top-level team –male or female– in the future.