Category: International

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International Soccer

The Courage to Speak Up in Liga MX Femenil

Photo: IMAGO 7
Photo via IMAGO 7.

Editor’s note: This story contains mentions of sexual assault, pedophilia, and physical and verbal abuse.

It is not difficult to find countless stories of abuse in women’s soccer. That is the sad reality that surrounds the sport nowadays. The NWSL had to go through hell some years ago, when The Athletic and The Washington Post opened a can of worms and showed that many prestigious coaches and laureated clubs are not immune to covering abusers and harassment complaints.

Unfortunatley, the NWSL is not alone. Liga MX Femenil’s Necaxa is the most recent club in the spotlight, after Mexico City-based publication Proceso released a report Dec. 7 in which players detailed experiences of sexual assault and abuse from their head coach.

It is a sad reality, but it looks like it’s also part of the sport’s growing pains: It is infuriating to learn what players worldwide have gone and are going through, but it is also a relief to know they have found the courage to speak. That they can now say, “That’s enough. We want change and better work conditions.” They’re not asking for anything extraordinary; they’re just asking for their rights as human beings to be respected.

Since its kickoff in 2017, Liga MX Femenil has been a beacon of hope for women’s soccer in Latin America. Maybe it is due to the macho mentality that so permeates this part of the world, or maybe it is something else, but the truth is that only in recent years have a handful of those countries started to invest in their women’s leagues.

Among them was Mexico, a nation desperate to start gaining some success and compete against their big sisters in CONCACAF: USA and Canada. After seeking to collaborate with the NWSL and the Americans failing to provide an environment where Mexican players could grow and develop, they started their own league and never looked back. (Of course, Mexico also needed a women’s league to be able to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup.) Hence, Liga MX Femenil was born.

After six years of existence, the league has grown rapidly and set an example for many countries—not only Latino ones—in terms of organization, broadcasting, partnerships, and attendance. But not everything is as good as it looks.

Throughout the years, different players from different teams have reported cases of abuse and harassment, with the league unable to do something to protect them. Maybe the biggest and most renowned case happened this year when Scarlett Camberos reported being harassed by a “fan.” The situation got out of hand, and neither the club nor the league could do anything to guarantee her safety, which led Camberos to move to U.S. to continue with her career as a soccer player with the Californian club Angel City FC.

Many of Liga MX Femenil’s players continue to receive threats and abuse, but not all of them have offers from other countries to continue their careers. This leaves them with no other option but to stay put if they want to continue pursuing their dreams.

Another very noticeable problem is that despite the significant number of clubs the league has—18—most of those organizations don’t care much about their women’s teams. Some of them are just content with just existing. That’s the case of Mazatlán and Necaxa, who season after season, are the punching bags of the league.

Necaxa, unlike Mazatlán, has competed in Liga MX Femenil since its inception in 2016 but has never finished among the top teams—not even in the top 10. Last season, they lost 13 matches out of 17, putting up only two wins and two draws. What is more, they finished with 44 goals against and scored only 10. 

Sadly, the Centellas’ problems run deeper than we thought. It’s not an investment problem anymore. Nor is it a lack of interest from the board. Their poor results are not just soccer-related; they come from the players being completely abandoned by those who were supposed to protect them as employees of the institution. That’s what the Mexican newspaper, Proceso, published some days ago.

A new coach, a new hope?

By the end of the Apertura 2022, Necaxa finished last in the table with only one win, five draws, and 11 losses. Added to that, they conceded 35 goals against and scored only 11. After that season, the club decided to terminate coach Gerardo Castillo’s contract and hire Jorge Gómez instead. Gómez arrived in Necaxa after leading Puebla’s women’s side and after being part of the U-17 and U-20 Mexican women’s national teams’ technical staff.

Coach Jorge Gómez. Photo: Club Necaxa
Coach Jorge Gómez. Photo via Club Necaxa.

It is sad to say that many Centellas felt hopeful when Gómez was announced as the new head coach. He had done positive things on the field with Puebla, and also he had a promising first month in Necaxa. But then things started to go south.

Gómez didn’t arrive in Aguascalientes with just his soccer experience; he was also accompanied by with dark rumors of him promising players starts in exchange for sexual favors in the past. A former Necaxa goalkeeper Dayri Hernández and former technical staff member Rosa Romero Hernández, as well as three anonymous former players and one current player, decided to speak up to stop this terrible situation.

In their testimonies with Proceso, all of them said Gómez made a habit of inviting players to his apartment or to go out to parties to drink. He would also give them compliments, all of that just to have sex with them. Those who would refuse started to get less and less playing time, and, as retaliation, were waived at the end of the season. Those who accepted Gómez’s invitations got more and more minutes and were part of the starting XIs. 

All the players who had the courage to speak agreed that a group of four to six players were the ones who would always accept Gómez’s invitations. Those players would come and go from training with him in their cars because the coach would never arrive to training in his. These players and Gómez treated each other with a lack of respect in front of others. They would call each other “güey” and the players would call him “little whore” because it was known he was always looking to have sex with other players.

But Gómez wouldn’t invite just those from the senior team to his apartment or to go out to parties. According to one player, he also invited minors from the Necaxa U-18 squad, and two players ended up accepting his invitations and having sex with him. That wasn’t the first time Gómez was involved with a minor. One of the players told Proceso that one day, he invited her to his office and asked her what her expectations were for the season. Gómez proceeded to tell her that he dated a minor who was half his age when he was part of the technical staff of the Mexican women’s team, the player said.

Verbal abuse

“I was an eyewitness of how he verbally abused my teammates. If any of them wasn’t on the desired weight, he would call them ‘fat’. If we would make a mistake in a game, he would call us ‘mediocre’. He also called ‘dwarf’ to one of my teammates who is a little short and told her soccer is not for short people and that she would never accomplish anything,” one of the Necaxa players told Proceso.

The abuse was not limited to Gómez’s players. but also to others from other teams. “When we played against players who were no longer part of the club because they didn’t want to sleep with him or that did it but then didn’t want to do it anymore, Jorge [Gómez] asked us to hurt them,” the player said. “I didn’t do it but the six players that always surround him did it. They kicked them even though they didn’t have the ball.”

Former Necaxa goalkeepers Dayri Hernández and Alejandra Guerrero.
Former Necaxa former goalkeeper Dayri Hernández (right) and former midfielder Alejandra Guerrero (left). Photo Credit: Tar.mx
Gender discrimination

Rosa Romero Hernández arrived at Club Necaxa at the same time Gómez did, but while she went to work with the women, he went to work with the men’s young teams. She was warned about his unprofessional behavior with the players when he was named the women’s team head coach. And after that, she saw that everything the players told to Proceso was true.

