This week, we turn to CONCACAF and look at the 2023 Liga MX Femenil Apertura [Opening] Championship for the 2023-24 season. We focus on the imports on each of the 18 sides, highlighting carry-over imports from 2022-23 and new signings for the Apertura 2023 and some early signings for the Clausura 2024 [Closing] Championship.

2023-24 Liga MX Femenil--Apertura 2023 Review

UANL Tigres pipped Club America and Guadalajara by two points for the regular season title. Ciudad Juarez, which made the playoffs for the first time in last season's Clausura 2023, finished tied for eighth place and the final playoff spot with UNAM Pumas of Mexico City, but missed the playoffs with an inferior goal difference (+5 vs. +10).

Leon showed improvement over last season with a 10th place finish while Pachuca with Spanish international and 2023 WWC Winner Jenni Hermosa, did make the playoffs by finishing in 7th place on 27 points, just one point ahead of UNAM and Juarez . The final 2023 Apertura table was:

For the playoffs, the higher seeds all won the quarterfinals in their two legs:

#1 UANL 5-2 on aggregate over #8 UNAM

#2 Club America 9-2 on aggregate over #7 Pachuca

#3 Guadalajara 5-1 on aggregate over #6 Toluca

#4 Monterey 8-4 on aggregate over #5 Tijuana

In the semifinals, again the top seeded teams advanced:

#1 UANL 1-0 #4 Monterrey

#2 Club America 4-3 on aggregate #3 Guadalajara

In the Final top two side #1 UANL defeated Club America 3-0 in the first leg and then tied 0-0 in the second leg to win their sixth title (3-0 on aggregate)—triple the number of titles won by Guadalajara, Club America and Monterrey Rayados. America lost in the Apertura 2022 Final to UANL and by the same 3-0 aggregate scoreline.

Mexican internationals Alicia Cervantes of Guadalajara (29) and Mericarmen Reyes (23) of UANL Tigres led the Apertura 2023 in goals with 15. The highest scoring imports in the league was second year Club America defender Andrea Pereira of Spain with 10, who was tied for sixth on the goal scorers table with clubmate and Mexican internationally Katty Martinez, as well as American forward Christina Burkenroad of Monterrey.

The league average attendance for the Apertura 2023 was 2,072, with UANL Tigres again leading the league with 6,043 per game, followed by Guadalajara (5,162), Monterrey (3,444), Club America (3,307), Pachuca (2,983), Toluca (2,291) and U.S. border teams Juarez (2,242) and Tijuana (2,204), who were all above the league average. The two teams with the lowest attendance in the league were Mazatlan (499) and Mexico City's Cruz Azul (481), who both averaged under 500 fans a game.

This season, for 2023-24, there are 91 imports, up from 71 last season, with a slightly lower percentage coming from the U.S. (45%) than last season (49%) but an overall increase by 6, far ahead of second place Costa Rica with 9 (10%), an increase of two from last season. Three players joined from CONCACAF's Jamaica, up from none last season, after their success at last summers' WWC.

The full list of imports by country for the Apertura (2023) is:

• U.S. 41
• Costa Rica 9
• Argentina 4
• Brazil 3
• France 3
• Jamaica 3
• Spain 3
• El Salvador 2
• Guatemala 2
• Nigeria 2
• Venezuela 2
• Australia 1
• Cameroon 1 coming for Clausura 2024
• Canada 1 (also Algeria)
• Ecuador 1
• Germany 1
• Ghana 1
• Honduras 1
• Iceland 1
• Japan 1
• Panama 1
• Paraguay 1
• Puerto Rico 1
• South Africa 1
• Sweden 1
• Tanzania 1
• Uruguay 1
• Zambia 1

The list of imports by team are detailed below and all teams have imports this season, whereas last year Puebla and Deportivo Guadalajara had none (see our article last spring on the imports in Liga MX Femenil in 2022-23: The Week in Women's Football: From Atlas to Pumas - previewing Liga MX Femenil & it's amazing growth - Tribal Football). We include background detail for most of the players, where available.

