Fútnotes, Volume 54

I can’t wait for the W Gold Cup to start. Concacaf’s national team tournament is set to kick off on Tuesday, February 20 and will feature eight teams from the confederation plus four from CONMEBOL. While the usual suspects from Concacaf will be there, I’m going to be more interested in seeing how the three teams that won the last round of qualifiers to actually make the tournament do, because I think there is a lot of untapped potential in all three teams.

The Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and El Salvador all qualified through a one-game playoff against Guyana, Haiti, and Guatemala respectively, and while those three nations are all in various places in their journeys, the three that made it are all in relatively similar situations. All three have faced adversity from their federations in recent history (an unfortunate theme throughout women’s soccer, but I digress…), however all three have also seemingly come to be in a good place with the federations. All three are also fledgling programs that rely on diaspora in lieu of homegrown players and lean heavily on the college system in the United States. All three have large populations in the US, and hopefully that will translate into fans in the stands.

From the Vault: Dominican Republic Women's National Team prepares for the Concacaf W Gold Cup in Delaware

While it might be a stretch to imagine any of these three teams lifting the trophy in March, these programs should use this tournament as both a pedestal on which to elevate the women’s game in their respective countries as well as a measuring stick to see how far they have to go in order to compete with some of the giants of the Western Hemisphere. All three programs have come a long way and can be proud of being where they are while simultaneously looking at ways to improve. I’m pulling for all of them.

México

FC Juárez mourns the loss of varonil (men’s) player Diego “El Puma” Chávez, who was killed in a car accident on February 14. My heart goes out to all with the FC Juárez organization. (FC Juárez)

I enjoyed this interview with Desirée Monsiváis, where she talked about her role with Pumas, the Liga MX Femenil goal scoring race, and her plans after she hangs up her boots. (Liga MX Femenil)

Atlas Femenil games will not be broadcast in México on FOX Sports Mexico after the network “systematically and repeatedly failed to comply, since July 2023, with all of its payment obligations for the rights to broadcast the home matches of Atlas FC Femenil,” according to a press release from the club. Matches in the US will still be available on FOX Deportes, which is separate from FOX Sports Mexico. (Atlas FC)

Santos Femenil also released a statement saying they too would not be broadcast on FOX Sports Mexico. Both Santos and Atlas are owned by Grupo Orlegi. (Santos Femnil via Twitter/X)

Taking advantage of their weird break in the Liga MX Femenil schedule, Tigres and Atlas played a friendly on Sunday, February 18. Tigres won 3-2 on a brace from Konya Plummer and a goal from Fer Elizondo. (Tigres via Twitter/X) Atlas’ goals were scored by Ashley López and Paola García. (Atlas FC) 

Norma Palafox will miss some time with a fissure in the fifth metatarsal in her right foot. (FC Juárez)

México and Tigres goalkeeper Ceci Santiago will miss the W Gold Cup with a fractured fourth metacarpal bone in her right hand. (Tigres Femenil via Twitter/X)

Pamela Tajonar was called up to replace Santiago as México starts the W Gold Cup. (Rayadas)

México and Australia will play a friendly in San Antonio, Texas on April 9. (Matildas)

Thank you for reading Golazo del Gringo! If you enjoyed reading this post, please share it with anyone who enjoys women’s soccer.

Rest of the World

Samantha Lewis of Australia’s ABC put together a wonderful article looking at the North Korean women’s national team. (ABC Sport)

The Glaswegian Derby between Celtic and Rangers took a bit of an unexpected turn when hosts Rangers cancelled all tickets bought by Celtic fans after it was “suggested groups of ‘risk’ supporters in a significant number had purchased tickets from the Celtic allocation.” (Rangers FC)

Squad Depth did a nice look at the W Gold Cup qualifiers.

This was a great breakdown on the ever-increasing world of transfer fees in women’s soccer, which seem to be breaking records daily at this point. (Impetus)

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].

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