But not only that. “He didn’t see me as his assistant because I am a woman,” she said. “When I asked him why he didn’t use me as an assistant, he sent me to pick up the training equipment. He also said that he was going to rotate me with the other assistants, but while he called Miguel Orozco and Miguel Ramírez to help him, he never called me.” She added: “Once he grabbed my shoulder and told me: ‘My Rox, don’t get mad for what I’m gonna say, but a woman can’t occupy an important position because she will only do stupid things’.”

When institutions fail

Even though many Centellas showed the messages Gómez sent them through WhatsApp or Instagram to team general manager Alberto Clark, his response was: “My boy is such a flirt.”

“Three weeks ago, we spoke with the legal responsible for the club [Anna Peniche], and we sent her many more screen captures, but nothing has been done. This is a very uncomfortable situation and more so because he continues to be the head coach,” said one of the players.

“We have shown photos, voice messages, videos, screen captures, and even some parents are aware of the situation now,” another player added, “but those with the power to do something haven’t done anything.”

All the players who spoke with Proceso have also said Clark is Gómez’s friend, so they’re not surprised he hasn’t done anything. Even though Gómez arrived at Necaxa to the institution to occupy the position of head coach, he was later named sports director of the women’s teams, which left the players even more unprotected when they tried to report the cases of abuse.

Gómez’s new position only emboldened him to keep trying to use his power to abuse more women. “One of the players told me her girlfriend was nearly abused by Jorge [Gómez]. […] When both got home, she told her how Jorge [Gómez] touched her and tried to take her to his room to make something else happen. She didn’t want to say anything because she didn’t want to ruin her career,” one player told Proceso. “I also found out he tried to abuse — [name omitted to protect the victim]. The next day, he sent her a message telling her he was sorry, that that wasn’t like that. Both were at a party, Jorge [Gómez] was already drunk, so he took her to his room and started to pull down his pants. She said ‘no’, pushed him, and left. The next day he said he was drunk and asked for forgiveness.”

What the league and the club should’ve done already

This year, Liga MX Femenil implemented a protocol against -bullying and harassment, which was supposed to help in cases like this. According to the model, once a person notifies the institution about a situation of bullying or harassment, the club has three days to interview the presumed victims. During that time the club should offer support, and once the interviews are done, they have to evaluate the situation. If they determine the presumed victims are in peril, the club must protect them. Three days after that, the presumed aggressor is notified of the complaints against them, and after that, the team has 30 days to get all the information they need to take necessary steps and make a final decision about how to address the harm.

Despite the clear guidance the protocol provides, players say Necaxa did nothing for three weeks. Only after Proceso published the anonymous interviews on Dec. 7 did the club post a statement on their social media channels, where they said they were open to listen to any player and that they never received any complaints against Gómez.

The club said that despite not receiving any formal complaints, they had activated the protocol. Whether that is true or not, Gómez is still with the club. On Dec. 9, the Centellas had an off-season game against Santos Laguna, and you can see him in the dugout of the photos the club uploaded to social media.

And if players and fans were waiting for the league to do something, they have failed them once again. Five days later, they haven’t even published a statement on the matter.

After seeing all these, no wonder the players who spoke with Proceso said he feels “untouchable.”

This is not the first time Necaxa has had this kind of problem. Back in Apertura 2017, the club’s personal trainer was sexually harassing players. They spoke up, and he was fired, but the Necaxa never alerted other teams about what he did.

Although neither Clark nor Gómez wanted to talk with Proceso when the publication reached out, the latter denied all the complaints against him in his social media channels—three weeks after Romero’s posts—and said he was following legal counsel’s advice as to how to proceed in this situation.

It is sad to see that this terrible situation didn’t have the impact desired in the women’s soccer world. Necaxa is a little club from a Latino country, but the players deserve better. Those women shouldn’t have had to go through a situation like this alone, just like Sinead Farrelly and Mana Shim shouldn’t have had to back in their time. And just like NWSL got to the bottom of the problem and U.S. Soccer removed coaching licenses when needed, we can only hope the FMF does something similar with abusive coaches once the league finishes the investigations.

However, in this case, criminal action might be needed if the investigations against Gómez prove that he indeed is guilty of pedophilic behavior.

Now, the Centellas have no other choice but to wait and hope for the best, as they always do season after season. Let’s hope this time they don’t get disappointed.

Photo: IMAGO 7
Photo via IMAGO 7.

The complete interviews can be read in Spanish here.

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International Soccer

Pan American Games: Congratulations, Mexico!

Photo: Raul Zamora/Santiago 2023 via Photosport
VINA DEL MAR, CHILE – NOV03: El equipo de Mexico obtiene medalla de oro en futbol femenino de los XIX juegos Panamericanos Santiago 2023 realizado en el estadio Elias Figueroa Brander el 03 de Noviembre 2023 en Valparaiso, Chile./ Mexico team wins the gold medal in football match of the 2023 XIX Pan American Games at the Elias Figueroa Brander Stadium on November 03, 2023 in Valparaiso, Chile. (Foto de Raul Zamora/Santiago 2023 via Photosport)

Four nations battled on Friday for three medals. On one of the corners was Mexico and the USWNT U-19 and in the other, Chile and Argentina. At the end of each 90 minutes, the North Americans were the victors.

USWNT U-19 vs Argentina

This was the second time these teams played each other in the tournament, with the U.S. beating the South Americans 4-0 in the group phase.

Photo: US Soccer
Photo: US Soccer

In this game, the Argentinians showed a better defensive game, but when it was time for them to thread an attack, they usually fell short. Despite the organization Argentina showed defensively, the U.S. broke them down after 30 minutes. A long ball that couldn’t be controlled by the Argentines granted possession to the U.S., and Amalia Villarreal ended up beating goalkeeper Vanina Correa.

After that and only seven minutes later, the U-19s doubled the lead when captain Claire Hutton shot from downtown and scored a screamer. Props to Gisele Thompson for creating some space for Hutton after dragging defenders after her.

The second half wasn’t pretty for any team, with them not being able to complete their passes and losing balls easily. Argentina was in a hurry to score at least one goal, and that hastiness didn’t do them any favors. 

As a result, the score didn’t change, and the USWNT U-19 secured the bronze medal. There’s no doubt that U.S. Soccer has good material to work with. The youngest squad in the tournament lost only one game and looked solid against senior national teams.

Chile vs México

In the middle of much off-the-field controversy, Chile hosted El Tri Femenil in the game for the gold medal.

