Spain star Aitana Bonmatí hospitalized with meningitis less than a week before Euro 2025
MADRID (AP) — Spain midfielder Aitana Bonmatí, the two-time Ballon d'Or holder, has been hospitalized with viral meningitis less than a week before the Women's European Championship begins.
Spain coach Montse Tomé said late on Friday that her star player had felt ill and was taken to a hospital in Madrid where she tested positive for meningitis.
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Spain's team is set to travel to Switzerland on Sunday for the tournament. Its first game is against Portugal on Thursday in Bern.
'Aitana is a very important player for us and we will wait for her,' Tomé said after Bonmatí missed Friday's friendly against Japan in the Spanish capital when Spain beat the visitors 3-1.
The 27-year-old Bonmatí has won the top individual award for women's soccer for the past two years. The Barcelona player was key in Spain winning the 2023 Women's World Cup.
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Reigning Ballon d'Or winner Aitana Bonmatí hospitalized with meningitis less than a week before Euro 2025
Spanish soccer star Aitana Bonmatí has been hospitalized with viral meningitis just days before the start of the Women's Euros on Wednesday, her manager Montse Tomé said. The 27-year-old had a fever on Thursday evening and was taken to the hospital on Friday when her condition did not improve, according to Tomé. 'She is the first to authorize me to say this and the first who wants it to be said: she has viral meningitis,' Tomé said in a press conference Friday following Spain's 3-1 friendly victory over Japan, which Bonmatí missed. 'The word is definitely scary, but the doctor tells me it is under control,' she continued. 'We don't know the timeframe, we don't know anything else.' On Friday night, Bonmatí posted a picture of herself watching the game against Japan from a hospital bed, with a cannula in her arm. The midfielder is widely considered to have been the best player in women's soccer over the past few years, having been awarded the Ballon d'Or Féminin in both 2023 and 2024. Bonmatí has played a crucial role in the Barcelona team, which has reached five consecutive Women's Champions League finals, winning three. She also has 30 goals in 78 games for her country. The Women's Euros begin in Switzerland on Wednesday when Iceland faces Finland. Spain, the reigning world champion, will play its first game of the tournament against Portugal on Thursday evening. Should Bonmatí remain absent from the team, it appears likely that 18-year-old Vicky López will take her place in the starting XI, having filled in for her in the game against Japan. La Roja has never made it past the semifinals of this competition. The team was knocked out by eventual winner England in the quarterfinals in 2022 after fellow two-time Ballon d'Or winner Alexia Putellas tore her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) three days before the start of the tournament. Meningitis is a swelling of the protective membranes which cover the brain and spinal cord. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the disease can be very serious, but most people with mild viral meningitis recover with seven to 10 days without the need for treatment.
