Two Soccer Players of Mexican Descent Hope to Help the U.S. Make World Cup History

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Women’s soccer in the United States begins its path to the three-time world championship this Friday, which would place it in history as the only sport and team to achieve it in any type of sport.

The US team will face Vietnam, the first step of a team that will compete balanced between young and veteran players. Among them are two Latinas are among the players looking to extend the U.S. National Women’s Team’s World Cup winning streak in Australia and New Zealand this summer.

Defending Sofia Huerta and midfielder Ashley Sanchez, who are both Mexican American, help make up the most diverse roster in the USWNT’s history — a reflection of the changing U.S. demographics. It’s the pair’s first time on a pro World Cup roster after having successful runs at the youth soccer level.

The tournament kicks off on July 20.

Only two other Latinas — Stephanie Cox and Amy Rodriguez — have played on a U.S. national World Cup team.
Sanchez and Huerta told Telemundo Deportes they were always proud of their Mexican heritage growing up in California and Idaho, respectively, but at times felt neither “Mexican enough” nor able to express their Hispanic side.
Sanchez says soccer allowed her to connect with her roots and feel accepted as a Mexican American. This was especially true at UCLA, where Sanchez says she was embraced by several other Latina players.

“Surrounded by a team with girls who were also either half Mexican or fully Mexican made me feel more comfortable,” she says.

Huerta is among a growing crop of athletes with dual nationality who sometimes face hard decisions about which country to represent in international competitions. As a youth player, Huerta was part of the Mexico national team. Her two goals for Mexico at the 2012 Under-20 World Cup then caught the attention of the U.S. Soccer Federation.
With a long-held dream to play for the U.S. at a World Cup, she asked to switch football associations — a move that is allowed if a player hasn’t represented one country more than three times after turning 21.

“Being on the U.S. team while having Huerta so visible in the back of my jersey is something so important to me because I feel in some ways like I get to represent both places that I’m passionate about,” she says.