Due to poor management from the ANFP, neither star goalkeeper ‘Tiane’ Endler nor second goalkeeper Antonia Canales were available to play in the big final. That meant Chile had to put a field player on goal and hope for the best.

It was good to see that despite the shortage in the roster, the home team showed a lot of grit on the field; the sole goal of Rebeca Bernal for Mexico made the difference in the score. The designated Chilean goalkeeper for this game, María José Urrutia, did well.

Pan American Games: The final
Photo: Raul Zamora/Santiago 2023 via Photosport

Of course, she had some nervy moments at the beginning, but after hearing the fans cheering every time she touched the ball and with the support of her teammates, Urrutia grew in confidence and made some good saves during the 90 minutes of the game.

It was an uncomfortable match for both teams, and although Mexico had some advantage over the Chileans, it couldn’t be reflected in the score. If it hadn’t been for the brilliance of Bernal, who knows what would’ve happened in the end.

Photo: Martin Thomas/Santiago 2023 via Photosport
Photo: Martin Thomas/Santiago 2023 via Photosport

After the goal, Mexico created more opportunities. but despite their eight shots on goal, Urrutia did well stopping some shots with her feet. On the other hand, Esthefanny Barreras didn’t have much work to do, since Chile only had two shots and only one of them was on goal.

As a result, at the end of the 90 minutes, Mexico won the gold medal—their first.

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International Soccer

Pan American Games: Day 3

Photo: US Soccer
Photo: US Soccer

After a round-robin stage, the semifinalists of the XIX Pan American Games Santiago 2023 are set. 

Group A

After being absent from a Pan American stage since 2007, US Soccer decided it was time to participate again. Instead of a senior team, they put together a U-19 squad.

The test for the youngsters went more than well, with the team finishing at the top of the Group’s A table. They dominated their group through and through, accumulating 13 goals in favor and only one against. They started strong, beating Bolivia 6-0, continuing their quest against Costa Rica 3-1, and finishing with a 4-0 victory over Argentina. Ava McDonald and Amalia Villarreal are the top goal scorers of the USWNT U-19 with three each, while Emeri Adames has scored two goals so far in the competition.

Besides the North Americans, Argentina will be advancing out of Group A and into the semifinals. The South Americans qualified after Costa Rica couldn’t win against Bolivia. The Ticas had the chance to leapfrog Argentina in the table if they had won in their last game of the group, but despite their chances, they couldn’t put the ball in the back of the net. So the South Americans went through after having accumulated a draw, a win and a loss. Interestingly enough, all their three goals in the group stage came from defenders.

Costa Rica and Bolivia finished third and fourth in the group with no wins. The Ticas are starting a new cycle under a new head coach, Beni Rubido, and went to this competition without key players such as Rocky Rodríguez and Priscilla Chinchilla. Bolivia was invited after Venezuela decided not to participate. They finished their group phase with two losses and a draw.

Group B
Photo: Martin Thomas/Santiago 2023 via Photosport
Photo: Martin Thomas/Santiago 2023 via Photosport

The second group was more competitive than Group A, having the host Chile in it, along with a national team that has gone all-in for this tournament in Mexico. Paraguay was a fierce contender as well. 

El Tri Femenil dominated this group scoring 14 goals and only conceding two against. Head coach Pedro López played the best XI he had available for each game, and it paid off. Their most significant win was against the host nation in a tough game they started losing but reverted the score after 90 minutes. Houston Dash’s María Sánchez and Diana Ordóñez are among the top goalscorers of the competition, with Sánchez leading this category with four goals.

Chile is the other semifinalist in this group. They qualified after registering two wins and one loss. They opened by winning against Paraguay by a narrow margin, then lost against Mexico and before they finished strong, hammering Jamaica 6-0 to secure their ticket to the semis. Goalkeeper Tiane Endler hasn’t been the brightest in this tournament by her standards, but she has the opportunity to show why she’s an international superstar in their next game against the USWNT U-19 today.

Paraguay did well in this Pan American Games, but their frustration got the better of them. They have talent to work with, but they fell short of qualifying for the semifinals. Forward Jessica Martínez finished the group phase among the top goalscorers with three goals, and she had the golden opportunity against Chile to equalize the game in the final minutes of the game. That chance might have made a difference in the group spots.

Jamaica’s participation in this competition is one to forget. Due to the problems with their federation, the JFF sent a very inexperienced team that did what they could but finished with 23 goals against and none in favor.

Semifinals

Tuesday is decision day. This is the schedule:

Image: Santiago 2023
Image: Santiago 2023
Categories
International

Pan American Games: Day 2

Photo: Martin Thomas/Santiago 2023 via Photosport.
Photo: Martin Thomas/Santiago 2023 via Photosport.

Wednesday brought more action in the Pan American Games. We had interesting results, with the North American teams dominating the competition so far.

USWNT U-19 vs Costa Rica (3-1)
Photo: US Soccer
Photo: US Soccer

After beating Bolivia 6-0, the youngest squad in the Games had a tougher task against the Ticas.

USA brought the energy from the very beginning, pressing high and stopping Costa Rica’s intentions to carry the ball further down the pitch.

Katie Collins was highly effective in stopping Gabriella Guillén’s runs down the right wing and in forcing turnovers in the middle. She was one of the best in the field in the first half, and she got her reward early on, when she scored the first goal of the match 10 minutes in.

Costa Rica’s plans got thwarted over and over again, and the USWNT continued generating chances, including a shot by Claire Hutton that hit the crossbar.

Half an hour into the match, the momentum shifted to the Ticas’ side, and they found the equalizer in minute 35′ after a corner. Goalkeeper Sonoma Kasica saved the first header, but the defense couldn’t clear it, and Tanisha Fonseca finished with a header that ended in the back of the net.

The first half ended 1-1, and it took some minutes for both squads to settle in in the second half. Nonetheless, USA took control of the ball once again, just like they did in the first half, and started to generate good looks through players like Amalia Villarreal. The skillful midfielder gave Costa Rica nightmares during the entire game.

The difference in the field was reflected in minute 70′, when Hutton put tipped the score in favor of the USWNT again. She scored a nice goal: dribbling through the Ticas and finishing with a low diagonal shot to beat goalkeeper Priscilla Tapia. Seven minutes later, Emery Adames proved to be an impact sub when she scored the third and final goal of the game.

Paraguay vs Jamaica (10-0)
Photo: Pablo Tomasello/Santiago 2023 via Photosport.