Deportivo Guadalajara

New imports for 2023-24 included:

• Defender Alessandra Ramirez (23) of the U.S. signed with Chivas in July of 2023 after a two week training period. She was born in the U.S. but her father is of Mexican decent. She played at Westcliff University (Irvine, California) and has been capped by Mexico at the U-17 and U-20 levels.
• Forward Citali Luna (19) of the U.S. played at Davenport University in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
• Manager Antonio Spinelli (43) of Argentina won four league titles at home with Racing Club Women.

Puebla

New import signings for 2023-24 included:

• Goalkeeper Daiana Britez (23) of Argentina, who did not return for the 2024 Clausura, after appearing in only one game.
• Forward Aisha Solorzano (25) is a full international for Guatemala, who played at Southeastern University in Florida; she had a fantastic first season with Puebla, scoring 8 goals in 13 matches in the 2023-24 Apertura.
• Savianna Gomez of Guatemala; she was born and raised in California, played at the University of Southern California and then played with C.D. Suchitepequez of Guatemala and won the Apertura 2022 title. She played six games in the Clausura 2023 season with Gallos Blanco and then joined Puebla for the Apertura 2023, scoring five goals in 14 regular season games. She plays internationally for Guatemala but is registered as a Mexican national by her club.

Note 1: Bárbara Murillo (29), who was most recently with Lustenau Dornbirn Ladies in Austria, is from Honduras and the WNT captain; she has also played in Colombia, Peru and the States. She has signed for the 2024 Clausura season.

Note 2: Midfielder Nikkole Teja (24) of the U.S joined Puebla for the Clausura 2024 from Necaxa; she started her second season for the Apertura 2023 at the Aguascalientes club—originally Necaxa was based in Mexico City for decades—and grew up in Washington State.

FC Juarez

Returning imports from last season included:

• Defender Julitha Singaro (22) of Tanzania; she has played 20 matches in 2023 for the club in the border city across the Rio Grande from El Paso, Texas.
• Forward Jasmine Casarez (27) of the U.S.; she played at Radford University in Virginia and with the Puerto Rico Sol in Mayaguez (See: The Week in Women's Football: OFC Women's Nations Cup review; - Tribal Football). She has scored 10 goals in 37 Liga MX Femenil matches across two seasons with Juarez.

New import signings for 2023-24 were:

• Midfielder Grace Asantewaa (23) of Ghana played in Spain since 2019-20 with Logrono and Real Betis, before moving to Puebla for the 2023-24 season. She scored two goals in 14 games in the Apertura 2023.
• Midfielder Sayuri Watari (23) of Japan scored seven goals in 13 Apertura matches for Bravas de FC Juarez. In her debut game with Juarez, she scored a brace in a 3-2 loss to Atlas. In Japan she played for Urawa Red Diamonds, Okinawa Deigos, and then with the Nashville Rhythm F.C. in the summer WPSL league (see our column this summer for more on the Nashville Rhythm side: The Week in Women's Football: Spain will dominate for a decade; Harvey for USA job; WPSL DIII teams - Tribal Football). While playing at the University of Tennessee Southern in 2021, she was the team's Player of the Year and the Most Valuable Player of the NAIA national championship, playing in 23 games, scoring 17 goals and adding 26 assists.
• Forward Prisca Chilufya (24) of Zambia was a late cut from their 2023 WWC Finals teams and has played at home with Red Arrows, then in Kazakhstan with BIIK Kazygurt and earlier this year with Fatih Karagumruk in Turkey. At Juarez, she scored four goals in 13 matches during the fall season.
• Manager Oscar Fernandez (35) of Spain joined Juarez after two seasons with Atlético de Madrid Femenina, after coaching the two previous seasons with Madrid CFF Femenina.

Note 1: For Clausura 2024, forward Alondra Blanco of the U.S. joins from Judson University in Elgin (suburban Chicago), Illinois and goalkeeper Enya Hernandez of the U.S. joins from Portland State University in Oregon.

Note 2: Defender Janelly Farias (33) was born and raised in the LA area and played at the University of New Mexico and UC Irvine. She has played in Mexico since 2019 with Guadalajara, America and Pachuca before moving to Juarez for the Clausura 2024. Farias is a full Mexican international.

