Retired player

Signature Fun Facts

What makes Retired player what it is.

Daniela has supported AC Milan since childhood, and Filippo Inzaghi became one of her greatest goalscoring inspirations. Her movement inside the penalty area even earned her the nickname “Pippo Gol” from Brescia supporters.

She was among the first women ever featured in EA Sports' FIFA 16, marking a historic inclusion of female players in the game.

More Fun Facts

Quirky facts from the Retired player squad.

She scored VVV-Venlo's first ever goal.

Daniela grew up playing football near the church in the tiny village of Castelguidone. During the 2019 World Cup, the local priest even postponed the traditional Saint Vitus procession because the whole village wanted to watch her play for Italy.

She becames the first player to reach 100 WSL wins and 200 Manchester City appearances.

As a child, she secretly wrote “I want to be a professional soccer player” on her bedroom wall using an invisible marker.

She was featured along her national teammates in the EA Sports FIFA video game (FIFA 16), the first time women players were included in the game

She grew up dreaming of playing for Ajax men’s team as she didn’t know there was an Ajax women’s team.

She holds the Guinness World Record for longest throw-in by a woman, at 37.55m

She won the United States Soccer Federation’s One Nation Social Impact Award for her work with the Black Women’s Players Collective.

One of her first pro experiences included singing songs in Portuguese in the shower with Marta and Alex Morgan.

One of her first football memories was playing in a youth tournament where everyone rotated as the goalkeeper. During her turn, she punted the ball straight into the air, caught it again, and kept playing, leaving the referee unsure of how to respond.

She played in six World Cups and four Olympic tournaments

For the first couple of seasons at Arsenal, she had to work part-time in the club laundry to earn some extra money.

In 2015, she appeared on The Simpsons alongside soccer legends Abby Wambach and Alex Morgan.

In October 2014, Houghton was the first female player to appear on the cover of Shoot magazine.

She helped install the 50th mini pitch in the New York City Soccer Initiative, a project converting old courts into soccer fields in underserved communities.