After falling to Chile in their opening match, the Albirroja trashed the Caribbeans in the biggest hammering we have seen in Santiago 2023 so far.

Only six minutes into the game, Lorena Alonso scored the first tally of a half that would finish 4-0, with additional goals by Jessica Martínez, Rebeca Fernández, and Celsa Sandoval. J. Martínez scored a hat trick in the second half, while Sandoval registered a brace. Players Dahiana Bogarin, Ramona Martínez, and Daisy Bareiro also scored, finishing the game 10-0 for Paraguay.

Argentina vs Bolivia (3-0)
Photo: Dedvi Missene/Santiago 2023 vía Photosport

A South American duel played out at Elías Figueroa Stadium on Wednesday afternoon. At the end of the 90 minutes, Argentina got its first win of the competition.

Centerback Aldana Cometti opened the counter, when she scored from a set piece near the box in minute 12′. Argentina’s defenders were on fire against Bolivia, with fullback Eliana Stábile scoring the second at the beginning of the second half, right after head coach Germán Portanova made a triple substitution. The score changed once again, when at the end of the game, center-back Julieta Cruz scored the final goal of the match.

Chile vs Mexico (1-3)
Photo: Martin Thomas/Santiago 2023 via Photosport.

The biggest duel of the day didn’t leave us disappointed. Home team Chile welcomed Mexico at Sausalito Stadium. Fans showed up in the stands to cheer for their national team and made the Mexicans feel the heat.

Both squads came into this match with a win, and both wanted to claim the top spot in the table.

Mexico did a good job in the first half to contain Chile. Scarlett Camberos, who joined the team that week, started and had the difficult task of containing one of the most dangerous players in the Chilean squad in Fernanda Pinilla. The fullback is known for her speed and control of the ball while running and adding herself to the attack on the left flank. The Angel City forward did well, preventing Pinilla from carrying the ball further down the pitch. Any other ball the Chileans sent forward was controlled by Anika Rodríguez, who was also very active in the first half. 

Despite the good defensive work, Pinilla was able to break free near minute 40′. That was all Chile needed. María José Urrutia dragged three Mexican defenders along with her, leaving Pinilla unmarked. Goalkeeper Esthefanny Barreras was one or two steps ahead of her goal line. Pinilla saw her opportunity and shot from outside the box. Barreras moved back, but it was too late, and the ball got in.

Chile finished the first half on a high, and Mexico needed to reshape. Due to her defensive duties in this game, Nikki Hernández couldn’t join María Sánchez in the attack. Forward Charlyn Corral wasn’t making much of a difference in the final third and Camberos was also too worried with defensive duties to do much going forward. Kiana Palacios was doing what she could, but she needed someone to provide her balls to be a real threat.

Head coach Pedro López decided to bring Karla Nieto into the fold, and that was exactly what Mexico needed. The Pachuca midfielder brought balance to the midfield and helped Rebeca Bernal and Alexia Delgado.

Twelve minutes into the second half, the visitors found the equalizer thanks to a set piece. Houston Dash’s Sánchez served a curled ball to the far post that Bernal put in the back of the net. Some minutes after that, the coach turned to the bench once again and put Jacquline Ovalle and Diana Ordóñez in. ‘La Maga’ made a huge difference on the field and inclined the balance to the Mexican side. She was winning balls and fouls everywhere, and her skills made it hard for the Chileans to get the ball.

As a consequence, the rest of the game was dominated by the visitors. That momentum was reflected in the score, when Sánchez tallied Mexico’s second goal in the 75th minute and Ordóñez sealed the victory in minute 88’.

The table
Image: Google
Image: Google
Categories
International Soccer

Pan American Games 2023: Day 1

Photo: Manuel Lema/Santiago 2023 vía Photosport
Photo: Manuel Lema/Santiago 2023 vía Photosport

Sunday Oct. 22nd marked the start of the women’s soccer action at the XIX Pan American Games Santiago 2023. This tournament means different things for each national team, and the first day of competitions showed it.

Mexico vs Jamaica (7-0)

The Tri Femenil smashed the Reggae Girlz in their 2023 Pan American debut. The Caribbean team’s situation could be better, with their main players going on strike due to the poor treatment by their federation. Ergo, the JFF decided to send a B-team to represent the country. 

On the other hand, Mexico is maybe the only national team that has sent their A-team to this competition. They are rebuilding their national team from the ashes after not qualifying for the two last World Cups—despite the quality of their roster. For Mexico, there are no small tournaments nowadays; they’re trying to use every opportunity they have to prepare for what’s coming next. 

Among the squad are the Houston Dash players María Sánchez and Diana Ordóñez. Angel City’s Scarlett Camberos was called up as well but wasn’t available for the first match.

As it was expected, the game was heavily inclined toward the Mexican side. The Dash connection worked pretty well when at minute 12′, Ordóñez assisted Sánchez, who scored with a header. Both kept knocking on Jamaica’s door, and they teamed up with Jacqueline Ovalle to terrorize Chris-Ann Chambers’ goal.

In the 35th minute, the Reggae Girlz’s defense made a terrible mistake when preventing Pachuca’s Karla Nieto shooting. Both the defender and goalie thought the ball was going out, but Nieto didn’t give up and tapped the ball near the post to make it past Chambers.

Photo: Manuel Lema/Santiago 2023 vía Photosport
Photo: Manuel Lema/Santiago 2023 vía Photosport

The first half finished with one more goal from the Mexicans. This time, Kiana Palacios was the goal scorer when she connected with a low cross sent to the middle of the box.

Head coach Pedro López moved the bench a little at halftime and then some more after that, putting Karina Rodríguez, Charlyn Corral, Greta Espinoza, and Licha Cervantes on the field.

It didn’t take much more time for Ordóñez to score. She had some good chances in the first half but couldn’t put the ball against the back of the net. In the 58th minute, she did it. Cervantes tallied next, after an assist by Corral. Corral registered another assist in minute 75’, this time for Sánchez’s second goal of the day. The beating finished with Corral scoring from the penalty spot in the 85th minute.

El Tri Femenil could’ve bagged more goals, for sure. Jamaica didn’t play well at all, and the score was a reflection of how the game went. For Jamaica, the match was characterized by poor first touches, unclear ideas in the attack, and inexperience when defending. Of course, this isn’t on the players. That the JFF released the roster for the Pan American games one day before the competition began says as much. They didn’t have time to prepare properly to face one of the few national teams that went all in for this competition.

Chile vs Paraguay (1-0)
Photo: Manuel Lema/Santiago 2023 vía Photosport
Photo: Manuel Lema/Santiago 2023 vía Photosport

The fans at Elías Figueroa Stadium brought all the noise they could to support the debut of their national team against the always-tough Albirroja.

