Liga MX Femenil recap: 2022 Apertura, Week 4

Game of the Week

Puebla F.C. 6, Club Atlético de San Luis 2: I was tempted to go with Toluca beating Santos because of how complete of a game Toluca played or the return of Alison González to playing with América, but instead I went with this one. Two teams that had up until this one lost all of their games. San Luis did a lot during the offseason to try and build on the meager success of last season, but it was Puebla with a 6-2 statement win. The teams were actually tied at halftime on goals from Carolina Solís and Bea Parra, A Rubí Ruvalcaba golazo put Puebla up in the 62nd minute, and a minute later Rebeca Villuendas caught Nicole Buenfil off of her line, chipping in her first goal of the season against her former team. Julissa Dávila pulled one back for San Luis in the 67th, but Fátima Bracamonte knocked home a loose ball off of a corner kick in the 77th, Bianca Mora headed a free kick into the back of the net in the 88th minute, and Maria Sainz capped it off with a tight-angle shot in stoppage to put the exclamation point on the victory. This could really provide Puebla a confidence boost going into a tough stretch; after going to Mazatlán they’ll play Tigres, Tijuana, and América.

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Other scores:

Cruz Azul 0, Atlas 0

Pachuca 3, León 0

Guadalajara 2, Gallos Blancos de Querétaro 0

Club Tijuana 2, Monterrey 2

FC Juárez 1, UNAM Pumas 4

Toluca 2, Santos Laguna 0

Tigres UANL 2, Necaxa 0

Mazatlán FC 0, América 3

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Notes and other things

Liga MX Femenil celebrated its fifth anniversary on July 28, and it goes without saying that the league has helped raise the profile of women’s soccer in México and of Mexican women’s soccer around the world.

A brief story: the last time I was in Tijuana I went to La Especial, a taquería on the recommendation of Adrian Garcia Marquez. I had eaten just about all of the tacos al vapor I could muster and wanted to pay my check and head to Estadio Caliente for the game that night. I waited patiently for my waiter to come back, but after a few minutes he was nowhere to be found so I got up to go and look for him. I found him and the three other waiters at the bar watching the América-Rayadas match.

I wasn’t the least bit mad.

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Speaking of Tijuana, it looks like they’re hinting at a friendly against San Diego Wave. It makes sense, considering the proximity of the two clubs.

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Openly gay players in Africa are still being persecuted. A heartbreaking read.

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Pablo Maurer and Meg Linehan of The Athletic tracked down the last two surviving members who played in Saint Louis’ Craig League, a soccer league for women and girls in the 1950’s. An absolutely wonderful read.

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Attendance for the UEFA Women’s Euros has already smashed the previous record, and will most likely surpass half a million people when the Final is played.

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 golazodelgringo@gmail.com

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Game of Next Week

América hosting Tigres should be a really good measuring stick for both teams. Both teams have returned to their high level of play despite not looking much like last season’s iterations. América has done well so far this season, even handing Toluca their lone loss on the season in Week 1. Tigres struggled out of the gate, but have won two straight and are back in the thick of things.

This game will be at the Azteca, where América beat Santos 2-0 in Week 2 in their only game at the historic stadium (América’s other home match was a 2-1 win against Toluca at Coapa). Tigres’ two wins have come at home, and only managed a 0-0 draw against Cruz Azul in Week 2 on the road.

América has quietly gone about their business, and Ángel Villacampa’s side is an early favorite to go deep in the Liguilla. Carmelina Moscato’s side is finally starting to gel, missing a lot of players with the Mexican National Team in the Concacaf W tournament early in the season.

Next week (all records are in W-D-L format, all times as listed):

Sunday, July 31:

Club Atlético de San Luis (0-0-4) vs. Cruz Azul (2-2-0) - 5:00 PM - ESPN (Mexico)

Gallos Blancos de Querétaro (1-0-3) vs. Club Tijuana (2-1-1) - 6:00 PM - FOX Sports (Mexico)

Monday, August 1:

Atlas (1-3-0) vs. Toluca (3-0-1) - 3:45 PM

Necaxa (0-1-3) vs. UNAM Pumas (3-0-1) - 5:00 PM - ViX

Pachuca (2-0-2) vs. Guadalajara (4-0-0) - 5:00 PM - FOX Sports (Mexico)

América (3-1-0) vs. UANL Tigres (2-1-1) - 7:00 PM - ViX

Santos Laguna (2-0-2) vs. León (1-1-2) - 7:00 PM - FOX Sports (Mexico), ESPN+

Monterrey (2-1-1) vs. FC Juárez (1-0-3) - 9:00 PM - FOX Sports (Mexico), FOX Deportes (United States)

Mazatlán FC (0-1-3) vs. Puebla F.C. (1-0-3) - 9:00 PM - TVP (Mexico)