Mazatlan

Returning imports from last season included:

• Midfielder Cristina Torres (23) of Puerto Rico played in P.R. with the Sol club; she has played for short stints in France and in the WPSL in the U.S. with Detroit City FC at the semiprofessional level.

Two imports new to the club but not the league were:

• Iceland international midfielder Andrea Hauksdottir (27), who was first capped at the full WNT level in 2016, played with Breidablik at home for ten years, at the University of South Florida, on loan to Le Havre in France as well as one game for the Houston Dash in 2021. Last season she was with Mexico City's Club America before joining Mazatlan for the 2023-24 season—she was not on the roster for the Clausura 2024.
• Forward Venicia Juarez (23) of the U.S. scored eight goals in 26 matches last season for UNAM Pumas in Mexico City before moving North to Mazatlan. She played for Mexico at the U-17, U-19 and U-20 national team levels.

New import signings for 2023-24 were:

• Midfielder Soumaya Bouak (22) of Canada; she played at the University of Ottawa and won the Gold Medal for Canada in 2019 at the FISU University World Cup and another Gold Medal in 2022 at the FISU Americas Championship, defeating a side from Brazil in the final. She is a full international for Algeria.

• Midfielder Maria Cuadrado (25) of Uruguay had 1 goal in 12 games in the Aperture 2023—she played last season at Atlas Guadalajara after playing with Mazatlan in 2021-22. She was not on the initial roster for Mazatlan for the Clausura 2024.

Note: Two South Africans have joined Mazatlan for the Clausura 2024: Sinoxolo Cesane (23) played in the States for the Chattanooga Lady Red Wolves of the USL's W League and at East Tennessee State University, and Hildah Magaia (29), who joined after playing in South Korea for Sejong Sportsoto following time with Moron in Sweden's Elitettan second division. She won a league title at home with TUT in South Africa's women's league in 2018 and scored last summer in the 2023 WWC Finals in their 2-1 group stage loss to Sweden.

Atletico San Luis

Returning imports from last season included:

• Midfielder Cristel Sandi (26) of Costa Rica; she moved this season to San Luis from Saprissa at home for the Clausura 2023 (2022-23 season) and was first capped by Costa Rica at the senior level in 2021. She was not on the team's roster at the start of 2024.

New import signings for 2023-24 were:

• Defender Marina Delgado (28) is an Argentinian international; she played three games with Lokomotiv Moscow earlier this year before joining San Luis after playing at home with powerhouse UAI Urquiza.
• Defender Justina Morcillo (23) of Argentina played nine seasons at River Plate at home before moving to Mexico for the Apertura 2023.
• Forward Trudi Carter (29) of Jamaica played collegiately at Navarro Junior College in Texas and at the University of South Florida. She has played in Italy, Kazakhstan and last season in Spain with Levante. She is approaching 25 caps and played at the 2019 and 2023 WWC Finals.

Note: Joining for the Clausura 2024 is forward Farlyn Caicedo (25) of Colombia, who moved from Club Universitario de Deportes in Peru. She also played in Turkey with ALG Spor and Pozoalbense in Spain. She won a league title in Colombia with Deportivo Cali in 2021 and finished as a runner-up for the league title in 2022.

Farlyn Caicedo of Colombia has joined Atletico de San Luis Potosi in Mexico for the Clausura 2024. Photo compliments Atletico San Luis Potosi website.

Atlas Guadalajara

Returning imports from last season included:

• Defender Daniela Cruz (32) of Costa Rica; Cruz is approaching 40 caps with the Tica women and played professionally in Serbia, Spain and collegiately at the University of West Florida in Pensacola earlier in her career. She joined Atlas for the Clausura 2022-23 and has played in 31 regular season matches to date.
• Forward Brenda Ceren (25) of El Salvador is a youth and full international who played with Alianza at home for five years and joined Atlas of Guadalajara for the 2022-23 season (the Clausura). She has seven goals in 33 regular season games thus far with Atlas.

New to the club but not the league is:

• Forward Maria Salas (21) of Costa Rica; she came from Monterrey where she played ten games last season before joining Atlas this season. She previously played with Chievo Verona in Serie B, signing in January 2022.

