Erica Alicia Cunningham Rodríguez (born 25 March 1993) is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a defender for League of Ireland Women's Premier Division club

Athlone Town Athlone Town Association Football Club is an Irish football club from Athlone who are playing in the League of Ireland. The club is the oldest in the League as it was founded in 1887. First elected to the League of Ireland in 1922, they play t ...

. Born in the United States, she plays for the Nicaragua national team. Cunningham has previously played professionally in Europe for FF Lugano,

Zurich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

and IFK Norrkoping. She is best known for her athleticism, physical strength on the ball, and abilities to use both feet.

Youth career

Cunningham played for Santa Rosa United before moving to the Santa Rosa Junior College where she won the state championship. She transferred to study at the

University of San Francisco The University of San Francisco (USF) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit university in San Francisco, California, United States. Founded in 1855, it has nearly 9,000 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate degrees ...

and represent San Francisco Dons women's soccer in the

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest division of intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major collegiate athlet ...

Club career

Cunningham started her professional playing career with

FF Lugano 1976 Football Femminile Lugano 1976 known as FF Lugano 1976 or simply Lugano are a Swiss women's football team from Lugano, Ticino who play domestically in the Frauen Nationalliga A. Since 2015 and through their chairman Emanuele Gaiarin, encourage y ...

between 2017 and 2019 in the

Swiss Women's Super League The Women's Super League is the highest-level league competition for Women's association football, women's football clubs in Women's football in Switzerland, Switzerland. It was established in 1970 (formerly named Nationalliga A). League winners ...

before transferring to rivals

FC Zurich FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Pakis ...

for the 2019/20 season. She played for Zurich in the 2019/20 UEFA Women's Champions League season. On 13 July 2021, she was signed by Swedish

Elitettan Elitettan (, ) is the second highest division of Swedish women's football. Contested by 14 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with Damallsvenskan The (; ), known as OBOS for sponsorship reasons, is the highest divisi ...

side, IFK Norrkoping. On 28 January 2022, Cunningham was signed by

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

on a short-term contract ahead of the remainder of the 2021–22

FA Women's Championship The Women's Super League 2, also known as Barclays Women's Super League 2 for sponsorship reasons, is a professional football league in England, operated by WSL Football. It is the second-highest division of women's football in England. The div ...

season.

International career

Cunningham is eligible to play for either the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...

. She made her debut for the latter on 14 July 2024 as a second-half substitution in a 0–0 friendly home draw against

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

Personal life

Cunningham can speak

Chinese Chinese may refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people identified with China, through nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **Han Chinese, East Asian ethnic group native to China. **'' Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic ...

. She is of Mexican, Irish, and

Nicaraguan Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America after Guatemala and ...

descent.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cunningham, Erica 1993 births Living people Soccer players from San Francisco American women's soccer players Nicaraguan women's footballers Blackburn Rovers W.F.C. players Women's association football forwards Santa Rosa Junior College alumni College women's soccer players in the United States Women's Super League 2 players American expatriate women's soccer players Nicaraguan expatriate women's footballers American expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Expatriate women's footballers in Switzerland American expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Expatriate women's footballers in Sweden American expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate women's footballers in England American expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Expatriate women's footballers in Saudi Arabia American expatriate sportspeople in Iceland Nicaraguan expatriate sportspeople in Iceland Expatriate women's footballers in Iceland FF Lugano 1976 players Women's Super League (Switzerland) players Elitettan players FC Zürich Frauen players Eastern Flames FC players Tindastóll women's football players Saudi Women's Premier League players American people of Irish descent American sportspeople of Mexican descent American people of Nicaraguan descent Sportspeople of Nicaraguan descent Nicaraguan people of Irish descent Nicaraguan people of Mexican descent Sportspeople of Mexican descent 21st-century American sportswomen 21st-century people from California 21st-century Nicaraguan women 21st-century Nicaraguan people IFK Norrköping (women) players