Atletico Madrid's Virginia Torrecilla on cancer fight, parents' support and message to women

The last few years have been challenging for Virginia Torrecilla, to say the least. It all started when the Atletico Madrid midfielder began to suffer headaches in the spring of 2020, around the time the Covid-19 pandemic started. Ad She was diagnosed with a tumour, which was initially classified as benign.

TransfersNewcastle enter race to sign Mount, Pochettino eyes Spurs reunion — Paper Round10 HOURS AGO But it was in fact cancerous. Torrecilla underwent 13 months of treatment, including radiotherapy and chemotherapy. She returned to training in March 2021.

Not long afterwards she was involved in a car crash that left her mother, Mari, paralysed from the waist down and in a wheelchair. Although Torrecilla was unhurt in the crash, it was unclear after her cancer diagnosis whether she would ever return to play football again. But in January 2022, 683 days after her last match, she returned for Atletico in the Spanish Super Cup final.

Speaking on International Women’s Day, Torrecilla, 28, says it is “thanks to sport I am here today”. “Sport has changed me completely,” she told Eurosport Spain. Mbappe: Bayern result won't dictate my future Man Utd aim for cut-price Kane deal — Paper Round “Thanks to sport, I have been taught to have a goal to improve myself and always surpass what you do well.

It's very important. A person who has not played sports doesn’t have those principles. “Thanks to sport I am here today.

There's no doubt.” Torrecilla, who was voted Guardian Footballer of the Year for 2022, was part of Spain’s squad at the 2015 and 2019 World Cups. Her return in the Spanish Super Cup final was greeted in celebratory fashion as she was tossed in the air afterwards by team-mates and Barcelona players. “I wouldn’t have