New import signings for 2023-24 were:

• Goalkeeper Daniela Solera (26) is a full Costa Rican international; she played club football at home, in Colombia, Finland and Spain; she was with the Ticas at last summer's WWC Finals.
• Midfielder Ashley Lopez (19) of the U.S. and grew up in Illinois but qualifies to play internationally for both the U.S. and Mexico. Lopez is one of a number of teenagers being signed this year by Liga MX Femenil clubs, some from the States but others from other CONCACAF nations.

Club America

Returning imports from last season included:

• Defender Andrea Pereira (30) of Spain, who moved from Barcelona in Spain after four seasons. She won three league titles, two Spanish cups and one European Champions League title at Barca. She has played internationally for Spain—with over 40 caps—and Catalonia, which is not an official FIFA member.
• Midfield Aurelie Kaci (34) of France played with Lyon and PSG in France and in Spain with Atletico de Madrid, CD Tacon and Real Madrid for the past two seasons. She joined America's Aguilas (Eagles) in 2022 and has scored five goals in 26 games, including three goals in seven games during the Clausura 2022-23 campaign. She played internationally for France from 2013 to 2016 and was an alternate for the 2015 WWC in Canada but had to withdraw due to an injury.
• Midfield Sarah Luebbert (26) of the U.S.; she first came to CA on loan from Chicago Red Stars in 2021-22 and was a revelation with her scoring, with 9 goals in 27 matches. She played collegiately at the University of Missouri.

New import signings for 2023-24 were:

• Midfielder Kheira Hamraoui (33) a former France and ex-Paris St. Germain star; she played in 11 games in the Apertura 2023-24. Hamraoui, who spent time at Barcelona in Spain, is trying to rebuild her career even though she felt she was a victim of a vicious attack allegedly arranged by France and PSG teammate Aminata Diallo (28), who is trying to rebuild her own career in Saudi Arabia (see: The Week in Women's Football: Exploring the Saudi Premier League ambitions and hearing from Maria Khan - Tribal Football). Hamraoui was ostracized by PSG after an investigation of the incident revealed that she had had an affair with then Barcelona director Eric Abidal, whose wife left him immediately upon learning the news. Hamraoui is a world class talent and could be an inspired signing by Club America but after going goalless in five regular season matches and six Apertura 2023 playoff matches, in late December the club announced that she was leaving the team and the Mexican league.
• Manager Angel Villacampa (47) of Spain has coached Atletico Madrid, Athletic Club Bilbao and Levante women's sides in Spain as well as China's U-17 women's national team in 2018-19; she joined America in Mexico City for the 2022-23 season.

Note 1: American forward Dayana Martin (23), who played at the University of Central Florida, joined the Aguilas for the Clausura 2024 season.

Note 2: Mariana Cadena (28), who was a member of Rayadas since the league started in 2017 through the Apertura 2023, has joined Club America and is expected to be a major addition to Los Aguilas Femenil's defense. She played 221 games for Monterrey and scored four times. Cadena has three caps with Mexico and talked about her move to the capital city: "When I found out that América had contacted me, it was a very nice emotion for me because I didn't know what other options I was going to have. I was very excited and the truth is that I was very grateful for what it is and what the club has been doing these last six months, I am excited to be able to contribute. América is a big team that wants to compete and wants to do things well and that suits me very well. I've always wanted to do my best, to want to compete and be better and that's what it means to me." She won two titles with Rayadas: the Apertura in both 2019 and 2021.

Note 3: Mexican international Kiana Palacios (28) was born in the U.S. but is registered as a Mexican national.

Monterrey

Returning imports from last season included:

• Defender Valeria Del Campo (23) of Costa Rica; she is a full international and has been with the Rayados club for two seasons.

New to the club but not to the league is:

• Forward Jermaine Seoposenwe (30) of South Africa; she played last season with Juarez CF and joined Monterrey in the off-season last summer. She played collegiately at Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. She is nearing a century of caps for South Africa and played club ball at home, in Lithuania with Gintra, Spain with Betis and in Portugal, scoring 10 goals in 30 games across two seasons with Braga. She joined Juarez last season and scored seven goals in 22 regular season matches in the Apertura and Clausura.

