He doesn’t like photos or cameras. She grew up in a small, rural, remote area of Colombia and became an important figure in women’s soccer in her country. She was injured before taking off, and she wanted to abandon it all when her path seemed to fade. But she crossed the pond to continue training in Spain and finally catapult herself to Chelsea, Barcelona’s rival this Saturday in the second leg of the Champions League semi-finals (6:30 p.m., Dazn). Behind the smile off the field and the serious face on it, is Mayra Ramírez (Sibaté, Colombia; 25 years old) with her power and hand-to-hand football. She has pure speed despite her height – 1.78 meters – – but, above all, she is “gratitude and humility,” confess those who know her. And in January it became the most expensive signing in women’s football ––450,000 euros fixed, 50,000 variables–– until the transfer of Racheal Kundananji to the American league (for 735,000 euros) surpassed it. She arrived with a mission at Chelsea: to replace the absence of the star blue, Sam Kerr, affected by the cruciate ligament pandemic. In the first leg of the Champions League semi-final against Barcelona last Saturday, only Ingrid Engen ––she excelled the entire match until her substitution–– was able to decisively stop Mayra’s physical outbursts.
But to touch the English sky, Mayra had to be discovered. Jean Albert Martínez, a coach in Colombia, was told that a girl was playing soccer on the cement in Sibaté, a small rural area of Colombia, an hour and a half away from her house in Funza. He did not hesitate to go see her. “I found her playing. I thought she was 14 or 15 because of how tall and big she was. But when I asked her how old she was, she was only 10″, her first technician confesses over the phone. He convinced her to go to her club, Real Pasión, always supported by her family, who was dedicated to the fields and a small store where they sold her products. With the intention of saving money and travel time from her house to the club, Jean Albert included her in a foster home and found her a private school so she could study on a scholarship.
When he joined the team, he began to make a difference, winning tournaments and participating with the national team. “He develops power above the performance curve of other athletes. Their sprints and reaction capacity made the difference,” explains Martínez. And with the start of the Colombian professional league in 2017, Mayra’s brief stint with Fortaleza – an already professional team – and her return to Real Pasión, the clubs began to be interested. She received an offer from PSG, but it soon faded: Mayra tore the cruciate ligament in her left knee. “So she made the decision to retire from football. She didn’t return to the club for a month. I looked for her and called her. Until I spoke to her uncle,” says Martínez. “She didn’t want to go back, she didn’t want to know anything more about football. “Everyone turned their back on her,” Mayra’s uncle told her. But Jean Albert went to her house to look for her. They sat on the sidewalk in front of her parents’ store. And, after a necessary talk, Mayra returned. She did it to never leave football.
Playing at the highest level, Independiente Medellín – the most renowned club in Colombia – looked for her, and she left with one condition: to join the team if they gave away material to her former club. It is there where her successes continued, and she contacted Jean Albert from Spain to give him a chance. On the other side of the pond, Antonio Toledo, coach of Sporting de Huelva, rediscovered her on the list of Latin American players that she received from her. “I noticed Mayra, and asked for more videos. I was surprised by her physical potential. She was a diamond in the rough,” Toledo proudly confesses.
She arrived alone in 2020. Scared, she suffered from being away from her family, and at times thought about terminating her contract. She is shy, but always focused on her work. “Don’t call me madam,” Manuela Romero, president of Sporting, repeated over and over again. She soon adapted, and surprised. In her first training session, Romero was amazed. “Mayra will break up, she is good,” Toledo told her president. “He was unstoppable. At first she had a hard time lasting the entire game. She is a player with great physical exertion: she always goes with everything,” explains Romero and corroborates Toledo. Two seasons were enough for her to stand out in the team, and in that second year, Sporting reached the final of the Queen’s Cup, although the Colombian soccer player could not play due to injury. “She signed a season with us. Antonio and I told her to stay one more year and then take the leap upwards. And she listened to us,” confesses Romero, to whom she gave a package of Colombian coffee –– which she has not yet opened –– and a signed T-shirt from her country’s national team before leaving for Levante. And since then, from Sporting they only have words of affection. “He has left a great memory. It is pure humility and simplicity,” Romero confesses again and again. She arrived at Levante in 2022, and in 40 games she scored 19 goals. Mayra was on the boil, but the Valencian club announced last December a budget cut in the women’s section with the intention of prioritizing the men’s section. So, Chelsea.
“The rumors are true, Mayra Ramírez is blue“, the club announced at the end of January. “Mayra is a dynamic forward who can play anywhere on the front line. “She has a great physique, she is athletic and has a good scoring record,” said Chelsea general manager Paul Green upon her arrival. In 12 games, she has already scored three goals, and she is still adapting. “She is a warrior. She didn’t know any English, but Chelsea has given her an interpreter who she also teaches him,” explains Martínez. In England, women’s football is in another dimension, and Mayra was surprised by being picked up by car to go to training, or by the stars of the hotels where she was staying. “I have never had such a rigid medical examination,” she commented to her former coach. She was scared. “Professor, they are going to take photos of me, and I don’t like it,” Mayra told Jean Albert. Little by little she gets used to flash. This time, he will be on Stamford Bridge on Saturday in the second leg of the Champions League semi-final against Barcelona. But the spotlights, which she so little likes, will not dazzle Mayra.
You can follow The USA Print in Facebook and xor sign up here to receive our weekly newsletter.
_
