Shirley Cruz

Shirley Cruz Traña (born 28 August 1985) is a retired Costa Rican professional footballer who last played as a midfielder for Alajuelense of the Costa Rican Women's Premier Division and the Costa Rica women's national football team. A creative midfielder who often acts as a deep-lying playmaker, Cruz is the second-ever female footballer from Costa Rica to play abroad when she joined Lyon in 2005.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Cruz and the second or maternal family name is Traña.
Shirley Cruz
Cruz Traña with PSG in 2012–13 season
Personal information
Full name Shirley Cruz Traña[1]
Date of birth (1985-08-28) 28 August 1985[1]
Place of birth San José, Costa Rica
Height 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)[1]
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
1997–1999 CF Universidad
1999–2000 AD Goicoechea
2000–2002 CS Desamparados
2002–2005 UCEM Alajuela
2005 Saprissa FF
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2012 Lyon 115 (24)
2012–2018 Paris Saint-Germain 91 (16)
2018 Jiangsu Suning 0 (0)
2019–2020 Alajuelense 9 (5)
2020–2021 OL Reign 12 (2)
2022–2023 Alajuelense
International career‡
2002–2023 Costa Rica 109 (34)
Medal record
Women's football
Representing  Costa Rica
Pan American Games
Bronze medal – third place2019 LimaTeam
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 8 June 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23 February 2023

Early life

Cruz was born in the capital city of San José and discovered and learned the sport of football from her seven brothers.

Club career

Cruz began her football career at CF Universidad in San Pedro, San José. Cruz made a name for herself following her performance at the 1999 edition of the Los Juegos Deportivos Nacionales de San Carlos, translated as the National Sporting Games of San Carlos. She later played for local clubs AD Goicoechea, CS Desamparados, and UCEM Alajuela. With Alajuela, Cruz won three league titles and also earned the top scorer award once.[2][3]

Due to her performances locally, she signed with UCEM Alajuela and, in January 2006, moved abroad signing with Division 1 Féminine club Olympique Lyonnais. With her move, she became only the second Costa Rican women's football player, alongside Gabriela Trujillo, to play league football outside the country. Due to joining the club mid-season, Cruz appeared in only seven league matches scoring three goals. The 2006–07 season saw her playing time increase to 12 matches and also saw Lyon win their first league title under their new emblem. In the Challenge de France, Cruz was instrumental in helping Lyon reaching the final, where they lost to Montpellier on penalties scoring four goals in five appearances. The next season saw Lyon win the double following their league title and 3–0 victory over Paris Saint-Germain in the Challenge de France. Cruz appeared in 32 total matches, which included appearances in the UEFA Women's Cup.

Cruz appeared in all 22 league matches (starting 20) during the 2008–09 season, which saw Lyon win their third straight title. She also appeared in all seven UEFA Women's Cup matches, where Lyon suffered elimination in the semi-finals after losing 2–4 on aggregate to German club FCR 2001 Duisburg. On 18 September 2009, Cruz, for the first time, signed with Lyon under professional terms (previously contracts were semi-professional) after agreeing to a two-year contract, which will keep her at the club until 2011.[4] Cruz got off to a quick start for the 2009–10 season scoring a hat trick in the opening league match against AS Montigny-le-Bretonneux, which ended in a 6–0 victory.[5]

Cruz signed with Chinese Women's Super League team Jiangsu Suning in January 2018.[6]

In March 2020, Cruz signed with OL Reign for the 2020 NWSL season,[7] which due to the pandemic, was reformatted and condensed to shorter post tournament style competitions, the Challenge Cup and Fall Series. In December 2020, Cruz re-signed with Reign for the 2021 NWSL season.[8] In December 2021, OL Reign waived the rights to Cruz and she left the club.[9]

Cruz returned to Alajuelense in 2022 and captained the club to its third, fourth, and fifth championships in the 2022 Apertura and Clausura, and 2023 Apertura. After the last championship, Cruz suggested that it would be her last before retirement.[10][11] She had previously stated her intent to retire from football after the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup.[12]

In the 2023 Apertura championship match's second leg on 3 June 2023, the team rallied from a 1–4 first-leg deficit against Sporting F.C. to win the title 5–4 on aggregate. After the match, Cruz told reporters that when Natalia Mills scored the series-winning fourth goal of the second leg, Mills told her, "Así se tiene que retirar" ("This is how (you) have to retire").[13]

On June 8, 2023, after unexpectedly not being selected to the national team roster for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup,[14] Cruz announced her retirement from football on social media.[15][16]

International career

Cruz has earned caps with the Costa Rican under-19 and under-20 women's teams. Her first appearance with the senior team occurred at the 2002 CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup, which served as a qualifying tournament for the 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup. Following a match in 2004 against Canada, in which she suffered a sprained right knee, Cruz did not feature with the national team for the next two years, due to commitments with her football club. In 2006, she made herself available for selection making her return to the team during qualification for the 2006 CONCACAF Women's Gold Cup.[17]

Costa Rica qualified for its first ever FIFA Women's World Cup tournament and Cruz captained the team at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup in Canada, playing all three of Costa Rica's matches.[18][19]

