The defender from Zaragoza hangs up her boots after 127 games for the Yellows
Lara Mata Caudevilla (18/02/1993, Zaragoza) joined Villarreal CF in the 2018/19 season and, during her five seasons as a Yellows player, she has managed to become an emblem and a reference for all her teammates and the players who dream of defending the Submarine’s shirt in the elite of Spanish women’s football.
The captain, who has a total of 127 official matches under her belt for the Submarine, is hanging up her boots to dedicate herself fully to her vocation. This year, in addition to the milestone of a new survival with Villarreal Women, Lara Mata has obtained a place as a resident in internal medicine. The defender will thus change the Villarreal shirt for a doctor’s uniform.
A passion and a vocation
Lara Mata, in the 2020/21 season, was fighting with Villarreal Women to be promoted to the top flight. At the same time, she was preparing to take her medical exams. The result was positive in both fields: the Yellows were promoted after an almost perfect campaign (17 wins and four draws in 24 matches) and Lara passed the meidcal exam with flying colours. However, Lara made a decision that was as complicated as it was brave, as she gave up that place to live the dream of playing for Villarreal CF in the First Division and enjoy with her teammates the well-deserved prize they had won on the pitch.
In the 2021/22 campaign, Lara played 27 games in Primera Iberdrola and two in the Copa de la Reina. This season, the defender set herself the challenge of presenting herself once again to the MIR, with the aim of making a definitive decision. 25 matches later (24 in Liga F and one in the Copa de la Reina), a survival that tastes like glory and another medical exam passed, Lara Mata hangs up her boots and makes the doctor’s coat her new uniform.
Thanks captain, good luck Dr Mata!
