Verónica Pérez

Verónica Raquel Pérez Murillo (born 18 May 1988) is a US-born Mexican footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Liga MX Femenil club América. She was a member of the Mexico women's national team. Between 2009 and 2016 she also played in professional leagues in the United States, Europe, and Australia.

Verónica Pérez
Pérez in 2013
Personal information
Full name Verónica Raquel Pérez Murillo[1]
Date of birth (1988-05-18) 18 May 1988[1]
Place of birth Hayward, California, United States[2]
Height 1.58 m (5 ft 2 in)[3]
Position(s) Attacking midfielder
Club information
Current team
 América
Number 34
Youth career
2002–2005 PSV Union & Pleasanton Rage
2002–2003 Crystal Springs Uplands High School
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2009 Washington Huskies 83 (21)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009 Seattle Sounders Women 8 (1)
2010 Saint Louis Athletica 1 (0)
2012 Seattle Sounders Women 14 (12)
2012 Stjarnan 7 (1)
2013 Western New York Flash 22 (1)
2014 Washington Spirit 16 (0)
2015–2016 Canberra United 11 (3)
2016 KIF Örebro DFF 20 (2)
2018 OSA FC 1 (1)
2019 PacNW Women 6 (3)
2019–2020 Tijuana 5 (0)
2020– América 9 (1)
National team‡
2009 United States U23
2010–2016 Mexico 84[4] (9)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 22 July 2019
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 18 June 2015
In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Pérez and the second or maternal family name is Murillo.

Perez retired from international football in 2017 after the newly created Liga MX Femenil restricted eligibility to compete to only Mexico-born players.[5] Two years later, when the Mexican Football Federation allowed to the foreign-born Mexican players, she joined Club Tijuana.[6]

Early life

Her parents are Bernardo Pérez and Irene Murillo. She holds dual citizenship in the United States and Mexico.[7] Perez attended Crystal Springs Uplands School where she played one year of soccer, earning first team, All-League honors. During her Freshman, Sophomore and Junior years she played for PSV Union FC and in her junior and senior years, she played for the club team, Pleasonton Rage, and represented the Far West region Olympic Development (ODP) team at the 2005 U.S. Youth Soccer Adidas Cup.[8]

University of Washington

Pérez played for the University of Washington Huskies and was twice named to the All-Pac-10 second team. Pérez left the University of Washington ranked in the all-time top-10 in several categories, including third in shots (194) and games played (83), fourth in game-winning goals (8), tied for sixth in goals (21) and eighth in points (53).[7]

Club career

Perez was selected as the 37th pick overall in the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) draft by the Saint Louis Athletica in 2010.[7] After the WPS folded, Perez began training again with the Mexico women's national football team.[8]

Perez played for the Seattle Sounders Women during the 2009 and 2012 seasons and was a leading scorer.[8][9]

During the summer of 2012, Pérez and her Sounders teammate and fellow University of Washington alum, Kate Deines, played for Stjarnan in Iceland's top division. The team won the Icelandic Women's Cup after a 1–0 win over Valur.[10][11]

On 11 January 2013, Perez joined the Western New York Flash as part of the NWSL Player Allocation for the inaugural season of the National Women's Soccer League.[12][13]

3 March 2014, Western New York Flash traded Perez and a 2015 fourth-round draft pick to the Washington Spirit in exchange for a 2014 and 2015 international roster spot.[14] After she did not receive allocation status for the 2016 seasons, her NWSL rights were acquired by Seattle Reign FC in March 2016.[15]

Pérez joined Swedish top division club KIF Örebro DFF in January 2016.[16]

In 2018, Perez played for OSA FC in the Women's Premier Soccer League.[17] She moved to PacNW Women the next year.[18]

International career

Perez played for both the Mexico women's national football team and the United States women's national under-23 soccer team during the Summer of 2009.[7] On 5 November 2010, she scored the winning goal for Mexico in the CONCACAF Women's World Cup Qualifying game against the United States.[19][20] In mid-2011, Pérez represented Mexico in the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup in Germany.[21] In October of that year, she led the Mexico to a third-place finish in the 2011 Pan American Games.[8] Perez retired from international duty after the Liga MX Femenil restricted play to only Mexico-born players.[5]

Coaching career

Perez is an assistant coach for her former club, PSV Union FC.

See also

References
  1. "List of Players – 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  2. "Las Mediocampistas de la Selección Femenil que Participarán en la Copa Mundial de Canadá 2015". Federación Mexicana de Fútbol Asociación, A.C. (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 10 June 2015. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
  3. "Veronica Perez" (in Spanish). LIGA MX Femenil. Retrieved 16 July 2019.
  4. "Profile". FIFA.com. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  5. "Mexican women's soccer league restricts rosters to native-born players only". ESPN. 20 July 2017.
  6. "Veronica Perez signs with Club Tijuana". Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles de Caliente. 20 June 2019. Retrieved 22 June 2019.
  7. "Veronica Perez Player Bio". University of Washington. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  8. "The Magic of Veronica Perez". Seattle Sounders Women. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  9. "Seattle Sounders Women 2012 Statistics". United Soccer League. Archived from the original on 15 July 2012. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  10. "Kate Deines and Veronica Perez Win Icelandic Cup". Prost Amerika. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  11. "Starnan FC profile". Stjarnan FC. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
  12. "NWSL Allocation Easier Said than Done". ESPN. Archived from the original on 2 April 2013. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  13. "Player distribution sees NWSL take shape". FIFA. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  14. "Equalizer Soccer – De Vanna, Perez find new homes during trade flurry".
  15. "TWO PLAYERS SELECTED IN NWSL DISTRIBUTION DRAFT – National Women's Soccer League".
  16. "Verónica Pérez da el salto a Europa". Talacheros FC. Archived from the original on 9 March 2016. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  17. "OSA XF - 2018 Regular Season - Roster - #17 - Veronica Perez - M". Women's Premier Soccer League.
  18. "PacNW Women - 2019 Regular Season - Roster - #17 - Veronica Perez -". Women's Premier Soccer League.
  19. "Mexico Upsets U.S. Women in Cup Qualifying". The New York Times. 6 November 2010.
  20. "A chance at soccer south of the border". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 6 April 2013.
  21. "Former University of Washington forward Veronica Perez playing for Mexico in World Cup". Seattle Times. Retrieved 16 September 2012.
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