‘Ted Lasso’ Season 4 Finally Reveals Who Dani Rojas’ Sister, Maria Rojas, Really Is, and the Casting Twist Is Pure Magic

‘Ted Lasso‘ fans have spent years hoping for even a glimpse of Dani Rojas back in an AFC Richmond kit, and while Season 4 has shifted its focus to the Lady Greyhounds, the show found a clever way to keep his spirit alive. Episode 3, titled “Richmond’s Got Talent,” introduced Maria Rojas, the ambitious sister of the fan favorite striker, during an open tryout for the newly formed women’s team.

What makes this reveal even sweeter is the casting choice behind it. The actress playing Maria Rojas is Paloma Cinco, who is actually the real life sister of Cristo Fernández, the actor who has played Dani Rojas since the very first season.

Who Plays Maria Rojas in ‘Ted Lasso’?

Paloma Cinco, whose birth name is Paloma Fernández, stepped into the role of Maria Rojas for Season 4, and the sibling connection to Cristo Fernández was not something casual viewers were likely to catch right away. Her stage name gave little indication that she shares actual DNA with one of Richmond’s most beloved players.

Cinco’s other screen credits include projects such as ‘Womb Room,’ ‘No Translation Required,’ ‘De La Cruz,’ ‘Una Pequeña Confusion,’ ‘Nothing to See Here,’ and ‘Cuidando Rancho.’ She also cohosts a podcast called Fútbol es Vida alongside her brother and other collaborators, which makes her casting on ‘Ted Lasso’ feel less like a stunt and more like a natural extension of a shared passion for football and storytelling.

The timing lined up nicely with real life as well, since Cristo Fernández’s own tagline of “Football is life” recently proved true when his soccer skills earned him a spot on the USL Championship team El Paso Locomotive. That is a notable turn for an actor who had pursued the sport professionally before a career shift, and it adds an extra layer of meaning to watching his sister join the ‘Ted Lasso’ family.

Maria Rojas’ Tryout For the AFC Richmond Women’s Team

In Episode 3, AFC Richmond’s brand new women’s squad is scrambling to find a striker before their first match, and the coaching staff decides to hold open tryouts to fill the gap. Among the hopefuls is Dani Rojas’ sister, and the coaches immediately assume she will be a natural fit given her brother’s legacy on the pitch.

Coach Beard tells her that football is life, echoing Dani’s signature catchphrase, and Coach Beard gets visibly excited at the idea of finding the team’s new striker in her. That excitement does not last long once Maria actually starts kicking the ball around during the tryout.

It turns out Maria can barely make contact with the ball, and the joke lands precisely because it subverts expectations built up over three seasons of Dani’s on field brilliance. Coaches Ted, Beard, and Alice all assumed Maria would follow in her brother’s footsteps, but the scene instead reveals that Dani apparently taught her everything except the actual game he loves so much.

Maria Rojas Says Life Is More Than Just Football

Rather than repeating her brother’s arc as an instantly gifted athlete, Maria delivers the show’s actual twist. When told that football is life, she pushes back and declares that life is about more than just football, a small but pointed moment of characterization for someone who only appears in a single episode.

That declaration ends up opening the door for someone else entirely. Alice’s former teammate Gemma steps in to fill the striker spot on the Lady Greyhounds, alongside other new additions to the roster, while Maria’s own tryout wraps up as a fun aside rather than the start of a new storyline.

It is worth noting that this was never intended to be a long term arc for the character. Maria Rojas won’t make the team or repeat her brother’s arc as the cheerleader and beacon of positivity, but her cameo still worked as a sweet nod to Dani and to Fernández’s own athletic background.

Will Dani Rojas Appear in ‘Ted Lasso’ Season 4?

With Season 4 built entirely around the launch of AFC Richmond’s women’s team, it remains unclear whether any of the original men’s squad, including Dani Rojas himself, will show up on screen this season. Behind the scenes photos from Maria’s episode suggest Fernández was at least present on set while his sister filmed her scenes, which has fans hopeful for a proper cameo down the line.

Speaking with Deadline, Paloma Cinco opened up about how the role came together and what she would have wanted for the character going forward. She said she found the script for Maria Rojas incredibly funny once she read it, and that she would have made herself available for more episodes had the show wanted a bigger arc for the character.

Cinco added that she likes the idea of Maria leaving the tryouts inspired to actually learn how to play soccer, tying back to the show’s broader message that it is never too late to pick up something new. She also noted how much she enjoys the notion that Maria has picked up plenty of great qualities from her brother, even if athletic skill was not one of them.

For now, Maria Rojas remains a single episode delight rather than a recurring presence, but the door has clearly been left open. Whether or not Dani himself ever jogs back onto the Richmond pitch this season, what do you make of the show finding such a personal, real life way to honor his legacy through his own sister.