New import signings for 2023-24 were:

• Midfielder Carlee Giammona (23) of the U.S. played one year at the University of Alabama and then finished her career with Pepperdine University in suburban Los Angeles.
• Manager Amelia Valverde (37) of Costa Rica joined the club for the Clausura 2024—she took Costa Rica to two Women's World Cup Finals during the last three cycles—2015 in Canada and 2023 in Australia/New Zealand. She was a well-respected coach at the national team level and could be very inspired addition by Monterrey.

Note: In January of 2024, Netherlands international defender Merel van Dongen (30) moved to Monterrey on loan from Atletico Madrid. She played two seasons at the University of Alabama and then in the Netherlands (including at Ajax in Amsterdam) and in Spain since 2018-19, first for two seasons with Real Betis and then with Atletico since 2020-21. She was with the Dutch national team at the 2015 and 2023 WWC Finals and has over 60 caps in total.

Club Leon

Returning imports from last season included:

• Defender Sophia Braun (23) of the U.S.; she plays internationally for Argentina and scored a goal in the Finals this past summer in their 2-2 tie with South Africa during the group stage. She signed for the 2023 calendar year with Leon. She scored one goal in ten games during the Apertura 2023. She was not on Leon's roster for the Clausura 2024.
• Midfielder Linda Bravo (31) of Argentina; a full international who has played professionally at home, in Spain and was with Pachuca last season in Mexico before moving to Leon.
• Midfielder Lixy Rodriguez (33) of Costa Rica; she has a half century of caps for Costa Rica and played professionally in Spain. She is in her second season with Leon.
• Forward Mayalu Rausch (22) of Germany; she moved from Hoffenheim of the German second division to Liga MX Femenil last year.

New import signings for 2023-24 were:

• Forward Maria Souza (30) of Brazil, who was capped in 2017 and has a few full caps. She played two seasons with Juventus in Italy from 2019 to 2021, scoring seven goals in 28 matches, and played with multiple clubs in Brazil. Since joining Leon, she scored four goals in 12 matches. She played at the 2012 U-20 WWC in Japan for Brazil. She was not on the club's roster at the start of 2024.

Santos Laguna

New import signings for 2023-24 were:

• Juelle Love (24) of the U.S. is the only import on the team during the Apertura 2023. She played at the University of Pittsburgh for one year and then joined Creighton University in Omaha Nebraska. She plays internationally for Puerto Rico. She had two goals in 10 games with Santos Laguna in the 2023-24 Apertura.

Note: Sofia Garcia (23) of Colombia signed with the club for the Clausura 2024. She played previously with Santa Fe at home in 2023 and with Huelva in Spain in the first half of 2021.

Pachuca

Returning imports from last season included:

• Goalkeeper Esthefanny Barreras (27) of the U.S.; she grew up in Phoenix, Arizona but finished college at the University of West Florida and played for Mexico at the U-17 WWC in 2012, at the 2016 U-20 WWC and was capped once at the senior level in 2016. She has played 72 matches for Puebla since joining for the 2020-21 season.
• Defender Jillian Jennings (24) U.S.; she played at Penn State University and Boston College. She scored once for Pachuca in 8 games in the Clausura 2023 and only played in four games in the Apertura 2023; she was not on the roster as of early January 2024.
• Midfielder Marta Cox Villarreal (26) of Panama; Cox was one of the first imports into Liga MX Femenil in 2021-22 with Leon and joined Pachuca this season. Cox has previously played professionally at home and in Colombia. She scored the winner for Panama against Papua New Guinea in a 2-0 semifinal win in the Intercontinental Playoffs in New Zealand in February of 2022 as her nation qualified for the WWC Finals for the first time (see: The Week in Women's Football: Canada Soccer controversy; exciting World Cup playoffs still need reform - Tribal Football). She was not on the roster for the Clausura 2024.

