When Claudia Pina was younger, she would use a ladder from her home’s terrace to climb one of its walls and drape a training vest over the top corner. Sometimes she did this herself; other times, her father helped. Then, she would back away as far as she could and kick a ball toward that target for hours.
She didn’t realise it at the time, but this was the beginning of the Spain forward’s trademark precision. With her club, Barcelona, and internationally at the ongoing European Championship, Pina has established herself as a specialist in long-range goals, always aiming at the top corner. Her friends joke that they are going to patent the shot and name it after her.
“The Pina” made its latest appearance on Friday, in Spain’s 2-0 quarter-final defeat of Euro 2025’s host nation Switzerland.
With 20 minutes of the 90 to go, and the world champions only leading by one goal, Patri Guijarro pressed Lia Walti, who let the ball loose in a moment of confusion near the Swiss penalty area. Pina saw an opportunity to capitalise, dribbling toward the centre of the box. Without hesitation, she found the top-right corner of the goal, doubling her team’s lead. It was her second goal of the tournament — both from outside the area — and secured a first knockout-phase victory in a European Championship for Spain’s women.
“This girl is out of this world,” their goalkeeper Cata Coll said in the mixed zone after the match.
The trouble with signature moves is, when you’re good enough, everyone knows about them. Pina understands she has to start shooting to the other side, because goalkeepers have already started diving toward her shot before it leaves her foot. Though, as Switzerland’s Livia Peng found out last night, knowing where the ball is going and preventing it getting there are two separate tasks.
Claudia Pina used her signature top-corner shot to double Spain’s lead (Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)
By Friday, Spain had not played for a week since their final group-stage match against Italy. For Pina, who was rested that night because they had already qualified for the knockout round, the wait for the quarter-finals was endless. The 23-year-old came out hungry and ready to pounce.
During an uncharacteristically muted first half from the World Cup and UEFA Nations League champions, Pina’s persistence was their only real attacking threat — she took a direct free kick that was denied by Peng, followed by another chance in the 23rd minute that was saved. In the 56th minute, she tried a similar shot from the edge of the box, but it went wide.
Soon after, she found her space at the edge of the box — and her goal.
“When (Pina) makes that move, I think she’s going to score. When she gets the ball, with space, she starts to drive forward, she prepares herself and that feeling when she puts her left leg on the ground, we believe it’s going in,” Spain head coach Montse Tome said at the post-match press conference.
“She’s been scoring goals like that all season; she’s very confident in that. She started on the left today, then we switched her to the right, because we weren’t seeing much fluidity. That’s what we thought when we changed her: to have more punch, to get her into that finishing position, and she’s being very effective.”
“She contributes a lot to Spain’s game and, if she’s lucky enough to (score), then great.”
The goal was a carbon copy of the one she scored against Belgium in a 6-2 group-stage victory, the shot that soared past Lisa Lichtfus at 98.6 km per hour. That finish, and the one scored by her team-mate Athenea del Castillo against Italy, were standout moments of the tournament’s opening phase. And it was those two players who helped Spain qualify for their first Euros semi-final.
Pina’s success this summer is a continuation of the momentum she’s built with Barcelona.
In 1,551 minutes last season, including 19 starts, Pina scored 10 goals and provided seven assists. The striker, who has not always had favourable minutes with Barca, has since earned the trust of their head coach Pere Romeu. During this season, whether she has played as a starter or a substitute, she has been connected and has made the most of the minutes she has had, whether it was the full 90 or 10 off the bench.
She finished as the top scorer in the Women’s Champions League with 10 goals and was the second-top scorer for her club in all competitions with 24, only behind Ewa Pajor, who got 43.
In the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final against Wolfsburg, she came on in the 58th minute for Pajor and by the 77th minute had already scored twice — the match ended 6-1. One of her goals that day was, of course, her signature: a direct free kick that once again found the top corner of the net.
Then, in the first leg of the semi-final against Chelsea, she came on in the 66th minute and scored her first goal four minutes later before repeating the feat in the 90th minute. In the Copa de la Reina final against Atletico Madrid, she scored two decisive goals that gave Barcelona the title in a 2-0 victory, earning the player of the match award.
Pina contributed goals as a starter and coming off the bench for Barcelona last season (Pedro Salado/Getty Images)
Against England in a Nations League match earlier this year, she was also the player who changed the game. Spain were a goal down when she came on in the 58th minute. Her first touches led to a goal. Ten minutes later, she scored to give her team the 2-1 victory — using that trademark shot from outside the area into the top corner.
“I play whatever is needed, whatever is required of me,” Pina said after Friday’s win. “At the club, I also try to contribute whatever I can, whether I start or come off the bench. I’m ready.”
In addition to her goals, Pina’s 2024-25 season can also be described by her hard work and patience.
During pre-season a year ago, she wanted to give her game a boost, so did extra training and sought mental support from a professional. “I worked hard in the summer. I worked with a nutritionist, a physical trainer and a psychologist outside the club, and it helped me,” she explained at a press conference before the match against Switzerland.
The effort paid off, and with more playing time than in previous years, Pina was able to prove her worth, emerging as one of the big names of the season, for both Barcelona and the national team.
The Barcelona forward is now a starter for Spain after consistent performances (Charlotte Wilson/Getty Images)
Pina has not always had the confidence she has now. She admitted that if she had not had more playing time this season, she would have considered leaving Barcelona.
“It’s difficult to give your all every day and have players ahead of you,” she said in a press conference before the game. “You have to be patient, because I’m young and there were players with more weight at the time. “At Barcelona, we are all very good and, in the end, the coach decides based on small details. If they hadn’t given me the opportunity, maybe it was time to think about the future.”
But Pina’s patience has paid off, and Barcelona and Spain are enjoying the results.
(Top photo: Sebastien Bozon/Getty Images)