Vanesa Gimbert Acosta (born 19 April 1980) is a Spanish retired football who played as a defender or midfielder. She played for clubs including Levante, Sevilla, Rayo Vallecano, Espanyol and Athletic Bilbao in Spain's Primera División, retiring in 2022 aged 42.[1]
Born in the Basque Country and raised partly in Andalusia, she previously played for RCD Espanyol,[2] Levante UD, CFF Estudiantes, Sevilla and Rayo Vallecano.[3] She won four league titles with Levante and Rayo (coming close to another with Sevilla)[4] and five Copas de la Reina between her spells at those two clubs and Espanyol.
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In 2016, 36-year-old Gimbert won the league title with Athletic, then agreed to remain with the club for another year.[5] Five years later (now aged 41, the oldest active player in the country) she was still playing regularly, including scoring both goals in a victory over Santa Teresa[6] and agreed a further one-year contract in the summer of 2021.[7] She retired one year later after nine years in Bilbao[1] alongside teammate Erika Vázquez,[8] who by coincidence was one of the opponents 22 years earlier when Gimbert won the first trophy of her career, the 2000 Copa de la Reina de Fútbol when Levante defeated Lagunak.[9] Her statistics with Athletic included being its oldest debutant (aged 33), longest run of consecutive matches (86, completing the 90 minutes every time) and oldest player (aged 42).[1]
Gimbert was a member of the Spain women's national football team from a young age, taking part at 17 in the 1997 European Championship.[10] She was the team's captain in the 2009 European Championship qualifying.[11]
