Deyna Castellanos


Deyna Cristina Castellanos Naujenis is a Venezuelan footballer who plays as a forward for Spanish Primera División club Atlético Madrid and the Venezuela women's national team.

Club career

After spending her three college years at Florida State, on 2 January 2020, Castellanos signed a two-year contract with the Spanish club, Atlético Madrid.

International career

Venezuela youth teams

In 2014, she was a member of the Venezuela national under-17 team who finished fourth in the 2014 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup and runners-up in the 2014 Women's Youth Olympic football. She won the Golden Boot of the 2014 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup with six goals, equalling her teammate Gabriela García and was also a goalscorer of the 2014 Women's Youth Olympic football with seven. She was also as a top scorer of the 2016 South American Under-17 Women's Football Championship with 12. Castellanos is the top goalscorer of the Venezuela U-17 women's team with 35. Castellanos is currently the all-time leading goalscorer of the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup with 11.
Castellanos was called up to the Venezuela U-20 women's team in January 2018 for the 2018 South American Under-20 Women's Football Championship. She was the only player to score in the Group B matches with three, once against Uruguay, Bolivia and Chile. She was also the only player to score in the final stage, scoring once in a 3–1 defeat against Paraguay U-20 women's team.

Senior team

In April 2018, Castellanos was part of the senior team in the 2018 Copa América Femenina. She scored on her debut against Ecuador on 5 April, and netted four times in an 8–0 win over Bolivia four days later.

Awards

In The Best FIFA Football Awards 2017, Castellanos was named to the three woman shortlist for The Best FIFA Women's Player. Her nomination created some controversy. Megan Rapinoe was outspoken about this nomination, complaining that Castellanos was an unknown player and had not played professionally, nor in a major senior national team tournament at the time of her nomination.