Christina Murillo

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Murillo and the second or maternal family name is Ruiz.
Christina Murillo
Murillo with Mexico in 2015
Personal information
Full name Christina Murillo Ruiz[1]
Date of birth (1993-01-28) 28 January 1993[1]
Place of birth Ventura, California, United States[2]
Height 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)[1]
Position(s) Center back
Youth career
Nordhoff
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2015 Michigan Wolverines 82 (2)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2017 Motor City FC 9[3] (0)
2017 Gintra Universitetas 6 (0)
2018 Chicago Red Stars 0 (0)
International career‡
2010 Mexico U17
2012 Mexico U20
2011–2018 Mexico 46 (1)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals
‡ National team caps and goals as of 19 April 2022

Christina Murillo Ruiz (born 28 January 1993) is a former footballer who played as a center back. Born in the United States, she represented the Mexico at senior level, earning 46 caps and appearing at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup. After retiring, Murillo joined Chicago Fire FC’s staff and later served as a draw assistant for the 2022 Concacaf W Championship draw.[4][5]

College career

Murillo was a four-year starter at the University of Michigan where she played as a midfielder and center back. She did not play in 2014, choosing instead to train full-time with the Mexican national team ahead of the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup. As a senior she captained the Wolverines, made the All-Big Ten First Team, and tied the program record for most assists in a single game. She finished with 82 appearances and two goals for Michigan.[6]

Club career

Murillo signed for the WPSL team Motor City FC in April 2016.[7] In August 2017, she joined Lithuanian club Gintra Universitetas and competed in the UEFA Women's Champions League, making six appearances and scoring zero goals in the 2017–18 campaign.[8][9][10] She later signed with the Chicago Red Stars in the NWSL in 2018 before retiring from playing in 2019.[11]

International career

Murillo represented Mexico between 2011 and 2018, including two appearances at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup.[5] At youth level she played at the 2010 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in Trinidad and Tobago and the 2012 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in Japan.[12]

Post-playing career

Murillo joined Chicago Fire FC in 2018 as a community ambassador and later became the Club’s Head of Pre-Formation Phase and Community Outreach.[5] In April 2022 she served as a draw assistant for the Concacaf W Championship draw, a live television event dividing the eight participating teams into two groups.[4] In October 2022, Murillo was also named a U.S. Department of State Sports Envoy for a girls’ soccer program in Montenegro.[13]

Personal life

Murillo's husband is Richard Sánchez, also a footballer who, like her, was born in the United States but has represented Mexico internationally. He has played for Hartford Athletic.[14]

References

  1. ^ a b c "List of Players – 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de Fútbol Asociación. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 May 2015. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  2. ^ "Las Defensas de la Selección Nacional Femenil que Participarán en la Copa Mundial de Canadá 2015". Federación Mexicana de Fútbol Asociación, A.C. (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 22 June 2015. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
  3. ^ "Women's Premier Soccer League - the Largest National Women's Soccer League in the World". Archived from the original on 2016-08-06. Retrieved 2016-07-28.
  4. ^ a b "Christina Murillo to Serve as Draw Assistant for 2022 Concacaf W Championship Draw". Chicago Fire FC. 19 April 2022. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  5. ^ a b c "Christina Murillo to Serve as Draw Assistant for 2022 Concacaf W Championship Draw". Chicago Fire FC. 19 April 2022. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  6. ^ "Christina Murillo – Women's Soccer". University of Michigan Athletics. Archived from the original on 22 June 2017. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
  7. ^ @MotorCFC (14 April 2016). "Welcome, Christina Murillo to Motor City FC! The MF/D from @umichwsoccer will be joining us for the 2016 season!" (Tweet). Retrieved 24 July 2019 – via Twitter.
  8. ^ "Christina Murillo – player profile & career statistics". Global Sports Archive. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  9. ^ "Zürich vs Gintra – Line-ups". UEFA.com. 11 October 2017. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  10. ^ "Gintra vs Barcelona – Line-ups". UEFA.com. 8 November 2017. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  11. ^ Herrera, Sandra (3 October 2018). "Christina Murillo: Falling Through Fire". Howler Magazine. Archived from the original on 24 July 2019. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
  12. ^ "FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup Japan 2012 – List of Players: Mexico" (PDF). FIFA. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  13. ^ "U.S. Department of State Announces Sports Envoy Programs to Strengthen People-to-People Ties Through Sports Diplomacy". U.S. Department of State. 18 October 2022. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  14. ^ Herrera, Sandra (3 October 2018). "Christina Murillo: Falling Through Fire". Howler Magazine. Archived from the original on 24 July 2019. Retrieved 19 August 2019.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.