Fútnotes, Volume 2

All the WoSo news that's fit to print, and then some.

January 30, 2023

I realized I blitzed everyone with newsletters last week, so first let me apologize for that. Hopefully you’re ok with some growing pains in this process. I’ll be doing Fútnotes on Mondays to keep things a bit more evenly spaced.

Despite there not being a lot of time since the last edition came out, plenty has happened in México and abroad. Not mentioned here is that most Latin American clubs are in the process of signing new players and gearing up for their seasons starting.

México

Don’t forget, there are four Liga MX Femenil games today. Three are available for viewing (legally) in the United States.

The International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS) released their 2022 Women’s Club World Ranking, and five Mexican Clubs made the Top 40: Chivas (#17), Tigres (#20), Rayadas (#24), Cruz Azul (#29), and América (#30).

The Nigerian Football Federation may have inadvertently leaked a transfer, showing forward Chinwendu Ihezuo as being with Rayadas de Monterrey. I reached out to the club for confirmation of Ihezuo’s status but as of publishing this have not heard back.

Pachuca announced the signing of Penn State University defender Jillian Jennings. Jennings joins Vanessa Millsaps (University of Washington) and Leyla McFarland (Pepperdine University) as Tuzos Femenil signings straight from NCAA Division 1 schools.

Puebla signed Brenda García, who was released from Tijuana at the end of last season. One of the players still in the league from the 2017 Copa Liga MX Femenil, García has also played for Necaxa, Cruz Azul, and San Luis.

Pumas reports Aerial Chavarin underwent successful surgery to repair the meniscus in her right knee, injured in this weekend’s match against Pachuca. Recovery time is expected to be 4-8 weeks.

Jenni Hermoso has signed with The Marketing Jersey, an athlete management agency based in the United States and México.

Rest of the World

Concacaf and CONMEBOL announced a strategic partnership that will see the top four CONMEBOL national teams (Brasil, Colombia, Argentina, and Paraguay) playing in the 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup. They’re also going to “organize a centralized ‘final four’ style club competition featuring the best clubs from the respective confederations.” You can read about it from both Concacaf (in English) and CONMEBOL (en Español).

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that there will be NWSL expansion teams in the San Francisco Bay Area and Utah in 2024, with a Boston team “launching later.” This is exciting news, and hopefully this signals that further expansion into markets like Atlanta and Philadelphia won’t be far behind.

After announcing that she and wife Gunny Jónsdóttir were leaving Orlando and heading to Iceland, Erin McLeod announced she was retiring from international soccer. McLeod has 119 caps with Canada, winning a gold medal in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

Mia Corbin, who had an outstanding season with Costa Rica’s Alajuelense last year, signed with Parma in Italy’s Serie A Femminile. Corbin had a combined 39 goals in the Primera División and UNCAF (Central American club tournament).

Orlando Pride draft pick Messiah Bright wrote her younger self a letter, and it’s amazing.

Don’t ever let them tell you no one pays attention to women’s soccer.

If you have something that should be included in this segment, please reach out to me via twitter or email me at [email protected].