Liga MX Femenil recap: 2022 Clausura, Week 13

The first three teams have qualified for the Liguilla, with Monterrey, Tigres, and Chivas all punching their tickets to play into the second week in May. América and Pachuca are close, and should wrap up their quest for the postseason this week. The remaining three spots will be a dogfight however. Currently Atlas, Pumas, and Tijuana are in with 17, 16, and 14 points respectively. However, six teams are within three points of that final spot, and with teams having played an unequal number of games, no one in the Liguilla standing should feel safe and no one outside of the top eight should be counted out. FC Juárez won their second game of the season this week and despite being in last place are only seven points out of a playoff spot with a game in hand, having five games left to play to Tijuana’s four.

FC Juárez 1, UNAM Pumas 0: Juárez picked up their second win of the season, downing Pumas 1-0 at Estadio Olímpico Benito Juárez. Perla Navarrete got the game’s lone goal in the 65th on a worldie from Perla Navarrete. Juárez gets their first win since a 3-1 win over León in Week 2, while Pumas lost their first match in five games.

Monterrey 3, Santos Laguna 1: Rayadas got back to their winning ways, but Santos Laguna didn’t make it easy for the hosts. Both teams were fairly even until Yamile Franco put Monterrey up in the 34th minute, hitting a free kick that evaded the defense and one-hopped into the back of the net. Three minutes later, La Arquitecta del Gol Desirée Monsiváis got a ball at the top of the box, turned, and fired one past Paola Calderón to make it 2-0 for the hosts. Marcela Valera drew one back in the 62nd, heading in a Cinthya Peraza free kick that was headed into the air by Rayadas defender Alejandra Calderón to draw Santos within one. Try as they might however they simply couldn’t put another one past Alex Godínez, and Barbara Olivieri added an insurance goal from close range late to ensure Rayadas clinched a Liguilla berth.

Puebla F.C. 1, América 1: América could have also clinched a Liguilla berth with a win, but fell short in a 1-1 draw against Puebla. Puebla played a fantastic game, and América looked on the ropes for most of the match. Puebla looked like they could have had a penalty in the 18th minute when a corner kick into the box was kicked into an América player, appearing to hit them in the arm, but no call was made. Puebla got their goal however in the 35th minute when Jessica Tenorio got her head onto a cross into the box. Puebla gave up a penalty in the 42nd minute when goalkeeper Brissa Rangel collided with Scarlett Camberos in the box. Katty Martínez however smashed her penalty attempt into the post to Rangel’s left, leaving the hosts with the lead going in to the break. Shortly after halftime however América drew level with Sarah Luebbert taking a nice through ball from Jocelyn Orejel, driving into the box, and firing a shot past Rangel. Both teams had decent chances throughout the second half, but ultimately the match ended in a draw.

Other scores:

Cruz Azul 2, Atlas 1

Club Atlético de San Luis 0, Tigres UANL 6

Toluca 3, Gallos Blancos de Querétaro 0

Pachuca 5, Mazatlán FC 0

León 0, Guadalajara 2

Club Tijuana 1, Necaxa 1

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Sub 17 results

Week 12

Toluca 3, Gallos Blancos de Querétaro 3

León 0, Guadalajara 0

Santos Laguna 3, Mazatlán FC 0

Puebla F.C. 1, Necaxa 2

Club Atlético de San Luis 2, Monterrey 2

Club Tijuana 1, Tigres UANL 4

Cruz Azul 2, FC Juárez 1

Pachuca 2, UNAM Pumas 1

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Notes and other things

I don’t like self-promotion, because there are so many great people in this space that I’d rather lift up. But I do want to talk about some cool things I’ve done in this space. First, I did a twitter space with Multilingua F.C. to talk about the relationship between México and the United States, and how soccer is one tool that can be used to bridge cultural divides. I also talk about how I got into Mexican soccer and tell a story about doing my first interview in Spanish (hint: it didn’t go well).

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I also am doing a segment for The WoSo Collective with André Carlisle on worldies. Highlighting the best goals in the world, including a lot from Liga MX Femenil. Hope you enjoy this one, and stay tuned for the next one.

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Cruz Azul Femenil U17 player Adriana Ortíz was taken to the hospital after being struck in the face with a ball in the 41st minute for the U17s match against FC Juárez. Though she suffered a traumatic brain injury, she has been released from the hospital to recover at home under the supervision of specialists and club physicians. We wish Adriana a speedy and full recovery.

