In mid-February, the Mexican Women’s National Team traveled to China for the Yongchuan International Women’s Tournament where they played matches against three opponents: China, North Korea, and South Korea, and lost all three matches.
(Note: Mexico’s football federation, Femexfut, does not include detailed box scores in their post-match write-ups. Plus, those write-ups, especially for the women’s matches, tend to be light on the facts, so useful information will sometimes be hard to come by.)
Only a handful of players who had competed in the recent CONCACAF Women’s Olympics Qualifying Tournament made the trip to China. Half of the 18-player roster were U-20 players (born in 1992 or later), Only four players were 25 years or older: Maribel Dominguez (33.2), Charito Saucedo (28.2), Marlene Sandoval (28.1), and Monica Ocampo (24.8).
Seven of the U-20 players would go onto compete in the just-concluded CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 Championship in Panama: goalkeeper Cecilia Santiago; defenders Christina Murillo, Ariana Martinez, and Olivia Jimenez; midfielders Yamile Franco and Nayeli Rangel; and forward Tanya Samarzich. (Positions listed are their senior national team positions.) The roster also included two U-20 players who did not travel to Panama: Adrianna Núñez-Alvarado (b. 1993, defender, from Ventura, California) and Lucero Lara (b. 1994, midfielder, from Sulphur, Texas).
In their first two matches, versus China and North Korea, Mexico was held scoreless. In both matches, Mexico only conceded a single goal. In the final match, versus South Korea, Mexico scored twice, but allowed three goals.
Mexico 0, China 1. Femexfut.org.mx write-up (Spanish), Xinhuanet.com news article (English).
Mexico 0, North Korea 1. Femexfut.org.mx write-up (Spanish).
Mexico 2, South Korea 3. Mexico conceded two early goals (8′, 21′). Monica Ocampo got a goal back in the 23rd minute. However, South Korea added a third goal in the 56th. Dinora Garza scored with ten minutes left, but Mexico could not get an equalizer. Femexfut.org.mx write-up (Spanish), Korea Football Association box score (Korean).^
^This is just a source link as the Femexfut write-up does not include details about substitutions or when the goals were scored.
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Mexico’s Roster (Yongchaun Tournament)
Player P. Hometown D.O.B Erika Vanegas González GK Guadalajara, Jal. 07-Jul-1988 A. Cecilia Santiago Cisneros GK La Paz, Edo. Mex. 19-Oct-1994 Luz Del Rosario Saucedo Soto DF Canatlán, Dgo. 14-Dec-1983 Rubí Marlene Sandoval Nungaray DF Los Angeles, Ca. 18-Jan-1984 Marcela Valera Ceballos DF Guadalajara, Jal. 12-Apr-1987 Ariana Giselle Martínez Díaz DF Pasadena, Ca. 25-Jan-1992 Olivia Jiménez Medina DF Novolato, Sin. 26-Feb-1992 Christina Murillo Ruíz DF Artesia, Ca. 28-Jan-1993 Adrianna Isabel Núñez Alvarado DF Ventura, Ca. 17-Aug-1993 Dinora Lizeth Garza Rodríguez MF Reynosa, Tamps. 24-Jan-1988 Verónica Raquel Pérez Murillo MF Hayward, Ca. 18-May-1988 Lydia Nayeli Rangel Hernández MF Monterrey N.L. 28-Feb-1992 Yamile Azenek Franco Tirado MF México, D.F. 07-Jul-1992 Lucero Lara Bañuelos MF Sulphur, Tx. 27-Jan-1994 Maribel Domínguez Castelán FW México, D.F. 18-Nov-1978 Monica Ocampo Medina FW Cuernavaca, Mor. 04-Jan-1987 Carolina Serna Weigend FW Monterrey, N.L. 24-Jan-1989 Tanya Nicole Samarzich Ruiz FW West Covina, Ca. 28-Dec-1994
Source: Femexfut.org.mx (Spanish)
Table: Minutes Played, Yongchuan Tournament
Player P. CHN PRK KOR Total Cecilia Santiago GK 90 0 90 180 Erika Vanegas GK 0 90 0 90 Charito Saucedo DF 90 90 90 270 Christina Murillo DF 90 90 90 270 Marlene Sandoval DF 90 90 90 270 Olivia Jimenez DF 90 90 90 270 Marcela Valera DF 90 90 55 235 Ariana Martinez DF 23 69 89 181 Adrianna Núñez DF 0 0 0 0 Veronica Perez MF 90 90 90 270 Dinora Garza MF 90 21 90 201 Lucero Lara MF 0 43 0 43 Yamile Franco MF 0 17 0 17 Nayeli Rangel MF 0 0 0 0 Maribel Dominguez FW 90 90 90 270 Monica Ocampo FW 90 47 90 227 Tanya Samarzich FW 67 73 35 175 Carolina Serna FW 0 0 1 1
Sources: For CHN and PRK matches, Femexfut.org.mx write-ups. For the KOR match, KFA’s box score was used.
The substitution times for the KOR match are a “best guess” based on my deciphering of KOR’s box score (with the help of Google Translate and comparing other KOR box scores to English box scores for the same matches).
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