Ana Tejada

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Tejada and the second or maternal family name is Jiménez.

Ana Tejada Jiménez (born 2 June 2002) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a centre back or defensive midfielder for the Utah Royals of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and the Spain national team.

Ana Tejada

Tejada with the Utah Royals in 2024
Personal information
Full name	Ana Tejada Jiménez
Date of birth	(2002-06-02) 2 June 2002 (age 22)[1]
Place of birth	Logroño, Spain[2]
Height	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s)	Centre back, defensive midfielder
Team information
Current team	Utah Royals
Number	17
Youth career
2015–2017	Logroño
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2017–2019	Logroño	24+	(1+)
2019–2024	Real Sociedad	86	(1)
2024–	Utah Royals	2	(0)
International career‡
2018–2019	Spain U17	18	(0)
2019	Spain U19	2	(0)
2021–2023	Spain U23	7	(0)
2022	Spain U20	6	(0)
2022–	Spain	1	(0)
Medal record Women's football Representing  Spain UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship 2018 Lithuania FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup 2018 Uruguay FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup 2022 Costa Rica
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 02:34, 9 June 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 02:34, 23 December 2023 (UTC)

Club career

Tejada as Logroño captain on 5 January 2019

Raised in the village of Lumbreras in La Rioja, Tejada started her career at Logroño,^[3] where she was already playing for the first team when they achieved promotion to the Primera División in 2018,^[4] making her the youngest active player in the top league, aged barely 16.^[5][6]

A solid campaign with Logroño led to her being signed by Real Sociedad in 2019. With her first campaign in San Sebastián interrupted by injury and then the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain,^[7] she became a regular for the txuri-urdin in the 2020–21 season, starting 24 matches.^[2]

On 22 April 2024, Utah Royals announced that they had signed Tejada to a three-year contract.^[8]

International career

Tejada was a member of the Spain under-17 squad that qualified for the UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship in May 2018 (Lithuania) and the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup played six months later (Uruguay),^[5] winning both competitions.^[9] She was still young enough to play in the 2019 Under-17 Euros (Bulgaria)^[10] and was named in the 'Team of the Tournament', as she had been in the previous year.^[5] She later won the 2022 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup.

Tejada made her senior debut on 11 November 2022, as a 76th-minute substitute in a 7–0 friendly home win over Argentina.

Honours

Spain U17

• FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup: 2018^[11]
• UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship: 2018^[12]

Spain U20

• FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup: 2022^[13]

Individual

• UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship Team of the Tournament: 2018,^[14] 2019^[15]

References

1. Ana Tejada at Soccerway. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
2. "Tejada". BDFutbol. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
3. "Tejada". Txapeldunak. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
4. "Lumbreras homenajea a la futbolista Ana Tejada" [Lumbreras honours footballer Ana Tejada]. Rioja 2 (in Spanish). 19 August 2018. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
5. "Ana Tejada, el talento precoz de la Liga que sueña con hacer historia en el Mundial" [Ana Tejada, the Liga's precocious talent looking to make history at the World Cup]. Eurosport (in Spanish). 14 November 2018. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
6. "Ana Tejada, una veterana de 16 años" [Ana Tejada, a 16-year-old veteran]. Diario AS (in Spanish). 3 May 2019. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
7. "Ana Tejada: "Venir a la Real Sociedad me ha venido muy bien para madurar"" [Ana Tejada: "Coming to Real Sociedad has been very good for me to mature"]. El Desmarque (in Spanish). 18 May 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
8. rsl. "Ana Tejada: Fast Facts | Utah Royals". rsl. Retrieved 9 June 2024.
9. "El planeta a sus pies con 16 años: Ana Tejada, campeona del mundo" [The planet at her feet at 16 years old: Ana Tejada, world champion]. nuevecuatrouno (in Spanish). 2 December 2018. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
10. "Las riojanas Ana Tejada y Sara Carrillo, al Europeo de Bulgaria sub-17" [The Riojans Ana Tejada and Sara Carrillo, to the European Under-17 Bulgaria]. nuevecuatrouno (in Spanish). 18 April 2019. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
11. "Pina-inspired Spain win maiden U-17 Women's World Cup title". FIFA.com. 1 December 2018. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
12. "Germany win Women's 17 EURO: At a glance". UEFA.com. 16 May 2022. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
13. "Paralluelo propels Spain to revenge and glory". FIFA.com. 28 August 2022. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
14. "2018 Women's Under-17 EURO team of the tournament". UEFA.com. 18 June 2018. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
15. "2019 WU17 EURO team of the tournament". UEFA.com. 20 May 2019. Retrieved 26 December 2023.

External links

• Profile at Real Sociedad