New to the club but not the league is:

• Forward Chinwendu Ihezuo (26) of Nigeria; she played at home with Pelican Stars and Delta Queens, with BIIK Kazygurt in Kazakhstan, Henan Jianye in China, and with Meizhou Hakka in China for the last two years before moving to Mexico. She has one goal in one match thus far in the Clausura 2024 with Pachuca after her move this winter from Monterrey, where she played in the Clausura 2022-23, scoring 6 goals in 12 regular season games, and 10 goals in 15 games in the Apertura 2023-24, after her move from China.

New import signings for 2023-24 were:

• Defender Osinachi Ohale (32), a Nigerian international who was player of the match at last summer's WWC surprising Group B win against Australia (3-1) in Brisbane, as a member of her fourth WWC Final side. She played professionally at home, in Sweden, Spain, Italy and with the Houston Dash in the 2014 campaign.
• Midfielder Ella Sanchez (18) of the U.S. is a U-17 international for U.S. since August of 2022. The young midfielder played for Racing Louisville's USL W League club in the summer of 2023. She was also named the 2021-22 Kentucky Gatorade Player of the Year after tallying 64 goals and 14 assists for Ballard High School, taking her high school career totals to 144 goals and 60 assists over three years. Her father, Mario Sanchez, ran Louisville City/Racing Louisville academy.
• Forward Priscila Chinchilla (22) of Costa Rica (see more on Chinchilla in: The Week in Women's Football: Kaylan Williams exclusive - a USA star playing for Dinamo Moscow - Tribal Football) scored four goals in nine regular season matches for Pachuca in the Apertura 2023 but in December, it was revealed that she had a cruciate ligament injury in her knee while with her national team and, after survey, will be out recovering for some time and miss games and training for club and country.

Priscila Chinchilla of Pachuca and the Costa Rican national team will miss at least the Clausura 2024 while recovering from knee surgery.

Photo courtesy of CF Pachuca.

• Giselle Espinoza (18) is from the U.S. but played for Mexico's U-20 national team at last year's U-20 WWC Finals in Costa Rica, where Mexico lost 1-0 to ultimate champions Spain in the Quarterfinals; she played with Southern Soccer Academy in Marietta, Georgia in the amateur W League.

Club Necaxa

Returning imports from last season included:

• Forward Ximena D'Acosta (19) of the U.S., who has played 28 games with the club since joining for the Apertura 2022.
• Forward Karen Reyes (25) of the U.S.; she grew up in Virginia and played at Marymount University in the D.C. area, then professionally for Aland United in Finland before joining Necaxa. Reyes plays internationally for El Salvador. After playing 31 games for Necaxa over the past calendar year, she was not on the roster for the Clausura 2024.

New import signings for 2023-24 were:

• Defender Jemery Myvett (19) of Guatemala was a new addition this season. Upon signing for Necaxa, she told ESPN Desportes in early August: "I'm very happy and glad to be here. Coming to play in Mexico happened very quickly." [She was scouted playing for Guatemalan at the FIFA forward U-20 Women's Tournament, the UNCAF triangular tournament, and the Central American and Caribbean Games in San Salvador 2023. She is a full and U-20 international for the Chapines]."

She did admit that she had a transition from Guatemala to playing professionally in the country to the immediate north, including the climate, as he has found it very hot in Aguascalientes but is getting used to it: "It's always difficult, because you leave the life you have in Guatemala, you leave your family and friends, but I was very clear about what I wanted, so when they made me the proposal, it wasn't complicated for me to decide. I knew what I wanted and I had been working for this." She has been pleased with the treatment that the women footballers have received in Mexico and their access to top-level facilities.

"The club gives a lot of importance to women's football; I think as well as men's football. We're equal and that's good. They [have] facilities—those of Club Necaxa—that I was not used to having in Guatemala. The attention that we didn't have in Guatemala; here they are giving us and that is good for us. The workouts are tiring, we train every day of the week. We train in the heat, it's a hot city."

Myvett, who played at home at Club Petapa and then with multiple-time champions side Unifut, feels that she has definitely stepped up a level in Mexico: "Liga MX Femenil is one of the most competitive [leagues] in the region. It is quite fast football compared to what I was used to. You have to think fast, it's very strong. You have to be well prepared." She has future goals to play in other leagues when she is ready: "First, I wanted to go out and play professional football, which is everyone's dream; being here I want to improve and be one of the best footballers here. We're always looking for more, it's not just coming to Mexico and staying here. I want to adapt here, continue to grow and, if the opportunity arises, get out of Mexico."

