Catalina Estrada Carvajal (born 11 October 1998) is a Costa Rican professional footballer who plays as a forward for the Costa Rica women's national team.

Catalina Estrada
Estrada makes an acrobatic jump over a player slide tackling
Estrada in 2020
Personal information
Full name Catalina Estrada Carvajal
Date of birth (1998-10-11) 11 October 1998 (age 26)
Place of birth San Carlos, Costa Rica
Height 1.63 m (5 ft 4 in)
Position(s) Forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
0000–2023 Saprissa
2023 Cruz Azul 8 (3)
International career
2023– Costa Rica 2 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 20 July 2023 (prior the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup)

Early life

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Catalina Estrada Carvajal was born on 11 October 1998[1] in San Carlos, and is the sixth of fourteen siblings.[2] Growing up they all played football; Estrada played with two of them on a men's team, all as forwards.[2] She went to live with one of her sisters, who supported her in her early career,[3] when she was a teenager.[2]

Club career

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After playing for a local men's team in Aguas Zarcas, San Carlos, for eight years, Estrada moved to San José to join Women's Premier Division club Saprissa.[4][5] She is known for her calmness on the pitch, being neither a vocal nor expressive player.[2]

As of 2021, she also works as a trainer at a strength training gym and studies nutrition.[2]

International career

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In 2018, Estrada played for the Costa Rica under-20 team, scoring the team's only goal in a 1–3 loss on her youth debut.[1] In early 2021, she was one of 28 young players called into development training with the senior squad. She was pleased at the inclusion of so many players, while expressing that she wanted to be one of those to stay on and break into the national team for the World Cup qualifiers at the end of the year.[4] Despite having to work other jobs, and saying the team was not wholly professional, Estrada said that it had improved a lot between 2019 and 2021,[2] when she made her senior debut.[1] She was included in Costa Rica's squad for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup.[6]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Costa Rica - C. Estrada - Profile with news, career statistics and history - Soccerway". Soccerway. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Valverde, Esteban (10 July 2021). "#LoQueNoSeSabe sobre Catalina Estrada: la jugadora del Saprissa que encontró en sus 13 hermanos el impulso para jugar al fútbol" [#WhatYouDontKnow about Catalina Estrada: the Saprissa player who found the drive to play soccer with her 13 siblings]. La Nación (video) (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  3. ^ Christenson, Marcus; Bloor, Steven; Blight, Garry (17 July 2023). "Women's World Cup 2023: your guide to all 736 players". the Guardian. Retrieved 22 July 2023.
  4. ^ a b Hernandez, Joselyn (21 January 2021). "Catalina Estrada: 'Quiero ser de las que se quede en la Selección'" [Catalina Estrada: 'I want to be one of those who stays on the national team'] (in Spanish). Costa Rican Football Federation. Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  5. ^ Aguilar Arroyo, Yenci (28 April 2023). "Conozca lo que pasó la goleadora del Saprissa antes de llegar a primera" [Find out what the Saprissa goalscorer went through before reaching the premier division]. lateja.cr (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 July 2023.
  6. ^ "Catalina Estrada: Ficha, estadísticas en Mundial femenino - Sport". www.sport.es. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
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