Mexico’s women’s national team will be one of the teams representing CONCACAF at the Women’s World Cup this summer in Canada, alongside the hosts, Costa Rica, and the United States. Mexico has only made it to the World Cup two other times, failing to impress in both instances. The U.S. women’s team has long been ahead of the world when it comes to the women’s game, both in terms of youth development and opportunities for adults to flourish and develop as players. If only Mexico would have seen the importance of having a strong structure in place years ago, they wouldn’t be playing catch up to their greatest rivals.
Even though Mexico is playing catch up, at least there has been a lot of talk of “building” from the Mexican camp. “We have a young squad who still need to mature in order to improve certain aspects of the game”, said Leonardo Cuellar, Mexico’s head coach. Leonardo also said “We have the talent to build this team.” Mexico’s head coach mentioned this after winning the 3rd place match against Trinidad and Tobago, during the 2014 CONCACAF Women’s Championship. From the sound of it, I think the head coach understands the team is a few years off from really winning a world cup. Talk of building goes to shows that the Mexican Federation has realized that in order for them to compete, the country needs to seriously consider how they develop youth players.
Just as important as development, however, is the need for Mexican fans to rally in support of their women’s team. Mexico’s women’s team needs more fan support. It’s not just about the men’s team, which is always under a lot of pressure to perform not only during regional competitions, but world competitions as well. El Tri Fans would riot if the men’s team failed to make it to the World Cup or if they failed to get out of the group stage in the Gold Cup, and the women’s team just doesn’t have that same passionate following.
Alright, riots might be a bit of an exaggeration, but the reality is there. Fans have high expectations of our men’s team. If only we had the same expectations of our women’s team. For example – it’s not okay for Mexico’s women’s team to lose to the United States 3-0 in a semi-final of a CONCACAF Championship, as they did in the most recent competition, but most El Tri fans hardly batted an eyelash. For Leonardo Cuellar’s “building” to continue, fans need to also build their passion for the women’s team. We need to raise awareness of their games and rally behind them, as we do with the men’s team.
Fans will eventually have high expectations of the women’s team. Strides have been made to develop the women’s game in Mexico. 95 per cent of the squad that will represent Mexico is made up of home-grown talent. This goes to show the importance that is being placed on youth development. This is just one piece of the puzzle. If Mexico really wants to compete against the likes of the United States and Germany, they would have to do the following: have a well-structured national league, and raise awareness of the women’s game.
Right now Mexico’s women’s team needs to continue to build and they’ll have the chance to do so this summer. Stuck in a difficult group, Mexico will truly have to shine to reach the second stage. In group F, they will face France, England, and Colombia. They will kick off their world cup campaign against Colombia on June 9th. Don’t miss it!
