María José Rojas facts for kids
Rojas with Chile in 2019
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | María José Alondra Rojas Pino | ||
| Date of birth | 17 December 1987 | ||
| Place of birth | Santiago, Chile | ||
| Height | 1.63 m (5 ft 4 in) | ||
| Playing position | Forward | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Santiago Morning | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2003–2009 | Universidad de Chile | 23 | (63) |
| 2014 | Gulf Coast Texans | (5) | |
| 2014 | Herforder SV | 4 | (2) |
| 2015–2017 | Adelaide University | (65) | |
| 2017 | Gintra Universitetas | 2 | (0) |
| 2018 | Orca Kamogawa | (1) | |
| 2018 | Canberra United | 8 | (1) |
| 2019 | Slavia Praha | 2 | (0) |
| 2019 | Santiago Morning | 6 | (9) |
| 2020 | Salisbury Inter | 14 | (24) |
| 2020–2021 | Adelaide United | 12 | (1) |
| 2021–2022 | Sydney FC | 11 | (5) |
| 2022 | Salisbury Inter | 9 | (14) |
| 2022 | Apollon Ladies | 8 | (7) |
| 2022–2023 | Melbourne City | 11 | (5) |
| 2023 | Flinders United | ||
| 2023–2024 | Canberra United | 13 | (0) |
| 2024– | Santiago Morning | 21 | (10) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2006 | Chile U20 | (2) | |
| 2011– | Chile | 57 | (12) |
† Appearances (Goals). |
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María José Alondra Rojas Pino (born 17 December 1987), also known as Cote Rojas, is a professional footballer from Chile. She plays as a forward for Santiago Morning in Chile. She also plays for the Chile women's national team.
Cote Rojas has been a key player for the Chilean national team, nicknamed La Roja, for 13 years. She is one of their top goal scorers, with 11 goals in 44 international games.
Rojas was the first female Chilean player to sign a contract with an international club. This helped open doors for other Chilean players like Tianne Endler and Yanara Aedo. She has played professionally in many countries across four continents. These include Germany, the United States, Japan, Lithuania, Czech Republic, and Australia. This wide experience has helped her become a very skilled and adaptable player. She is known for her ability to score goals and is often called 'the Chilean international star'. People have even compared her playing style to famous male players like 'Alex Sanchez' and 'Vidal Arturo'.
Rojas is known for playing well under pressure. She has won two championships with her clubs. She scored the winning goal for UTSA Roadrunners to help them win their first championship in the US. She also helped Santiago Morning win their second championship in 2019. She scored 6 goals in 5 games during that season. Santiago Morning also played in the 2019 Copa Libertadores in Ecuador, reaching the quarter-finals. María José Rojas scored three goals in one game during that tournament.
In Australia, Rojas played for Canberra United in the W-League. The Australian Government even gave her a special visa for talented individuals to help develop football there. She is seen as an inspiration for young players who dream of playing football on the world stage.
In the 2022/23 season, María José Rojas was voted the A-Leagues Fan Player of the Year. This was for her great performance with Melbourne City, where she scored 5 goals in 11 matches. This award shows how much fans appreciate her contributions to the team.
Rojas is also a strong supporter of women's rights. She helps other players and speaks to the media about important issues in women's football.
Contents
Club Football Career
Rojas has played in top football leagues around the world. These include:
- Chile: Primera División and Copa Libertadores
- Germany: Bundesliga
- United States: W-League
- Lithuania: A Lyga and Champions League
- Japan: J2 League
- Australia: W-League and WNPL
Playing in Europe and South America
In 2019, Cote Rojas played as a forward for SK Slavia Praha (women) in the Czech Republic. She also played for Santiago Morning in Chile. With Santiago Morning, she competed in the Copa Libertadores in 2019. Santiago Morning won the Chilean premier division championship in both 2018 and 2019.
In August 2022, she joined Apollon Ladies F.C., a club in Cyprus.
Playing in Australia
Rojas signed with Canberra United for the 2018-19 W-League season.
She also played two seasons in the South Australian WNPL. She scored 65 goals in the 2016 and 2017 seasons. She won the 'golden boot' award for being the top scorer in both of those seasons.
In 2020, Rojas played for Salisbury Inter in the 2020 Women's NPL. She scored 27 goals in 18 matches. She also won the Shirley Brown Medal as the WNPL Player of the Year. Later that year, she joined Adelaide United in the W-League.
In September 2021, Rojas moved to Sydney FC.
In November 2022, Rojas returned to Australia to play for Melbourne City. She filled in for another player who was injured.
In May 2023, she joined Flinders United in the South Australia NPL Women.
In September 2023, it was announced that Rojas would return to Canberra United.
In March 2024, Rojas left Canberra United to go back to her Chilean club, Santiago Morning.
Early Career Highlights
In 2010, Rojas scored nine goals at the Copa Bicentenario with the Chile national team. In 2008, she scored an amazing 63 goals in just 23 matches for her club, Universidad de Chile. This made her the 'Goalscorer of the Year'.
International Football Career
Rojas has played for the Chilean national team in many important tournaments.
She was part of the Chile squad that won the silver medal at the 2014 South American Games.
She also scored two goals at the 2018 Copa América Femenina. In this tournament, Chile qualified for the FIFA Women's World Cup for the first time ever!
For the 2019 Women's World Cup, Rojas was called the 'Player to Watch' for Chile. This was because she was the highest-scoring player in the squad and a very dangerous forward.
International Goals
Here are some of the goals María José Rojas has scored for Chile:
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 22 October 2011 | Estadio Omnilife, Zapopan, Mexico |  Trinidad and Tobago |
3–0 | 3–0 | 2011 Pan American Games |
| 2 | 10 April 2018 | Estadio La Portada, La Serena, Chile |  Uruguay |
1–0 | 1–0 | 2018 Copa América Femenina |
| 3 | 12 April 2018 | .svg){kind=small} Peru |
5–0 | 5–0 |
Honours and Achievements
Chile National Team
- South American Games Silver medal: 2014
- Copa América Silver medal: 2018
See also
- In Spanish: María José Rojas para niños
