Sara Isobel Arrieta Castañeda (born December 5, 1996) is a Filipino footballer who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for the Philippines women's national team.

Youth and collegiate career

Castañeda has a younger brother and sister,

Anicka Castañeda Anicka Chabeli Arrieta Castañeda (born December 16, 1999) is a Filipina footballer who plays as a midfielder for Mount Druitt Town Rangers and the Philippines women's national team. Personal life Castañeda was born on December 16, 1999. ...

. She took up the sport of football at age 5, after witnessing her brother play for the Makati Football Club. She attended De La Salle Zobel for her high school studies and was part of her school's football team. During her high stint, she was awarded the Athlete of the Year twice. Castañeda later played for the

football team A football team is a group of players selected to play together in the various team sports known as football. Such teams could be selected to play in a match against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an all-s ...

of her college,

De La Salle University De La Salle University ( fil, Pamantasang De La Salle or Unibersidad ng De La Salle), also referred to as DLSU, De La Salle or La Salle, is a private, Catholic coeducational research university run by the Institute of the Brothers of the Chris ...

. With her team, she competed in 2016 in the UAAP Season 78 football tournaments and scored in the final against UP Lady Maroons but lost with 1–2. She became after the tournament Rookie of the Year.

International career

Before her stint with her college, Castañeda has already played for the under-16 and under-19 Philippine national football teams. She made her debut for the senior team at age 18 in May 2015 at the

2015 AFF Women's Championship The 2015 AFF Women's Championship was the eighth edition of the AFF Women's Championship, an international women's football tournament organised by the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF). The tournament was held in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam betwe ...

. She also participated in the 2016 edition. Castañeda helped the Philippines qualify for their first

AFC Women's Asian Cup The AFC Women's Asian Cup (formerly known as the AFC Women's Championship) is a quadrennial competition in women's football for national teams which belong to the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It is the oldest women's international football ...

since the qualification stage was introduced. She scored 4 goals in the 2018 AFC Women's Asian Cup qualifiers in 2017 including the equalizer in the 1–1 tie against Bahrain that secured the Philippines qualification for the 2018 edition of the continental tournament. Despite Castañeda's contribution to the qualification, she had to secure a berth for the Philippine squad that will participate at the final tournament of the 2018 AFC Women's Asian Cup. By February 2018 she was removed from the national pool but was later reinstated. She was included in the final-23 roster for the

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

and

2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup The 2022 AFC Women's Asian Cup was the 20th edition of the AFC Women's Asian Cup, the quadrennial international women's football tournament in Asia competed by the national teams in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). India was selected a ...

. In the 2022 tournament where the Philippines qualified for their first ever FIFA Women's World Cup, she was mostly utilized as a substitute.

International goals

:''Scores and results list the Philippines' goal tally first.''

References

1996 births Living people People from San Juan, Metro Manila Footballers from Metro Manila Filipino women's footballers Women's association football midfielders De La Salle University alumni University Athletic Association of the Philippines women's footballers Philippines women's international footballers Competitors at the 2017 SEA Games Competitors at the 2019 SEA Games SEA Games competitors for the Philippines {{Philippines-women-footy-bio-stub