Melissa Marie Ortiz Matallana (born 24 January 1990) is a former 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 played as a striker or

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

. Born and raised in the United States to Colombian parents, she

capped In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the e ...

for the Colombia women's national team. She participated at the FIFA U-20 FIFA Women's World Cup Germany, the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, 2014 Copa America, and 2014 Juegos Centroamericanos during her seven years with the Colombian National Team.

Early life

Ortiz was born in

West Palm Beach, Florida West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, Florida, Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lag ...

. She graduated from Cardinal Newman High School in 2008.

College career

Ortiz played for

Lynn University Lynn University is a private university in Boca Raton, Florida, United States. Founded in 1962, the university awards Associate degree, associate, Bachelor's degree, baccalaureate, Master's degree, master's, and Doctorate, doctoral Academic degr ...

for four years where she was nominated for the 2011

Sunshine State Conference The Sunshine State Conference is a college athletic conference affiliated with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division II level. All of its member institutions are located in the state of Florida, which is popularly k ...

Co-Player and Offensive Player of the Year. She became the first player in the program's history to receive both awards in the same season. Additionally, she was the very first Offensive Player of the Year and second Player of the Year. At Lynn, Ortiz accumulated over 100 points, becoming the 10th player in school history to accomplish this feat. Her SSC Player and Offensive Player of the Year recognition gave her the perfect trifecta award, as in 2008 she was the SSC Freshman of the Year. Ortiz was also the second player at Lynn to be a four-time All-SSC selection.

Club career

KR Reykjavik

She played the 2013 season in group A of

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

's second division 1. delid kvenna with KR Reykjavik in their first season out of the first division Úrvalsdeild kvenna since 1984. Oritz's four goals in eleven appearances helped the team to with the second division regular season, but Reykjavik lost the promotion play-off.

Boston Breakers

On 5 December 2013 Ortiz signed for the

Boston Breakers The Boston Breakers were an American professional women's soccer club based in the Boston neighborhood of Allston. The team competed in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). They replaced the original Breakers, who competed in the defu ...

of the

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a women's professional Association football, soccer league and the highest level of the United States soccer league system#Women's leagues, United States soccer league system (alongside the USL Supe ...

, but on 3 April 2014, the Breakers waived Ortiz.

Cúcuta Deportivo

In 2017, Ortiz played for Cúcuta Deportivo Club in the first women's Colombian Professional League ''DIMAYOR''. Cúcuta made it to the quarter-finals of the league playoffs.

International career

Ortiz made 5 appearances for the Colombia U-20 team, representing the country in the

2010 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup The 2010 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup was the 5th edition of the tournament. It was held in Germany, who also hosted the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup a year later, from 13 July to 1 August 2010. Sixteen teams, comprising representatives from all si ...

where she scored the team's best goal in a 3–1 loss to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. In 2009, Ortiz made her debut for the Colombia senior team. She was named alternate in the

2011 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup was the sixth FIFA Women's World Cup competition, the world championship for List of women's national association football teams, women's national association football, football teams. It was held from 26 June to ...

in Germany, then to the full team in the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. On 28 July 2012 at

Hampden Park Hampden Park ( ; Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden'') is a association football, football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland, which is the national stadium of football in Scotland and home of the Scotland national football ...

, Ortiz came on as a substitute in the 3–0 loss to 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 ...

team that included

Alex Morgan Alexandra Morgan Carrasco (born Alexandra Patricia Morgan; July 2, 1989) is an American former professional association football, soccer player.She co-captained the United States women's national soccer team, United States national team with ...

Abby Wambach Mary Abigail Wambach (born June 2, 1980) is an American retired Association football, soccer player, coach, and member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame. A six-time winner of the U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year award, Wambach was a regular on ...

and future teammate Heather O'Reilly of the

. On 31 July 2012 she played in front of a crowd of 13,184 at

St James' Park St James' Park is a Association football, football stadium in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the home of Newcastle United F.C., Newcastle United. With a seating capacity of 52,305, it is the List of football stadiums in England, 8th la ...

which is home to

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

where they lost 1–0 in the final Group G game. After the Colombian Federation's several year pause from competition, Ortiz returned to represent the country in the 2014 CONMEBOL Copa America where she scored 1 goal against Venezuela and helped qualify Colombia to the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, 2015 Pan-American Games, and 2016 Rio Olympics. She also competed and was named with her teammates silver medalists of the Central American Games Veracruz in the 2014. Colombia lost in the final to

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 ...

2–0. Ortiz was active with the national team all through 2015 in preparation for the FIFA Women's World Cup. Just a week before the tournament, she tore her right Achilles tendon during a scrimmage in Colorado. This left her out of competition from the World Cup and Pan-American Games. In 2016, Ortiz returned to action from injury and was named to the

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

roster as an alternate. Ortiz has 28 international team appearances and 3 goals.

References

External links

*
Sunshine State Conference player profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ortiz, Melissa 1990 births Living people Naturalized citizens of Colombia Colombian women's footballers 21st-century Colombian sportswomen Women's association football forwards Women's association football midfielders Colombia women's international footballers Olympic footballers for Colombia Footballers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Colombian expatriate women's footballers Colombian expatriate sportspeople in Iceland Expatriate women's footballers in Iceland American women's soccer players Soccer players from Florida Sportspeople from West Palm Beach, Florida American sportspeople of Colombian descent Lynn Fighting Knights women's soccer players American expatriate women's soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in Iceland 21st-century American sportswomen