Portland Thorns, Örebro and why Cruz Azul could be ones to watch in Liga MX - your women's football roundup
For fans of the women’s game, there is no shortage of reasons to be joyful at this moment in time, with the NWSL producing some exciting results, Liga MX making its return at the weekend, transfer news building every day and summer tournaments (including the small matter of the Olympics) to look forward to.
With so much taking place or on the horizon, it can be hard to stay across everything. However, this newsletter will endeavour to bring you all of the key talking points in the usual variety of ways, ensuring that you do have a strong grasp of what has been occurring and of what others have been commenting on, keeping you as up to date as it is possible to be.
3 key talking points….
Patience pays off for Portland Thorns ahead of the mid-season break
It has not been a vintage campaign for Portland Thorns so far, with their basic identity and squad profile being largely the same as in 2023 but results and performances lacking at times as they have sat behind the main frontrunners and have been unable to compete with them in the higher echelons of the league table.
However, it has not been all bad for the Oregon side and there have been a number of moments when they have shown a true reflection of what they can do, with their play looking confident and coherent and players demonstrating belief in what they are being asked to do, and that was certainly the case at the weekend when they gained a tight but much-needed win against struggling San Diego Wave.
Whilst it wasn’t a perfect display from Rob Gale’s team, with them dominating possession but lacking quality in the final third, there was certainly enough there for fans to be pleased with what they saw ahead of the summer break. Their passing looked crisp and precise, they caused endless problems for San Diego through the likes of Sophia Smith and Janine Beckie, and they demonstrated solidity in defence that was marshalled superbly by goalkeeper Shelby Hogan, and it was that that made their win a deserved one, even if they did have to be patient and to wait until the final stages of the game to seal it.
https://x.com/fbref/status/1809274861061128397
With the league now out of action until August 24, it was a crucial time for Portland to put on a performance of this manner, and the fact that they came through it and secured three points will only encourage them that they are moving in the right direction and can still compete for silverware this year.
Örebro gain a massive boost in the Damallsvenskan relegation fight
Whilst the battle at the top of the Damallsvenskan has captivated many fans of the Swedish game this season, with a number of teams in good form at this moment in time and having a chance of lifting the league trophy, there should also be some attention given to the opposite end of the division too as teams in those positions scrap to avoid dropping down to the Elitettan.
One of those currently in danger of exiting the league is Örebro, who have struggled for form in 2024 and who sit second-bottom at the time of writing, and they would not have been expecting too much against Djurgårdens at the weekend purely due to the fact that the latter side have proven to be a tough nut to crack and a team who can score late goals that stun their opponents. They have been the undoing of so many teams, but not of Örebro, who produced a very encouraging performance and secured a huge three points to maintain their hopes of staying in the top flight.
It was a deserved win in the end as Örebro worked hard throughout and stayed true to their game plan, with Clara Ekstrand solid and focused between the posts and them carrying a constant threat at set pieces, whilst their general passing and use of the ball was clean and efficient as they controlled the flow of the game and made it tough for Djurgårdens to exert their usual influence on proceedings.
Despite it being a positive weekend, no-one should get too carried away as they are still in the relegation zone even after that win, but they should take confidence from the way that they approached the match and executed their game plan. It certainly showed to the rest of the division that they are not a side to be taken for granted.
Cruz Azul look ready to compete in the new Liga MX campaign
For Cruz Azul, the 2024 Clausura campaign was a major disappointment, with them struggling for form and falling well short of the Liguilla positions as they ended the campaign with just eight points accumulated from their 17 matches.
Fans could have been forgiven, therefore, for harbouring a few signs of nervousness as the new Apertura campaign got underway, but they need not have, and that apprehension was quickly replaced by jubilation as the team put on a performance that demonstrated how they are only looking forwards and are ready for the fight ahead.
What made their opening round win even more impressive was that it came against one of the league’s strongest sides in América, and yet that didn’t seem to phase them as they targeted the gaps in their opponents’ lines and looked to get their key players into areas where they could impact the game. Dalia Molina certainly benefitted from that at the top of the field as she was targeted with long passes, and she was a thorn in América’s side throughout the encounter.
“Cruz Azul shed a ton of players from last season and picked up a bunch of very good ones that I think will be able to make an instant impact and improvement over last season’s debacle. América didn’t pick up nearly as many players, but the ones they did are impact players and they’ll be strong contenders to see their name etched on the trophy on November 25th.”
Eugene Rupinski, writing on Golazo del Gringo in July 2024.
The combination of that and their defensive solidity meant that there was plenty for everyone connected to the team to be celebratory about once the game had finished, with it clear that they have turned a corner after the frustrations of last season. It is only one game into the new campaign and there are a number of challenges for them to face in the weeks and months to come, but, on this evidence, Cruz Azul will not be a team for anyone to completely underestimate.
Read all about it….
Coverage of women’s sport - in an article on Journo Resources, Hannah Bradfield has looked at the current status of coverage of women’s sport and at where it can still develop, with thoughts from different voices on where it currently is and what they would like to see happen next. The ideas and comments make for some interesting reading as women’s sport in general continues to grow in the modern world.
The current status of some women’s teams in England - whilst there has been a lot of coverage of the WSL being made up of teams connected to sides in the Premier League, there are some clubs whose women’s teams are not yet as high in the pyramid as others. Tom Garry has looked at their status and at why there should not be too much concern in this article for The Guardian.
How the NWSL is continuing to professionalise - the impending sale of Angel City fits in with a recent trend of teams in the NWSL being sold for increasing amounts, and Meg Linehan has looked at why this will help them to keep elevating standards on and off the pitch in this article on The Athletic.
Lend me your ears….
Chatting Damallsvenskan with Bad Football Fan - How’s Your Touch is not only a written content website but also has a weekly podcast on the Scottish game, and their latest episode discusses current issues and topics in Scotland and Sweden (which have shared history) with Swedish content creator Bad Football Fan offering her thoughts.
That’s all for now - back next week!!