Maite Oroz Areta (; born 25 March 1998) is a Spanish 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

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

Women's Super League The Women's Super League (WSL), also known as the Barclays Women's Super League for sponsorship reasons, and formerly the FA WSL, is a professional association football league and the highest level of women's football in England. Currently oper ...

club

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

and the Spain national team. She made her senior club debut with Athletic Club in 2015 and departed in 2020.

Club career

Born in Huarte,

Navarre Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...

, Oroz began playing football with boys in the village team

CD Huarte Club Deportivo Huarte is a Spanish football team based in Huarte/Uharte in the autonomous community of Navarre. Founded in 1975, it plays in . Its stadium is Estadio ''Areta'' with a capacity of 1,500 seaters. Season to season ---- *20 seasons ...

at the age of 6,Maite Oroz, la nueva perla de Lezama
aite Oroz, Lezama's new pearl

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

, 21 April 2016 (in Spanish) joining the youth system at

Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Pamplona, Navarre. It was founded on 24 October 1920 and plays in La Liga, the top division of Spanish ...

in nearby

Pamplona Pamplona (; ), historically also known as Pampeluna in English, is the capital city of the Navarre, Chartered Community of Navarre, in Spain. Lying at near above sea level, the city (and the wider Cuenca de Pamplona) is located on the flood pl ...

aged 12. From an early age, she was marked out as a promising talent due to her skill in the ball, creativity, and confidence. She played with Osasuna's senior team for a season in the

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

before the women's section of the club was disbanded in 2014, leading her to join Athletic Club. Following a year with the club's B-team, 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 The 2016–17 UEFA Champions League was the 62nd season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 25th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. The final was pla ...

, but the club did not progress beyond the opening knockout round. In September 2018, Oroz sustained a serious injury, rupturing the

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation. In ...

of her left knee during a league match against

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

(one of several such injuries suffered by players in Athletic's various teams over a short period) which ruled her out for the entire 2018–19 season. Along with teammate and friend Damaris Egurrola, she decided to leave the club when her contract expired in the summer of 2020. In July 2020, after she had already agreed to join

Real Madrid Femenino Real Madrid Femenino is a Spanish professional women's football club in Madrid who play in the Primera División, the top tier of Spanish women's football. Founded as the independent Club Deportivo TACÓN in 2014, the club later underwent a m ...

, 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. 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 Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

). 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 María Isabel "Misa" Rodríguez Rivero (born 22 July 1999) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Liga F club Real Madrid CF and the Spain national team. She won the Zamora Trophy in 2020–21 season, conceding 0. ...

. On 13 September 2024, Oroz signed for

on a four-year contract.

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 The 2013 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship was the sixth edition of the UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship. The first matches were played on 3 September 2012. With the return of Slovakia, who haven't played since the inaugural edition, and U-17 n ...

,Maite Oroz: "Representar a España es una responsabilidad"
aite Oroz: "Representing Spain is a responsibility" Diario AS, 13 March 2014 (in Spanish) silver at the

2014 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup The 2014 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup was the fourth edition of the youth association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who alm ...

and gold at the

2015 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship The 2015 UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship was the eighth edition of the UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship, the annual European youth association football, football competition contested by the women's under-17 national teams of the member assoc ...

; the under-19 squad which reached the final of the

2016 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship The 2016 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship was the 15th edition of the UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship (19th edition if the Under-18 era is included), the annual European international youth football championship contested by the women's under- ...

then won the 2017 tournament; and the under-20 squad who were runners-up at the

2018 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup The 2018 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup was the ninth edition of the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, the biennial international women's youth football championship contested by the under-20 national teams of the member associations of FIFA, since its i ...

, having also been involved in the 2016 edition. In October 2019, she was called up to the inaugural squad for ''España Promesas'' (essentially Spain B), along with two clubmates. She has also played for the unofficial Basque Country and

representative teams, making her debut for both in 2017.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Spain's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Oroz goal.''

Honours

Spain *

UEFA Women's Nations League The UEFA Women's Nations League is a biennial international Women's association football, women's football competition contested by the senior List of women's national association football teams, women's national teams of the member association ...

: 2023–24

References

External links

*
Profile
at the Real Madrid CF website {{DEFAULTSORT:Oroz, Maite Living people 1998 births Spanish women's footballers Footballers from Navarre Women's association football midfielders People from Cuenca de Pamplona Athletic Club (women) players 21st-century Spanish sportswomen Liga F players Real Madrid Femenino players Women's Super League players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. Women players Spain women's international footballers Athletic Club (women) B players CA Osasuna Femenino players Spain women's youth international footballers Spanish expatriate women's footballers Spanish expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate women's footballers in England