Although Chile was on the front foot in the first half and created many chances, they were missing those one or two final touches. Fernanda Pinilla had a great match; the left-back contributed a lot to the attack and also had a good defensive game, winning balls and making tackles.

Despite the Chileans’ domination, Paraguay had fast and skillful players who created many problems for them. Two of them were Jessica Martínez and Romana Martínez. The duo won many free kicks in dangerous areas, but poor executions left them empty-handed at the end of the 90 minutes.

Daniela Zamora opened the score for Chile in the 24th minute. Although the home team created more chances, that was the only one they could put away.

The second half got physical, and the game was stopped many times. The home crowd clearly didn’t like the referee’s decisions, and their national team had to be focused in the final 45 minutes when the emotions were running high. None of the teams could keep hold of the ball in the second half, and Paraguay’s intentions got diluted in the hecticness of the match.

Frustration led the Paraguayans to try solo efforts that ended up in nothing. Chile played smart defending but of course, the visitors were going to have at least one chance to put the ball away. And it was J. Martínez who ended up in a one-v-one with goalkeeper Tiane Endler. J. Martínez beat Endler and fired. When everybody thought she was going the score the equalizer and be the heroine for her team, the ball went out, kissing the post. 

USWNT U-19 vs Bolivia (6-0)
Photo: US Soccer
Photo: U. S. Soccer

After Venezuela decided to decline participation in the tournament, Bolivia took its place against a USA team that is back in a Pan American competition after 16 years.

Their opening match was strong, beating the South American side with half a dozen goals. Forward Ava McDonald was on fire and scored a hat trick, Amalia Villarreal netted a brace, and Emery Adames also scored.

Despite the North Americans’ lack of experience against senior teams, they started this tournament with flying colors. Bolivia is the weakest team in CONMEBOL and in this competition, but we have to take into account that this was a senior team facing a U-19 team.

Argentina vs Costa Rica (0-0)

In the last game of the day, neither team could make any difference in the score and finished the match nil-nil.

It’s important to say that this tournament marks a new era for both of these national teams. Argentina doesn’t have Estefanía Banini or Florencia Bonsegundo in the squad, after both announced their international retirement following the 2023 World Cup. The South Americans will have to learn to play without the two main playmakers of the team. 

On the other hand, Costa Rica let former head coach Amelia Valverde go and designated the Spaniard and former Dominican Republic head coach Beni Rubido as the new team manager. The match against Argentina marked his debut in such a position.

This Costa Rican roster is also without Rocky Rodríguez and Priscilla Chinchilla among them, so key players are missing for the Ticas in this tournament.

Categories
International Soccer

Soccer Around the World: Is Mexico the Place to be Nowadays?

Tigres is the most decorated team in Liga MX Femenil (credit: Tigres).
Tigres is the most decorated team in Liga MX Femenil (credit: Tigres).

With NWSL turning 11 this year, nobody can deny the league has been through many growing pains. It has taken them several years to get where they are right now, with many sponsors investing their money in it and new teams interested to get into the league every year.

Back in 2013, the Federation of Mexican Football was part of the NWSL, but the lack of playing time given to national team players, among other reasons, ended up drawing Mexican players away. The FMF announced at the beginning of 2016 that they would stop allocating players to the American professional league.

By the end of the same year, Liga MX Femenil was announced, which kicked off in 2017 with the Copa MX Femenil. That cup was a few days long and only 12 teams competed in it—the ones that already had a roster ready to participate in the upcoming league.

Afterwards, the first official tournament began, and Chivas ended up being crowned champions in the inaugural season. Fast forward six years, and it’s incredible to see how much the league has grown.

Making connections

People say there’s strength in numbers, and the United States’ southern neighbors understood that from the beginning. Shortly after the league played its first few seasons, they decided to start making connections.

That’s how they found an ally on the Houston Dash.

It was 2018 and Rayadas de Monterrey decided to play a friendly against the Texan club. A year later, Tigres hosted the Dash. That would not be the last time those two would cross paths because two years later they played a rematch, this time in the Dash field. That was the first time a Mexican team would venture itself into American soil.

Belén Cruz vs Allysha Chapman at PNC Stadium (credit: Tigres)
Belén Cruz vs Allysha Chapman at PNC Stadium (credit: Tigres)

The Dash, with former coach James Clarkson at the helm, was back then the only NWSL club willing to compete with Mexican teams. A year after the second game against Tigres, they faced Pumas in the 2022 preseason.

By that year, more NWSL teams started to imitate Houston. After establishing records of attendance for a Panamerican league and the Regio teams—Monterrey and Tigres—showing great quality, Mexican clubs started to be included in the conversation. That’s how Rayadas ended up playing the Women’s International Champions Cup in 2022 and beating the Portland Thorns, making it to the highlights of the entire women’s soccer world.

By then, Angel City was playing its first NWSL season, and since the beginning, they’ve made efforts to make their Latino community feel included. In accordance with that, it was announced last May that Angel City and Tigres had signed a partnership for two years, which includes some friendlies among other collaborations.

What is more, Angel City couldn’t resist the appeal Club América has nowadays and invited them to play a friendly on the upcoming Women’s Day on March 8 at Banc of California Stadium.

European teams joining the fun

This year couldn’t have started in a better way for the league, especially for Tigres. Last January, they announced a partnership with one of the mightiest clubs in Germany: Bayern Munich. Said partnership was sealed with a friendly between the teams at the Universitario stadium, with the host getting the win.

In February, Club América announced an alliance with the eight-time Champions League winner Olympique Lyonnais and three-time NWSL Shield winner, OL Reign.

Club América, OL Reign and Olympique Lyonnais closed an historic partnership (credit: Club América)
Club América, OL Reign and Olympique Lyonnais closed a historic partnership (credit: Club América)

The partnership with those top teams is one anyone in the world would want. The clubs will share knowledge and skills, exchange information, and play friendlies between them. The deal involves both senior teams and the academies.

The partnership with the OL Group came only six months after America played against German club Bayer Leverkusen, the first European club they crossed paths with.

Tigres’ success and fame internationally are unquestionable, and more teams have been trying to seat with them at the adult table. It was 2020 when Club América assigned Claudia Carrión as sports director, and she has been working hard to put the women’s team on the map ever since. Carrión is responsible for many important player signings, among them club-favorite and former Chicago Red Star Sarah Luebbert.

