by Two years ago, Athenea Del Castillo won a bith-part player in the team that the Women’s World Cup won two years ago and played a key role in the Spain run for the semi-finals of Euro 2025, in which they will compete against Germany on Wednesday.
The 24-year-old Real Madrid attacker was brought to the Spanish starting line-up for his last group game against Italy and achieved an early Equalizer before her team won 3-1.
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She was then used for the last draw against the hosts of Switzerland in Bern, but the game changed as a replacement after its introduction, shortly after the hour.
Del Castillo replaced Mariona Caldentey and broke out the Deadlock four minutes later, with Spain preparing a 2-0 victory and the coach Montse Tome made a selection headache for the collision with Germany in Zurich.
“I just have to concentrate on the things I can influence. Fortunately, I create the team, whatever my role, whether I start or not,” Del Castillo told AFP based on the Spanish team in Lausanne.
A victory for Spain against Germany will keep you on the right track to add a first European crown to the World Cup that you won in 2023 when you defeated England in the final.
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“We are full of hope, we are so excited. We dream of being European champions, but to do that, we have to win on Wednesday so that all of our energy goes into this game,” said Del Castillo.
“We know everything about the potential of the German team. They are a great team that has been eight times eight times.”
Spain is still strongly leaning against the players who won the World Cup, especially Ballon d’Odana Bonmati and her colleagues Barcelona stars Alexia Putellas and Irene Paredes.
But del Castillo is not yet a guaranteed starter, but has become a more important player than during this tournament in Australia and New Zealand.
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Then she started the team’s first game under the previous coach Jorge Vilda before gradually disappearing from circulation.
She then played in the side, which took part in the 2024 Olympics and lost in the bronze medal game against Germany – a defeat that they want to avenge on Wednesday.
– infectious –
“We went through so much together and that helped us as a team,” she said on the sidelines of a training session on Lake Geneva.
“I still see myself as one of the young people, although there are players who are much younger than I like Vicky (Lopez) and Maite (Zubieta), and then there are older players like Irene and Alexia who were longer and at so many other tournaments.
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“We have this mix of youth and experience, joy, but also maturity.”
Del Castillo is known for her bright smile and her infectious personality, and she has no intention of changing, even if she becomes more and more recognizable thanks to her heroic deeds with Spain and Real.
“I didn’t change much. I still do the same things, I still try to enjoy life, and luckily everything is going well with my family and my friends,” said Cantabria -born in northern Spain.
“I am very happy in Madrid – I prefer the north, but I like Madrid as a city. I love to make a wander, listen to music with my family.
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“If I would change what I did about the pitch, it would change me too, and I don’t like that because I would lose my essence.”
Although the player who grows up Cristiano Ronaldo was still at a relatively tender age, has over 60 hats and is aware that he is a leader in the Spanish squad.
“I know how to distinguish between moments when they have to work and times when they can give a little pleasure,” she said, before suggesting the team improved since they lost to Germany at the Olympic Games of last year.
“I think we have matured a lot since then. We can now control better games in different moments. I think that will help us, but it will primarily be about staying calm and concentrating on our goal.”
PM-AS/BSP