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The Gabonese Football Federation came under fire from FIFPRO for a host of allegations, including covering up over two decades of sexual abuse against Gabonese players which FEGAFOOT (the Gabonese Football Association) knew about and did nothing about. Absolutely horrifying, and hopefully FIFPRO and FIFA will bring about changes in FEGAFOOT to ensure players are protected and abusers are dealt with appropriately.

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Pachuca fired head coach Octavio Valdéz “in strict adherence to our regulations, which promote order, discipline, and coexistence.” While it’s not spelled out exactly what Valdéz did, it can’t be good. To put it in context, that statement with that wording was released about a coach who has lead a team to a 9-1-3 record days before they’re set to play Monterrey.

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Kudzi Musarurwa interviewed México National Team and Stade de Reims goalkeeper Emily Alvarado for All For XI as part of her ongoing series about goalkeepers. This one is a great read and really gets into Alvarado’s path through soccer as well as the nuances of being a goalkeeper.

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Suzy Wrack has a new newsletter with The Guardian. While primarily England- and Eurocentric, Wrack is one of the best English language soccer writers out there.

India lost to Bangladesh but won the South Asian Football Federation U18 tournament for the first time thanks to a better goal differential. This was India’s first time winning the tournament, with Bangladesh winning the previous two. In a show of respect, the Indian team formed a tunnel for the Bangladeshi team to walk through after the medal ceremony, applauding their rivals the entire time.

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Finally, FC Barcelona set a record in their UEFA Women’s Champions League match against Real Madrid, with 91,553 people in attendance at Camp Nou. This is the most people watching a professional women’s soccer match ever, and is second only to the 1971 World Cup in México which had 110,000 in attendance at Estadio Azteca. This is such an exciting thing to witness, and the club has confirmed they’ll play their next UWCL match at Camp Nou as well.

If you build it, they will come.

If you have something that should be included in this segment, please reach out to me via twitter or email me at golazodelgringo@gmail.com

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Next week (all records are in W-D-L format, all times as listed, México does not revert to Daylight Saving Time until April 3):

Thursday, March 31:

Necaxa (2-5-6) vs. Club Atlético de San Luis (1-5-6) - 4:00 PM - TUDN (Mexico)

León (3-3-6) vs. Cruz Azul (3-3-6) - 9:00 PM - FOX Sports (Mexico)

Santos Laguna (3-1-8) vs. Puebla F.C. (3-2-7) - 9:00 PM

Friday, April 1:

América (8-2-2) vs. FC Juárez (2-1-9) - 3:45 PM - TUDN (United States and Mexico)

Gallos Blancos de Querétaro (4-2-5) vs. Club Tijuana (2-8-3) - 5:00 PM - TVC Deportes (Mexico)

Saturday, April 2:

Tigres UANL U17 (4-2-4) vs. Club Atlético de San Luis U17 (2-3-5) - 9:00 AM

Atlas (4-5-3) vs. Toluca (3-4-5) - 12:00 PM - TVC Deportes (Mexico)

UNAM Pumas (4-4-5) vs. Tigres UANL (9-3-0) - 12:00 PM - TUDN (Mexico)

Gallos Blancos de Querétaro U 17 (3-1-7) vs. Puebla F.C. U17 (4-2-5) - 3:45 PM

Sunday, April 3:

Necaxa U17 (2-5-4) vs. América U17 (8-2-0) - 9:00 AM

Monterrey U17 (3-2-6) vs. Santos Laguna U17 (6-2-3) - 10:00 AM

Mazatlán FC U17 (3-1-7) vs. León U17 (6-1-3) - 10:00 AM

Cruz Azul U17 (3-1-7) vs. Toluca U17 (7-1-3) - 11:00 AM

Club Tijuana U17 (4-1-5) vs. Atlas U17 (5-3-2) - 11:00 AM

FC Juárez U17 (1-4-5) vs. Pachuca U17 (5-6-1) - 3:45 PM

Monterrey (11-0-1) vs. Pachuca (9-1-3) - 7:00 PM - FOX Sports (Mexico)

Mazatlán FC (2-4-7) vs. Guadalajara (9-3-0) - 7:00 PM - TVP (Mexico)