Sandra Vilanova

Sandra Vilanova Tous (born 1 January 1981) is a Spanish football midfielder who plays for RCD Espanyol of the Primera División. She previously played for Levante UD, Rayo Vallecano and Atlético Madrid, winning three league titles and five national cups. She also played the UEFA Women's Champions League with Levante and Rayo, and she was a member of the Spain women's national football team for a decade. She retired after captaining Spain in the 2013 European Championship, but made a comeback with Espanyol the following year.

Sandra Vilanova
With Espanyol in 2012
Personal information
Full name Sandra Vilanova Tous
Date of birth (1981-01-01) 1 January 1981
Place of birth Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
Height 170 cm (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Espanyol
Number 21
Youth career
1995–1997 UD Castellar
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1997–2001 Platges Calvià
2001–2009 Levante 146 (29)
2009–2010 Rayo Vallecano
2010–2011 Espanyol
2011–2012 Atlético Madrid 37 (5)
2012–2013 Espanyol 26 (1)
2014–2015 Espanyol 6 (0)
National team
Spain U-19
2003–2013 Spain 46 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Vilanova and the second or maternal family name is Tous.

Club career

Vilanova was raised in UE Castellar, near Barcelona. In 1997, at 16, she started playing for CF Platges de Calvià, a low-tier team in the Balearic Islands. Four years later she signed for national champion Levante UD, where she spent most of her career. With Levante she won two championships and four national cups, and she made her UEFA Women's Cup debut.[1]

After eight years in Valencia, in 2009 she moved to Madrid to play for reigning champions Rayo Vallecano. For the next three seasons she played successively for Rayo, RCD Espanyol and Atlético Madrid, winning her third league with Rayo and her fifth cup with Espanyol.[2] In 2012, she returned to Espanyol.

After she brought her second spell at Espanyol to an end in June 2013, she announced her retirement days before the start of the following season.[3] In December 2014 Vilanova emerged from retirement to rejoin Espanyol,[4] but she suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury in March 2015.[5]

International career

Vilanova made her debut for the Spain women's national football team since 2003,[6][7] and she remained in Ignacio Quereda's plan for the following decade, serving as the team's captain.[8] After Spain qualified for the 2013 European Championship following a hiatus of 16 years she was called up for the final tournament,[9] where she played one of Spain's four games, losing her position in the midfield to Nagore Calderón and Vicky Losada in the other matches. As she announced her retirement she mentioned this as a disappointment that influenced her in taking that decision.[10]

Official international goals

References
  1. "Vilanova" (in Spanish). Levante UD. Archived from the original on 21 December 2013. Retrieved 31 March 2013.
  2. "Majorcan player Sandra Vilanova returns to RCD Espanyol". Fútbol Balear. 31 July 2012. Retrieved 31 March 2013.
  3. Martín González, Cesáreo (26 June 2013). "Renovaciones, fichaje de Sonia Zarza y adiós de Sandra Vilanova en el Espanyol" (in Spanish). Vavel. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
  4. "Sandra Vilanova, nuevo refuerzo invernal" (in Spanish). Diario La Grada. 20 December 2014. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  5. "Sandra Vilanova passarà aquest dimarts per quiròfan" (in Spanish). RCD Espanyol. 29 March 2015. Retrieved 28 August 2016.
  6. "Sandra Vilanova, Quereda's forgotten one" (in Spanish). Diario Marca. 14 September 2011. Retrieved 31 March 2013.
  7. "Última Convocatoria" (in Spanish). Royal Spanish Football Federation. Archived from the original on 31 March 2013. Retrieved 31 March 2013.
  8. "List of WNT captains votes" (PDF). FIFA. Retrieved 31 March 2013.
  9. "Spain stick with tried and trusted". Uefa.com. UEFA. 29 June 2013. Retrieved 30 July 2013.
  10. Sandra Vilanova hangs her boots at 32 "tired to run for others". Ara, 4 September 2013
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