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Malena Ortiz

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Malena Ortiz
Personal information
Full name Malena Ortiz Cruz
Date of birth (1997-07-16) 16 July 1997 (age 27)[1]
Place of birth Madrid, Spain[2]
Height 1.59 m (5 ft 3 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
Servette
Number 10
Youth career
2012–2013 Rayo Vallecano
2013–2016 CD Canillas
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2020 CD Tacón 19 (1)
2020–2022 Real Madrid 2 (0)
2022– Servette 19 (6)
International career
2014–2016 Azerbaijan U19 9 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 11:00, 10 April 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 12:09, 10 April 2023 (UTC)

Malena Ortiz Cruz (born 16 July 1997) is a footballer who plays as a midfielder for Servette. Born in Spain, she represented Azerbaijan at youth international level.

Personal life

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Ortiz was born in Spain to a Cuban mother and a Spanish father.[3] Her twin sister, Samara, is also a footballer.[4]

Outside of football, she studied for a degree in Nutrition and Food Technology at Universidad Católica San Antonio de Murcia.[3] In 2021, she sent a number of football boots to Cuba to help support the development of football in the country.[5]

Club career

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Ortiz started her career in Rayo Vallecano's academy along with her twin sister.[5][6] The sisters both ended up playing for CD Canillas and then its successor CD Tacón, a club that would itself progress to become Real Madrid.[3][5] At CD Tacón, Malena Ortiz became captain but, shortly after the Real Madrid rebranding, in April 2021, Ortiz suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury in her left knee.[7] That summer, Samara Ortiz would join Brøndby, meaning that the sisters were separated for the first time.[8]

In January 2022, she signed for Swiss club Servette, joining six other Spanish players in their squad.[9] This departure came only seven months after renewing her contract with Real Madrid and having only played 16 minutes for the club.[8][10] At Servette, she recovered from the injury that had disrupted her career at Real Madrid.[11]

International career

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Having become a citizen of Azerbaijan in 2014, on 13 September of the same year Ortiz made her debut for their under-19 national team in a match against Ukraine.[3][12]

References

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  1. ^ Malena Ortiz at Soccerway. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  2. ^ "Malena". Bdfutbol. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  3. ^ a b c d Menayo, David (15 January 2020). "Samara y Malena, dos gemelas de corazón blanco". Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  4. ^ "Dos futbolistas de origen cubano integran plantilla del Real Madrid". ADN Cuba (in Spanish). 14 July 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  5. ^ a b c Nieto, Jose (23 November 2021). "Malena Ortiz y su impacto sobre el fútbol femenino en Cuba: el gesto de la jugadora del Real Madrid". El Español (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  6. ^ "Malena Ortiz". Playmaker Stats. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  7. ^ Griñán, Marta (4 April 2021). "La madridista Malena Ortiz se rompe el ligamento cruzado". Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  8. ^ a b Jiménez, Mayca (3 January 2022). "Malena Ortiz se despide del Real Madrid y apunta al Servette". Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  9. ^ Menayo, David (10 January 2022). "El 'Spanish Servette' ficha a la exmadridista Malena Ortiz". Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  10. ^ Jiménez, Mayca (29 June 2021). "Malena Ortiz, quinta renovación en el nuevo Real Madrid". Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  11. ^ Vaney, Florian (4 May 2022). "La footballeuse Malena Ortiz: Du Real Madrid à Servette, une quête pour devenir unique". Tribune de Genève (in French). Retrieved 10 April 2023.
  12. ^ "Ukraine U19 vs. Azerbaijan U19". Soccerway. Retrieved 10 April 2023.
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