In what can only be classified as a fitting finale in the storybook of U.S. soccer, the USWNT defeated Mexico 3-0 in the nation’s final match of the Send-Off Series. Tobin Heath, Mal Pugh and Christen Press were on the scoresheet for the U.S., putting the finishing touches on a series of friendly matches in which the defending world champions outscored three opponents by a total score of 11-0.
The 2018 Liga MX Femenil Apertura Final commenced Tuesday with the first leg between Club América and Tigres at the Estadio Azteca. Given the poor state of the Azteca pitch and since the men’s Liga MX final pits América versus Cruz Azul (both tenants of the Azteca) on Dec. 13 and Dec. 16, the Femenil final was given the shaft — the game was played on a Tuesday with a 4 p.m. kickoff.
Clàudia Pina was the best player at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup. She made sure she played for the best team with a sublime performance in the final against Mexico.
Pina scored twice in the opening 26 minutes to propel Spain to a 2-1 win over Mexico in the U-17 Women’s World Cup final on Saturday in Montevideo, Uruguay.
¡¡¡SOMOS CAMPEONAS DEL MUNDO!!! ¡¡¡SIIIIIIIIII!!! ¡¡¡VAMOSSSSS!!! ¡¡¡SOMOS DE ORO!!!
While many soccer fans in Mexico will be paying attention to the Liga MX playoffs, which begin Wednesday night, or Tecatito becoming the first Mexican to score in three straight Champions League matches, the biggest news out of Mexican football this week comes not from Mexico or Europe but from Uruguay, where the U-17 Women's World Cup is reaching its climax.
Marbella “Mar” Ibarra, 44, was found wrapped in plastic and beaten to death in Rosarito, south of Tijuana, early Monday morning. Ibarra was a pioneer for the women’s game in Mexico, using the profits from her beauty salon in Tijuana to start amateur club Isamar FC.
For Mexico, how things have played out in the past week of the CONCACAF Women’s Championship has been nothing short of a disaster.
Storms clouds seemed to loom for the team right from the start in its opening Group A match against the U.S. No one really expected the Mexicans to beat the Americans, but they were certainly supposed to give them a game. They couldn’t do that.
The U.S. women’s national team opened World Cup qualifying with a goal in the second minute against Mexico. The USWNT absolutely dominated the rest of the half without finding another goal.
The second half, though, was another story.
An upset in sports is a tale of the split-screen day. One team — the emboldened underdog — rides the highest of highs, storming the field and reveling in its victory as it has just pulled off the seemingly impossible. The other team — the deflated heavyweight — is humbled and humiliated, slumping off into the locker room and being forced to grapple with a reality it had never considered.
November 5, 2010, was one of those split-screen days.
Mexico, the emboldened underdog. The United States, the deflated heavyweight.
Liga MX Femenil is in its second full year of operation, but if a match this week between Tigres and Chivas is any indication, the rivalries are starting to form.
A top-of-the-table clash between UANL and Guadalajara ended with four players being sent off, two from each team. Tigres won 3-1 on Monday to push their lead to four points over Chivas in Grupo 2 of the 18-team Liga MX Femenil Apertura.
All four goals were scored in the first half. A double from Katty Martínez in the first seven minutes put UANL on the path to victory.
A weekend of petulance, playacting and red cards in Liga MX sent Tigres manager Tuca Ferretti over the edge, a reaction that was largely triggered after Guido Pizarro was given a straight red card in the 23rd minute for a fairly innocuous piece of contact with Toluca’s Luis Mendoza.