Note: Jemery Myvett (19) of Guatemala is one of only four Guatemalans to have played in Liga MX Femenil. Others include: Leslie Ramírez (28), who played a few games for Guadalajara and Cruz Azul over the past few years—she grew up in the States with a parent from Mexico and Ramirez' ability to play for the team was questioned by some as the club has traditionally only allowed Mexicans to play (including their diaspora) but she was playing internationally with the Chapines. Guadalajara confirmed that she could play as she was Mexican by birth and according to FIFA rules. After finishing at Cal State-Los Angeles, Ramirez played with ZFK Masinac Trace in Serbia before going to Mexico. Fellow internationals Savianna Gómez and Aisha Solórzano played for Club Puebla [see above].

• Midfielder Isabelle Hernandez (20) was born in the U.S.; she grew up in Northern California and played one year at Cal-State University-Northridge and then moved to Mexico.
• Forward Danielle Fuentes (23) is U.S.-born but plays internationally for El Salvador. She played at the University of Marland Baltimore County and University of South Alabama.

Club Tijuana

Returning imports from last season included:

• Goalkeeper Areli Reyes (21) of the U.S; she played at Cal State-Los Angeles and played for Mexico at the U-15 level.
• Defender Adyson Willett (26) of the U.S.; she played at Cal State-Los Angeles. After college, she played for Malaga in Spain, ZFK Masinac Trace in Serbia and joined the Xolos of Tijuana in July of 2022.
• Midfielder Paola Villamizar (29) of Venezuela; she has played for clubs at home and in Brazil and Chile. Villamizar is in her second season in Tijuana and has seven goals in 51 games.
• Forward Angelina Hix (30) of the U.S.; she has played with Spartak Subotica in Serbia and Santiago Morning in Chile. She is from the San Diego area and played at Mira Costa College and with the San Diego SeaLions of the WPSL. She has 18 goals in 55 matches, with four goals in fourteen regular season games coming in the Apertura 2023, but was not on the roster to start to Clausura 2024.

New import signings for 2023-24 were:

• Defender Gloriaisabel Gallardo (21) of the U.S. was raised in California but plays internationally for Mexico. She only played one match for Juarez in the Fall and was not on the roster to start 2024.
• Midfielder Andrea Guillen (18) of the U.S. played at UC-San Diego and played for their U-19 team. She was also not on the roster to start 2024.
• Midfielder Amanda Marroquin (20) of the U.S. grew up in San Diego and played one season at Washington State University in Pullman in Eastern Washington.
• Midfielder Nativdad Martinez (22) of the U.S. played at the College of Southern Nevada.
• Forward Melissa Herrera (27) of Costa Rica played at the 2015 and 2023 WWC Finals for Costa Rica and first went abroad with FC Indiana in the summer WPSL in 2016. She then played with Santa Fe in Colombia and then for five seasons in the French top tier, three years with Reims and the last two seasons with Bordeaux, before moving to the Mexican League in her home federation of CONCACAF.

Note: Midfielder Mailin Orozco (18) of the U.S.; she was from the San Francisco Bay Are and signed an amateur contract with Xolos in January of 2023 but was approved by the NCAA and retained her collegiate eligibility. After playing 14 games in the Clausura 2023, she played this fall with Santa Clara University, where she scored three goals and added three assists in 21 matches. She was a West Coast Conference All-Freshman team member as Santa Clara made the second round of the playoffs, defeating Arizona State University 3-0 before falling to Number 5 Penn State 2-0 in the next round.

Cruz Azul

Returning imports from last season included:

• Defender Maria Peraza (30) of Venezuela; she played at home, in Ecuador and for three clubs in Colombia: Santa Fe, Millonarios and Atletico Nacional, before joining Cruz Azul for the 2022-23 season where she has played in 44 matches through the Apertura 2023, but was not on the Mexico City club's roster in January 2024.

