Aitana Bonmatí, born to change the world
The Barcelona and Spain midfielder brings an unforgettable 2023 to a close with the AS Sports Award: “Without team work, these individual successes would not be possible”.
As she explained in her book Unidas Somos más Fuertes (United, We Are Stronger) - and as she has demonstrated by years of hard work and perseverance Aitana Bonmatí has always had a clear idea about in which direction she wants her life to take. “I believe and will always believe in courage and persistence because, as I have been taught at home, you have to fight for what you want”.
The Barcelona and Spain midfielder brings an unforgettable 2023 to a close with a host of titles and as the best female soccer player in the world today. In the last 12 months she has been crowned UEFA Player of the Year, won the Ballon d’Or, been voted MVP of the Women’s World Cup and tonight she received the AS Sports Award.
“First of all, thank you to the newspaper AS for giving me this award. It has been a great year on a collective level. I have been lucky enough to win the Super Cup, the league and the Champions League with Barcelona, and the World Cup with Spain. What more could we ask for this year?” Aitana said after receiving the award from AS Director Vicente Jiménez at the RFEF headquarters in Las Rozas.
“Of course, I have received individual awards, like this one, but I am always grateful to be part of these great families: Barça and the national team. Without these collective successes these individual awards would not be possible. Thank You very much once again,” added the 25-year-old, a player who was born to change the world and shine.
Barcelona coach Xavi Hernández recently said of her: “Football is about intelligence, physical qualities help too of course, but talent is fundamental (...) When I watch Aitana play I think, “Yes sir, that’s it”.
Remarkable year
A midfielder with exquisite technique, vision, an innate ability to set the tempo, a driving force with a killer final pass and a deadly finisher with both feet... the Sant Pere de Ribes-born player scored 17 goals and distributed 21 assists as a Blaugrana in the 2022-23 campaign to which she has added another eight goals and five assists in the current campaign. In the World Cup in New Zealand/Australia, she scored three and set up another two to finish with numbers that have enabled her to sweep up the individual awards. And there could be another award next month at the FIFA gala - The Best, for which she is a finalist along with Spain team mate Jenni Hermoso (Pachuca) and Real Madrid’s Linda Caicedo.
Outside of the game, Aitana Bonmatí Conca was born on 18 January 1998 and through her parents, provoked the publication of Law 40/1999 regarding the order of marital names, surnames and their order - a pioneering move which allowed siblings to be able to take the maternal surname in first position rather than the paternal. She not only changed the legislative history of Spain, she is also changing the world with a ball at her feet - a vocation she was born for.