| Lara Esponda | |
| Birth Date: | 2005 11, df=y |
| Birth Place: | Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| Height: | 1.68m |
| Position: | Goalkeeper |
| Currentclub: | River Plate |
| Clubnumber: | 1 |
| Youthclubs1: | River Plate |
| Years1: | 2020– |
| Clubs1: | River Plate |
| Nationalyears1: | 2022 |
| Nationalteam1: | Argentina U20 |
| Nationalcaps1: | 4 |
| Nationalgoals1: | 0 |
| Ntupdate: | 14 July 2023 |
Lara Esponda (born 5 November 2005) is an Argentine footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for River Plate in Argentina's Women's Primera A.[1] [2]
Esponda began playing football with a youth team in Ituzaingó, Argentina. She started as a forward, but was asked to fill in for an absent goalkeeper, and has played that position since.[3]
She started advanced training at the age of 9, and at 11 began training with the first team, joining River Plate's first team in the 2019–20 season. On 9 March 2020, at the age of 14, she made her debut, becoming the youngest goalkeeper to play in Women's Primera A, the top women's football league in Argentina.[4] In 2018 she was champion of the Under-14 Development League with River Plate as the starting goalkeeper, beating the women's team of the Chubut Valley League 1–0.[5] In January 2023 she signed her first professional contract.[6]
After playing on the national under-15 team,[7] on 13 October 2020, she was called up to the Argentina national under-17 team.[8]
Esponda was called up to the Argentina national U-20 team in February 2022 to play in the 2022 South American Under-20 Women's Football Championship in Chile.[9] She conceded two goals, both in the loss to Venezuela. La albiceleste finished third and did not advance to the next round.[10] It was part of a mixed call between sub-18 and sub-20 for the COTIF La Alcudia 2022 tournament,[11] [12] where her team finished runner-up.[13]
Esponda earned a call-up to the Argentina women's national team for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup.[14]