But what about the other teams? Partnerships and friendlies are being established, little by little. The latest was North Carolina Courage with Rayadas de Monterrey. Both clubs announced they’re playing a couple of friendlies, with the first of them set for March on Mexican soil. Coach Eva Espejo’s team will travel to the United States later this year, at a date to be determined, to see if they can obtain their second victory against an NWSL team.

Giving players a choice

Historically, Mexican players drafted by NWSL teams have had little to no playing time in the league. Some even didn’t get offered a contract after being drafted, and that forced them to look for opportunities somewhere else. Spain was the desired destination for many, but some, like Tigres striker Stephany Mayor, went as far as Iceland to find a team where she would get minutes.

Another good example of this is Club América forward Kiana Palacios. She was drafted by Sky Blue in 2018. After not being offered a contract, she received an offer from the Spaniard club Real Sociedad. Three years later, she landed at Coapa and started, little by little, to become one of the most prolific goal-scorers in the league.

Kiana Palacios is, along with Charlyn Corral, one of the top goalscorers in the Liga MX Femenil (credit: Club América)
Kiana Palacios is one of the top goal-scorers in the Liga MX Femenil (credit: Club América)

Another americanista who put her name in the NWSL Draft was Scarlett Camberos. In her case, however, she wasn’t drafted by any club. She said last year that back then she did have offers to play in the United States, but after seeing Club América’s facilities, the fans, the training fields, and the Azteca Stadium, she decided to play in México. Camberos is now one of the best on the team and a fan favorite.

Maybe the most resounding case of a player from the United States going to Mexico was forward Mia Fishel. In 2022, she was drafted fifth overall by the Orlando Pride, where her former college coach was. So it was a big slap in the face to the club when it was announced that she was going to play for Tigres instead.

“What I did was historic,” said Fishel back then, and rightly so. She became the first American player to choose to play in Mexico just because she could—and not because she wasn’t wanted in the NWSL. “The rate at which the league has been growing was also very appealing. They’ve only been here for five years or so, and the global media recognition, the passionate fans, playing in [large] stadiums, you just don’t get that in the U.S.,” she said.

Players going from the United States to play in Mexico were the norm until 2021. Last year was historic for the league transfer-wise. In January, Tigres announced they closed a deal with Angel City FC for the Brazilian player Stefany Ferrer. Almost a year later, they closed another deal; this time with Racing Louisville FC for the Nigerian player Uchenna Kanu. Days later, former Rayadas midfielder Bárbara Olivieri was announced as the new Houston Dash signing.

Previous examples show how much these and many other players just needed an opportunity to showcase their talent—and Mexico gave them that chance. Winger María Sanchez was drafted by Chicago Red Stars in 2019, but had only seven appearances in the entire season. The lack of minutes led her to go to Mexico, where she played for Chivas and a year later for Tigres. Once she had her opportunity to showcase her skills to the world, she picked the Dash interest, and they signed her on loan in 2021. A year later, Houston offered her a two-year contract.

Luebbert won the hearts of the fans when she went on loan to Club América, also searching for playing time. She would go back to Chicago in 2022, while Mexican fans would beg for her return. Their prayers were heard, and by the end of the same year, Chicago announced they transferred her permanently to the Coapa club.

The addition of Spanish international Jennifer Hermoso by Pachuca in 2022 left everybody shocked, but it was a great statement made by a club that has bet on their women’s team from the beginning. No wonder another Mexican star who had already left her mark in the Spanish league Spain, Charlyn Corral, decided to play in the same club as well.

As seasons go by, more and more internationals are interested in going to Mexico, and rightly so. The playing time, the quality many of the clubs enjoy, and the salaries are things many players don’t get in their home country leagues.

Still developing

Mexico still has a lot of work to do. Their national team not qualifying for the World Cup was a huge blow, not only to the program but to the self-esteem of the players that week-in and week-out put on great performances for their clubs.

Nonetheless, it seems like the federation has learned from this and started to rebuild its women’s program from the ashes, with a new women’s national team director position and a new coach.

And even though they’re not going to the World Cup this July, they’re not using this year to take a break. They’re using every international window to compete and learn, to test what works and does what not.

Most recently Mexico hosted the Revelations Cup, where they went against three national teams that have qualified for the World Cup in Costa Rica, Colombia, and Nigeria. In the end, Mexico had to battle against the always-tough Colombia and finished raising the Cup.

Another thing they should put their focus on is players’ safety. It has been known that in the past “fans” have been threatened players, stealing their identities, hacking their accounts, harrying and harassing them. And that keeps happening. Tigres center back Greta Espinoza went through this, and recently asked for action in support of América’s Scarlett Camberos, who’s unfortunately going through the same thing.

“The level of harassment I suffered was documented in over 100 slides with irrefutable evidence, and nothing was enough to stop this individual from stopping with the harassment,” Espinoza said on her social media channels. In the same message, she demanded laws to protect them.

Players’ safety should be Mexico soccer’s top priority—especially in a country known for, as Espinoza put it, a “delicate history of frequent harassment towards women and [where] the vast majority of these cases go unpunished.”

Mexico wants to be a powerhouse in women’s soccer, and they’re doing their utmost to reach their goal. That starts with their league, which is one of the most well-organized in the continent—you get the new season schedule two weeks after a tournament is over—and ends with their national team.

If they do things right, in four years they should qualify for the 2027 World Cup with flying colors. And their league will stand among some of the best leagues in the world.

Categories
International Not Soccer Soccer

Shoot for the (Four) Stars

Photo by Nikita Taparia. Edited by Leo Baudhuin.

We’re in quarantine. Sports are on hold indefinitely. I don’t know about the rest of y’all, but I’m getting tired of watching a ridiculous amount of Degrassi: The Next Generation—a show I chose purely because it has almost 400 episodes—in between pretending to do work for my online classes. So what else is there?

Watching old soccer games? Can be fun, but if you’re like me, you have a hard time focusing for an hour and a half on a sports match you’ve already seen. (Especially if you end up thinking about the current lack of sports and feeling sad about that instead.)

Books? Sure. I recently finished There There, which I definitely recommend checking out if you haven’t yet. I’m now working my way through a book about consciousness and octopuses—maybe more on that in a week or two. The thing is, I can only spend so much time reading every day, so that can’t be the only thing in my life.

Astrology? Now we’re onto something. I started a comparison between Jill Ellis’s and Vlatko Andonovski’s charts a couple months ago out of curiosity; I wanted to know what the stars had to say about their different coaching styles and appearances in the eyes of fans. While I never fully put anything together then, now seems like the perfect time to change that.

Photo by Nikita Taparia.