Honors

San José FF

  • First Women's Division of Costa Rica: 2000

UCEM Alajuela

  • First Women's Division of Costa Rica: 2003, 2004

Lyon[20][21]

Jiangsu Suning[22][23]

  • Chinese FA Cup: 2018
  • Regional cup: 2018

Alajuelense FF

Costa Rica

Individual

References
  1. "List of Players - 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de Football Association. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  2. Talentosa jugadora exportó sus goles a francia Archived 18 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  3. "Shirley Cruz fue elegida como la mejor jugadora en fase de grupos del Mundial de Canadá". La Nación, Grupo Nación (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 November 2018.
  4. "Shirley Cruz sigue dos años más en Francia".
  5. "TDMás on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
  6. "Shirley Cruz deja el París SG para jugar en el Jiangsu Suning de China". La Nación, Grupo Nación. Agence France-Presse.
  7. "Shirley Cruz signs with OL Reign". www.sounderatheart.com. 17 March 2020. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
  8. "OL Reign Re-signs Shirley Cruz for 2021 Season". www.olreign.com. Retrieved 31 October 2021.
  9. "OL Reign Waive Shirley Cruz and Rosie White". OL Reign. 8 December 2021.
  10. ""Así es como se tiene que retirar"; el emotivo mensaje de Natalia Mills a Shirley Cruz" ["This is how you have to retire": Natalia Mills' emotional message to Shirley Cruz]. Hoy en el Deporte (in Spanish). 4 June 2023. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  11. Arroyo, Franklin; Alvarado, Sergio (3 June 2023). "Shirley Cruz: 'Ahora quiero descansar'" [Shirley Cruz: "Now I want to rest"]. La Teja. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  12. Castillo, Luis Felipe (27 May 2023). "Pato López: "Le he pedido a Shirley Cruz que se retire hasta diciembre"" [Pato López: "I've asked Shirley Cruz not to retire until December"]. AM Prensa (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  13. Cubillo, Eduardo (4 June 2023). "Alajuelense logra el pentacampeonato con una remontada histórica ante Sporting FC" [Alajuelense achieves the five-time championship with a historic comeback against Sporting FC]. Mundiario (in Spanish). Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  14. "Shirley Cruz, ausente del campamento de Costa Rica previo al Mundial" [Shirley Cruz, absent from the Costa Rica camp prior to the World Cup] (in Spanish). ESPN. 7 June 2023. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  15. Shirley Cruz [@ShirleyCruzCR] (8 June 2023). "¡Gracias por tanto! 🙌🏻 🇨🇷" (Tweet). Retrieved 8 June 2023 – via Twitter.
  16. "Seleccionadas responden a ausencia de su gran capitana Shirley Cruz en lista para el Mundial" [National team players respond to the absence of their great captain Shirley Cruz from the list for the World Cup]. ESPN (in Spanish). 8 June 2023. Retrieved 8 June 2023.
  17. Calvo, Rodrigo (21 April 2017). "Shirley Cruz ilusionada por su octava semifinal de Champions (galerías) – Cronica Costa Rica". Cronica Costa Rica (in European Spanish). Retrieved 3 November 2018.
  18. "FIFA player's stats". FIFA. Archived from the original on 7 November 2012. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  19. Cruz, Shirley (24 June 2016). "El sueño mundialista de Shirley Cruz hecho realidad – Cronica Costa Rica". Cronica Costa Rica (in European Spanish). Retrieved 3 November 2018.
  20. "66 goles, 293 partidos, 11 años: Shirley Cruz marca historia en Europa | Crhoy.com". CRHoy.com | Periodico Digital | Costa Rica Noticias 24/7 (in European Spanish). Retrieved 3 November 2018.
  21. "COFFUF on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
  22. "Shirley Cruz levantó su segundo título de campeona en China". La Nación, Grupo Nación (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 November 2018.
  23. "Shirley Cruz cosecha su primer título en fútbol de China" (in European Spanish). Retrieved 3 November 2018.
  24. www.diarioextra.com. "Diario Extra – Buzón de Rodrigo". www.diarioextra.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 November 2018.
  25. "Costa Rica wins five medals in Pan American Games". AM Costa Rica. 12 August 2019. Retrieved 10 January 2023.
  26. "Wambach fires for four, U.S. claims CWC title". concacaf.com. Archived from the original on 29 October 2014. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  27. "IFFHS WOMAN TEAM - CONCACAF - OF THE DECADE 2011-2020". IFFHS. 29 January 2021.
  28. "Javier Hernandez and Carli Lloyd Named 2015 CONCACAF Players of the Year". CONCACAF. Archived from the original on 19 August 2017. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
  29. "Bryan Ruiz and Alex Morgan Named 2016 CONCACAF Players of the Year". CONCACAF. 18 January 2017. Retrieved 18 January 2017.
  30. "Navas, Wambach named 2014 CONCACAF Players of the Year". concacaf.com. 23 December 2014. Archived from the original on 28 February 2016. Retrieved 23 December 2014.
  31. "Peralta, Morgan named 2013 CONCACAF Players of the Year". CONCACAF.com. 13 December 2013. Archived from the original on 14 December 2013. Retrieved 15 December 2013.
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