Mariona Caldentey: Spain and Arsenal’s humble magician

Caldentey grew up in the small town of Felanitx, on the island of Mallorca.

She was close to her older brother and her cousins and they played football together at her grandmother’s house as a child.

At the age of four, Caldentey joined the local football team – an after-school futsal club in Manacor.

She was the only girl on the team but enjoyed huge success, winning multiple titles, including the Spanish Futsal Championships.

“Football was always around me because of my family,” Caldentey told BBC Sport.

“My older brother played, my dad was a coach – he was the president of a club [CE Felanitx] and played before that – and my grandfather and cousins played as well.

“I grew up in that environment and nobody told me it was just for men. I always felt supported. I was lucky.

“[Futsal was] how I started. That’s quite typical in Spain when you are a kid. I started to combine 11-a-side with five-a-side because I loved it so much. I did both for years.”

When Caldentey’s talents became clear at the age of 14, she joined a professional women’s team – El Collerense – who played in the Spanish first division.

In her second training session, she suffered an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury and almost considered quitting – a moment she often looks back on now.

But a year later, she made her debut in the Copa de la Reina and soon caught the eye of Spain’s most prestigious clubs.

Like many in Spain, she shared a deep love for Barcelona but they did not develop a professional women’s section until 2015.

It meant she missed out on an education at La Masia – Barcelona’s youth academy – but Barcelona was in her blood and after graduating from university with a masters degree in injury rehabilitation, she joined the club in the summer of 2014.

“When I was playing in my town it was easy but when I got older my parents had to drive me one hour from home,” said Caldentey.

“Collerense were my first women’s team. I didn’t have the licence to drive and the club couldn’t offer me a driver, so my family had to support me with training.

“We trained at 8pm so arrived home at 11pm. In the moment you didn’t realise but now when I think about it, I was so lucky that my family supported me with no reward. I loved what I did and they supported me.”