At its most basic level, astrology is about planets, signs, and houses. These are usually explained in terms of energy. Planets identify what energy is being dealt with—for instance, the sun describes one’s most basic self, while Mercury is about intellect and communication. Signs explain how that energy manifests itself, and houses express the areas of life in which that energy appears. For the purposes of this piece, I’m looking just at the first two, as the placement of houses changes every two hours and I don’t know Ellis’s or Andonovski’s exact time of birth. I’m also focusing on the inner, “personal,” planets, those which reflect on one’s individual personality.

Jill Ellis’ natal chart.

As mentioned above, one’s sun sign describes their most fundamental self. It’s the one we talk about when discussing astrology more generally—you’re usually an Aries if you’re born between March 21 and April 20, a Taurus from April 21 to May 20, and so on. In both Ellis’s and Andonovski’s cases, the sun falls in Virgo.

Vlatko Andonovski’s natal chart.

First and foremost, Virgos are analytical, always evaluating and fine-tuning details. Industrious and pragmatic, this placement bodes well for someone who coaches soccer at its highest level; it lends itself to a technical and tactically creative read of the game. We can see this in Ellis’s array of experimental formations and in Andonovski’s willingness to adapt his game plan in accordance with the strengths and weaknesses of the opponent. The stereotypical Virgo trait of attention to detail is relevant here as well; it speaks to both these coaches’ drive for constant improvement.

Moving down their charts, both coaches’ signs again align, as they both have moons in Taurus. While the sun represents one’s most basic identity, the moon turns this focus inwards to emotions and the subconscious self. Taurus is represented by the bull; it centers around stability and dependability. This placement tells us that Ellis and Andonovski are fundamentally nurturing people who are in control of their emotions.

As alluded to earlier, Mercury placements tell us about thinking and communication. For Ellis, this planet is again in Virgo, focused on practicality and logic. We see this in her trial-and-error approach when it comes to lineups—the infamous Allie Long in the center of a three-back experiment comes to mind. However, Ellis’s reason-based method of thinking also has its clear advantages, most notably when she outcoached Phil Neville’s England side in the 2019 World Cup semifinal. (Neville is an Aquarius, Capricorn Mercury, if you were wondering.)

Andonovski’s Mercury falls in Libra. Symbolized by a set of scales, Libra is about diplomacy and balance. This manifests itself in the way Andonovski manages his teams—he emphasized that the Reign FC squad was a family throughout the 2019 season, a clear indication of his value of unity. The Libra trait of conflict avoidance is also evident in Andonovski’s coaching; he tends to avoid direct play in favor of building through cohesive teamwork and picking the moments to strike.

Venus tells us about relationships—romantic or otherwise—and creativity. Libra is again present for Andonovski here. In this case, his chart tells us that he’s easy to get along with, something supported by the seemingly unanimous praise we hear from his players. Libra Venuses also thrive when expressing their imagination; Andonovski’s love of the game shines through in his meticulous research and tactically adaptable style of coaching. 

In contrast, Ellis’ Venus is located in Leo, a sign associated with loyalty, pride, and radiance. Those with this placement are often charismatic in interpersonal relationships and crave admiration. Additionally, Leo Venuses are more likely to possess extravagant material belongings—or in Ellis’ case, to have peacocks basically living in her yard. 

Leo also appears in Mars on Ellis’ chart. The planet tied to physical drive and initiative, a Leo Mars often indicates a visionary nature. This tends to make one a good leader, so long as their ego doesn’t get in the way. In Ellis’ case, this allowed her to confidently lead the USWNT for a number of years, although a conflict between pride and the humbling detail-oriented nature of her sun and Mercury could have led to thoroughness in some areas and an overconfident lack of oversight in others. 

Like the other two inner planets, Andonovski’s Mars is in Libra. When three planets—or four, depending on who you ask—fall in the same sign or house, the energy described by that placement is often enhanced. (This is called a stellium.)

Libra Mars leads to the channeling of energy into intellectual or artistic pursuits. Whereas Mars often describes impulsive action, those with Libra placements are often more measured; they tend to consider all sides before making a decision. For Andonovski, this only accentuates his strengths as a coach. He is decisive, but not without ignoring reason.

Ellis exited the job of USWNT head coach boasting a 106-7-19 record and two World Cups, numbers that make it hard to dispute her success. While of course this isn’t fully due to her star chart, and of course the circumstances of one’s birth aren’t the sole indicator of whether or not one will be a good coach, Ellis’s placements lend themselves to confidence and intelligence in her work. While the same signs do not appear in all areas of Andonovski’s chart, that he and Ellis share sun and moon signs indicate that the calm analysis of Ellis’s coaching will not be lost. And a little more emphasis on teamwork never hurt anyone.

Categories
International Soccer Thorns

What Did it Mean? Looking Back at the 2019 World Cup

Photo by Nikita Taparia

Ed. note: this story was intended for publication in October 2019. Due to the vagaries of the media business, it never saw the light of day. We hope you’ll enjoy it as you practice social distancing.

France 2019 will be remembered as a big moment for women’s soccer, I think. In its wake, NWSL attendance experienced what looks—tentatively—more like a rising tide than a wave. In Europe, it catalyzed record sponsorships for clubs and leagues. The hype around it is part of what pushed longtime holdouts from the women’s game, including Real Madrid, to throw their hats in the ring. What’s going to be forgotten—what’s always forgotten about World Cups, on either side of the gender divide—is how much of the competition was brutally sad.

Inequality shapes everything about our world, so of course it also shapes the world’s game, much as we like to believe soccer is a sport that rewards talent, nerve, and perseverance above all. The mythos of the sport says that it only takes a ball to play, and that its heroes come from slums and favelas and banlieues.

And all that—it’s not not true, exactly. Fara Williams really was homeless for six years as a teenager. Nadia Nadim really did learn to play soccer while living in a refugee camp. We love those stories, both because they’re inspiring and because they let us believe soccer exists on a more egalitarian and meritocratic plane of being than ordinary life does.

But at a World Cup, where the teams competing run such a complete gamut from good to bad, rich to poor, the truth comes out. Inequality defines the competition. It’s rarely said directly, because it’s not a nice thing to say, but the majority of the field is always teams that stand literally no chance of winning.

As in every other facet of life, the gap between the haves and the have-nots is bigger on the women’s side than on the men’s side. Plenty has been written on the subject of the massive and universal underinvestment in the women’s game, so rather than repeating any of that, I will simply say that the spectacle of this sport is something I find increasingly hard to participate in.

