Having represented the Spanish international team, Lyon midfielder Damaris Egurrola could line-up against them in the Women's World Cup tomorrow playing the for the Netherlands.

Damaris has played in all four of the Netherlands' games at the Women's World Cup as a second half substitute. However, the suspension of her Lyon team-mate Daniëlle van de Donk for tomorrow's game could lead to a starting place for a player with inside knowledge of her opponents.

Damaris, born in Orlando, Florida to a Dutch mother and Basque father had the option of playing for any one of three national teams growing up. She elected to come through the Spanish international system, playing for the various youth age groups. Damaris scored a header in the final against France as Spain won the u19 European championship in 2017 before reaching the final of the u20 World Cup a year later.

In May 2019, she was selected by national team coach Jorge Vilda to play for the senior team against Cameroon but did not make the squad for that summer's World Cup. She was later selected for the Spanish Promesa squad, essentially an u23 team but was never again included in the full national team selection.

In November 2021, Vilda was questioned about the absence of the midfielder, who had since established herself playing for the European champions Olympique Lyonnais, from his senior squad and responded that "Damaris is a player that we have tried to summon twice and we have been told that she is in the process of playing with another team that is not Spanish."

Two months later, Damaris gave an interview to El Confidencial in Spain in which she confirmed she was switching her international allegiance but also refuted Vilda's claims that she did not speak to him. "Nobody from Spain has contacted me and, as far as I know, neither has the club. What I do know is that he has tried to speak to a teammate of mine about me, but he never spoke directly to me"

"I understand that a coach has every right to choose his players, but that does not give him the right to lie. And I couldn't keep waiting for a call-up with the National Team, since, like any other player, I aspire to play in the European and World Cups."

She went on to allege that Vilda may have had a personal problem with her citing an incident during the final of the u20 World Cup. "He came down at half-time and told me that he didn't like my game. At that time we were performing very well in midfield and enjoying it a lot. I remember that I left the second half crying."

In that final, which Spain lost to Japan, Damaris played alongside goalkeeper Cata Coll, who made her full international debut in Saturday's Round of 16 win over Switzerland, and two other Barcelona players, Patri Guijarro and Claudia Pina. Both Patri and Pina were among the fifteen players who refused to play for Vilda last autumn but unlike many others who have since made themselves available, neither Patri or Pina backed down.

During the pre-match press conference today, Dutch coach Andries Jonker admitted the loss of Van de Donk, after picking up her second yellow card of the tournament in the Round of 16 victory over South Africa, would be a huge blow for his team. "It is clear that there is only one Daniëlle van de Donk, with very specific qualities. She has had a brilliant career with many prizes and trophies. But there will be a solution. That other player will bring other qualities onto the pitch."

Facing repeated questioning about Damaris, Jonker attempt to downplay the significance of her presence against her former international team-mates. "We have in our squad, four players with a history in Spain, Merel van Dongen is playing there for five years now, she knows everybody and everything; Stefanie van de Gragt played two years for Barcelona, Lieke Martens played five years for Barcelona; and of course Damaris, with her history in Spain. Of course we spoke with our players knowing a lot about Spain."

"We know everything about Spain, we have a small book about them. I think they won't surprise us. Of course, Damaris is an option to play but she's an option as good as a couple of other ones."