Pisco is back on the pitch.
Raquel Peña came on in the 80th minute of Wednesday’s friendly between Costa Adeje Tenerife and Athletic Club in Tafalla. The captain replaced Ari Mingueza and played the closing stages of Tenerife’s 1-0 victory.
It had been 444 days since her last competitive appearance.
Pisco had last played on 18 May 2025, in the final round of the 2024/25 Liga F season. She started the 4-1 victory over Real Sociedad and provided the assist for the second goal, scored by Sakina Ouzraoui.
The defender did not make an appearance throughout the 2025/26 season. Tenerife announced in November that she had undergone surgery on an osteochondral injury to her right knee and did not set a date for her return.
She wanted to end her career on the pitch
The recovery process raised questions that went beyond football.
In May, Pisco told AS that she had gone from running to being unable to walk. Her priority was to walk again. After that, if her knee allowed it, she wanted to extend her career for another year so that she could retire on the pitch.
The Gran Canaria-born defender will turn 38 in December and is beginning her thirteenth consecutive season with the club, which she joined from Atlético de Madrid in 2014.
Her return came in Tenerife’s third friendly of the pre-season. Ten minutes against Athletic Club were enough to end an absence of more than fourteen months and keep alive her wish to finish her career on her own terms, on the pitch.