The social media zeitgeist takes on a specific tone any time there’s a particularly wild game, every tweet screaming “WHAT IS HAPPENING???” and “OH SHIIIIIT!!” I get that this is fun, and I genuinely take no enjoyment in pointing out that too often, at the World Cup, those moments involve teams beset with dysfunction. Australia-Brazil, which ended 3-2, was one such game—Australia, which fired its head coach less than six months before the tournament, edging out Brazil, whose federation has always chosen to pin its hopes on Marta rather than actually investing in the women’s game. The generational talents who have been let down by this sport’s power structures are far too many to name here.

Photo by Nikita Taparia

I could try to list all the other times this tournament broke my heart: the time France got to retake a penalty because VAR ruled that Nigeria’s keeper came off her line a fraction of a second early, and won the game as a result. The time Argentina, the worst-supported team in the tournament, came back from a three-goal deficit against Scotland only to have their hopes at a win—which would have sent them to the knockout stage—dashed when the referee cut stoppage time short.

But there is one moment that serves as the tragic, surreal nadir of the whole thing: Cameroon-England.

The social contract in sport rests on the mandate that losers must lose gracefully. So when things didn’t go Cameroon’s way against England, their reaction—not just complaining, but raging, crying, fouling left and right, looking like they were about to either start a fight or walk off the field—was more shocking than an upset win would have been.

It was the most bizarre spectacle to have taken place on a soccer field in recent memory, and the English press, especially, was eager to decry it as “DISGRACEFUL” and “SHAMEFUL.” The fact that the perpetrators were women no doubt worsened the shock to delicate sensibilities.

Taking a step back and thinking about the gargantuan disparity between these two soccer teams, though, you almost have to wonder that such displays aren’t more common. England is a team of professionals who play in a competitive league that recently received a £10 million sponsorship from Barclay’s. Meanwhile, the top-tier competition in Cameroon is one that has been described by Cameroonian journalist Njie Enow as “an underfunded domestic championship staged in appalling conditions.” These two teams compete under a common set of rules, but that’s the only parity that exists between them.

And as it does everywhere, sexism amplifies such inequality. Every women’s team is underfunded compared with their male counterparts. Federations spend money on the men hoping that investment will bring success, while women’s teams aren’t even noticed until they start winning—if they’re given a chance to play at all.

What Cameroon did was not sportsmanlike—but one effect of sportsmanship is to provide a glossy cover for the profound unfairness that shapes our world. At some point, we have to look in the mirror and ask why we value the appearance of cooperation and equality more than the conditions of players’ lives—more, in other words, than actual cooperation and equality.

Photo by Nikita Taparia

It is at least counterintuitive, and perhaps simply hypocritical of me, to use that moment, the spiritual low point of the World Cup, as framing for what came next.

Heading into the tournament, I did not know how I was going to feel about the US women, the team that, once upon a time, made me fall in love with this sport. The CONCACAF qualifying tournament back in October was an even bleaker showcase of inequality than the group stage of the World Cup, and if the USWNT’s utter dominance in women’s soccer wasn’t embarrassing enough, you may have noticed that this is not an era when it feels particularly good to be an American.

And then, come the knockout rounds, I found myself rooting for them—not resignedly or out of some sense of obligation, but really, from the depths of my heart, wanting this team to win.

If there’s one strictly soccer-related lesson from France 2019, it’s that the US remains, and likely will remain for some time, the best women’s soccer team in the world. It is not close. They had by far the most challenging schedule of any team, and hardly broke a sweat as they beat both France and England. None of the other supposed contenders—Australia, Germany, Japan—ever looked like possible world champions. There should never have been a question that the US was going to repeat their 2015 victory.

All this, of course, epitomizes the unfairness I spent the first half of this essay detailing. We live in the richest and most powerful country on earth, and our women’s national team is the best-supported in the world. We are Goliath and everyone else is David.

But the reason for that huge disparity doesn’t boil down to a simple question of GDP. Of course it does have to do with that, but it also has to do with the fact that 50 years ago, this country did one small thing right for American women, in passing Title IX, which made it normal for girls to play soccer at a time when that was illegal in many traditional footballing countries.

In simply giving girls the opportunity to play sports, this law converted our huge population into a huge player pool, something you can still see in the USWNT’s incomparable depth: the 2019 roster comfortably contains two full lineups that would be in the top five in the world. That says something about who we are as a country, or at least who we aspire to be. I have never had a lot of patriotic feelings, but I’m proud of that.

Photo by Nikita Taparia

Somewhere in the multiverse, there’s a version of earth where women’s soccer is just as popular as men’s, where poverty doesn’t exist, where people can live how they want to live and be who they want to be regardless of where they were born, what they look like, who they love. We do not live in that world. We live in a world where the president of the most powerful country on earth has openly bragged about committing sexual assault.

And in this world, the US women’s national team—the whole institution, but especially this particular US women’s national team—is a rare and special thing. It’s a comfort.

Earlier, I wrote that soccer doesn’t exist on some higher plane where injustice vanishes—and our women’s national team is subject to the coarse vulgarity of sexism and homophobia and racism and everything else. But watching them win the World Cup, it felt like they were above all that.

The 2019 USWNT was the best, on the field, that they have ever been, and I hope it’s not too corny of me to say they were the best off the field, too.

That clip of Megan Rapinoe saying she wasn’t going to the fucking White House? That clip was a month old by the time it blew up on social media. We should never have been talking about it. But so help me, I liked it. The virality of that moment was intentional, and not in a way that benefitted her or her teammates—but she handled it with remarkable grace and composure.

For the first time in their history, this team was not concerned with projecting an image of family-friendly wholesomeness. They swore in public and celebrated with abandon. They were, as a group, incredibly gay. What they projected, instead of the traditional dumbed-down, for-all-the-little-girls-out-there image, was one of strength and outspokenness and pride, as 23 women who play soccer.

Photo by Nikita Taparia

And whatever base stupidity anyone tried to level at them simply bounced off, because they won, and did it in an absolutely clear and irreproachable fashion. Win like that, and you’re untouchable. All the nonsense about the goal celebrations, all memory of our idiot president tweeting at Rapinoe, faded into background noise as they sprayed Budweiser on each other and yelled “I’ma knock the pussy out like fight night!” in unison (it’s a Migos song).

This is the paradox sports present us with. They exist firmly in our mercilessly unfair reality, but at their best, they involve a suspension of disbelief that lets us forget that reality. I hope, without much optimism, that by the next World Cup, our reality might be a little less unfair. But even if it’s not, this tournament is the kind of space that’s much too rare—one where sometimes, good guys win.