Candela Andújar

Candela Andújar
Andújar with Barcelona in 2019
Personal information
Full name Candela Andújar Jiménez
Date of birth (2000-03-26) 26 March 2000 (age 24)
Place of birth Barberà del Vallès, Spain
Height 1.60 m (5 ft 3 in)
Position(s) Winger, forward
Youth career
2007–2011 Barberà Andalucía
2011–2012 Sant Gabriel
2012–2016 Barcelona
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2019 Barcelona B
2017–2022 Barcelona 34 (2)
2020–2022Valencia (loan) 36 (9)
2023–2024 Sporting San José 14 (8)
International career
2015–2017 Spain U17 16 (2)
2017 Spain U19 11 (1)
2018 Spain U20 6 (1)
2021–2022 Spain U23 4 (2)
2021 Spain 1 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 12:32, 16 November 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 04:32, 22 December 2023 (UTC)

Candela Andújar Jiménez (Spanish pronunciation: [kanˈdela anˈduxaɾ]; born 26 March 2000) is a Spanish professional footballer who last played as a forward for Costa Rican Women's Premier Division club Sporting San José. She represented Spain at several youth and senior levels.[1]

Club career

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Barcelona

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Born in Barberà del Vallès, Barcelona, Andújar began her career at the age of 7 as a goalkeeper in Barberá Andalucia, playing with boys. After 4 years she joined Sant Gabriel and spent a season there, this time in the midfielder position and only alongside young girls. She started her career at Barcelona at the start of 2012–13 season, after she was discovered by the club's scouts for her performances in Catalonia's u-12 national team. In Barça she was employed more as a winger and a forward player.[2][3] She played her first official match for the senior team on 6 December 2017 against Sevilla at the age of 17, after her consistent form in Barça B, where she had scored 11 goals in 12 matches, throughout the mid season.[4]

In June 2020, Andújar signed a contract extension to continue with Barcelona until 2022.[5]

Loan to Valencia

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On 29 July 2021, Andújar joined Valencia on a one-year loan deal.[6]

On 18 June 2022, she announced her retirement from football at the age of 22 via an Instagram post.

International career

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Andújar was first invited to play for national u-16 team in February 2015, in a development tournament.[7] She was a member of Spanish u-17 squads that achieved runner-up places of UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship in 2016 and 2017.[8][9] Each time she earned a place on the team of the tournament.[10][11]

Andújar was also one of the key players of u-17 national team in the 2016 U-17 Women's World Cup.[12] At the end of the tournament she was one of the 10 candidates for the Golden Ball,[13] which she lost to Fuka Nagano.[14]

Honours

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Barcelona B
FC Barcelona
International

References

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  1. ^ "UEFA Profile". Archived from the original on 7 August 2018. Retrieved 7 December 2017.
  2. ^ "Candela Andújar: "Having a coach gives confidence"". AS. May 2017. Retrieved 1 May 2017.
  3. ^ "Candela Andújar, tota una campiona". Àgora. Retrieved 27 October 2016.
  4. ^ "Sevilla FC - Barça Women: A win to be proud of in Andalusia (0-2)". FC Barcelona Official. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
  5. ^ "Acord per a la renovació de Candela fins al 2022". fcbarcelona.cat. FC Barcelona. 11 June 2020. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  6. ^ "Candela Andújar, cedida de nou al València". FC Barcelona (in Catalan). Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  7. ^ "Three Matches for the U-16's Development Tournament". Vavel. 16 February 2015. Retrieved 16 February 2015.
  8. ^ "MATCH REPORT". Sefutbol. 16 May 2016. Archived from the original on 22 January 2018. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  9. ^ "Spain finish runner-up at WU17EURO". Sefutbol. 14 May 2017. Archived from the original on 26 April 2019. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  10. ^ "The UEFA technical team Team of the Tournament". UEFA. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  11. ^ "The UEFA technical team Team of the Tournament". UEFA. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  12. ^ "Spain squad named for FIFA Women's U17 World Cup". Sefutbol. Archived from the original on 22 January 2018. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  13. ^ "Three Spanish squad players, candidates to MVP and Golden Glove of the World Cup". Sefutbol. Archived from the original on 21 April 2019. Retrieved 18 October 2016.
  14. ^ "Nagano: "Jamás soñé con el Balón de Oro"". FIFA. Archived from the original on 24 October 2016. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
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