The Men’s World Cup is upon us. In between the six hours of soccer there is to watch per day, take a second to remember former Portland Thorn Vero Boquete. Boquete spent just one season with the Thorns but left a lasting impression, scoring four goals and tallying six assists in only 15 appearances. She won three NWSL player of the week awards, was the first ever Thorns player to make the NWSL first XI, finished second in MVP voting and won Riveters Player of the year in 2014. That very year was the year Spain clinched its first ever spot in the Women’s World Cup.

Boquete recently did an extended interview for We Came to Win about her role in getting the Spanish Women’s soccer team there and the hurdles they had to overcome on the way: a coach in his job for 27 years despite few accomplishments, few resources and a federation that didn’t really seem to care about what happened to them.

Boquete promised to return to the Thorns after leaving in 2014, but life offered her a different path: contracts at Bayern Munich and Paris Saint Germain aren’t ones you just choose to turn down. She is currently playing in the Chinese Women’s Super League for Beijing BG Phoenix and despite not getting called up to her national team since 2017, remains the Spanish Womens National team’s all time leading goalscorer.