New import signings for 2023-24 were:

• Midfielder Jazmin Castanon (25) of the U.S. played at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside.
• Midfielder Meghan Cavanaugh (25) of the U.S. played at the University of South Florida and University of Albany—New York and professionally with the Puerto Rico Sol. She won a league title with KS Vllaznia Shkoder in Albania and played for the Eastern European power in UEFA's WCL.
• Midfielder Erica Da Silva (26) of Brazil had eight goals in the Apertura this season for the Mexico City club.
• Forward Catalina Estrada (25) of Costa Rica won two caps in 2023 and was on the 2023 WWC Finals side last summer; she joined Cruz Azul and moved from Deportivo Saprissa in Costa Rica. She scored three goals in eight matches in the Apertura 2023 but was not on the club's roster to start 2024.

Deportivo Toluca

Returning imports from last season included:

• Goalkeeper Kayla Thompson (25) of the U.S., who joined the club for the Clausura 2003 and has played in 23 matches to date. She played at West Virginia and Brown Universities.
• Midfielder Brenda (25) of Brazil has been a revelation for Toluca with nine goals in 24 matches in her first season in Mexico in 2022-23.
• Midfielder Vanessa Penuna (28) of the U.S., joined the club for the Clausura 2023 and been with the club for a year. She previously played for River Plate in Argentina and at San Francisco State University. She could play for Cuba via FIFA heritage rules. She was not on the roster for Toluca to start 2024.

New import signings for 2023-24 were:

• Goalkeeper Adriana Meza (16) of Ecuador; she grew up in Mexico but qualifies to play for Ecuador internationally.
• Midfielder Celia Bensalem (19) of France spent the last two seasons as a reserve for Olympique Lyonnaise and has been capped by France at the U-19 level. She played in ten Apertura 2023 matches, including two playoff matches in which she scored one goal. She was not on the roster to start the Clausura 2024.
• Midfielder Mitsy Ramirez (23) of the U.S. played collegiately at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs and Cal State-Monterey Bay .

Note 1: Toluca announced the signing of Cameroonian international Michaela Abam from Swedish side Linköping FC for Clausura 2024. Abam (26), grew up in Texas, played at U.S. power West Virginia University and then in the NWSL with Sky Blue FC [now NJ/NY Gotham FC] and Houston Dash and as well as in France with Paris FC, in Spain with Real Betis and last season with Linkoping. She played with the U.S.. at the U-17 level and then at the senior level with Cameroon, including at the 2019 WWC Finals in France.

Gallos Blanco

Returning imports from last season included:

• Goalkeeper Marta Alemany (25) of Spain; she has played 47 matches since joining the club for the Apertura 2022 and previously spent time with FC Barcelona. She finished second in the 2014 FIFA U-17 WWC with Spain in Costa Rica, losing the final to Japan (2-0). She also played at Long Beach State University in California.
• Defender Deisy Ojeda (23) of Paraguay; she has one goal in six matches this season and has played for Paraguay at the 2016 U-17 and 2018 U-20 Women's World Cups and at the senior level. She played at home with Olimpia in Asuncion earlier this year and played in 2020 with Maccabi Kishronot Hadera in Israel.
• Defender Eliza Quiroz (18) of the U.S.; she is from Georgia in the Southeastern U.S. but qualifies to play for Mexico. She played five matches with the Liga MX Femenil in the Apertura 2023 as well as seven matches with the club's U-19 side.
• Midfielder Stephanie Zuniga (27) of El Salvador; born in San Francisco. California, she played at the University of Colorado in Boulder and then at Cruzeiro in Belo Horizonte in Central Brazil in 2021. Zuniga then joined Gallos Blanco de Queretaro, a quaint colonial city a few hours north of Mexico City. She was not on the roster to start the Clausura 2024.

New import signings for 2023-24 were:

• Forward Jennie Lakip (33) of the U.S. had retired from the sport for a decade after playing at BYU but was inspired by watching the 2019 WWC Finals in France and then went to Costa Rica to play with Dimas Escazu, who she helped to the 2020-21 Apertura championship with 14 goals and then joined Liga Deportiva Alajuelense. She has two daughters who accompanied her to Costa Rica. She scored two goals in six matches for Queretaro during the Apertura 2023 but was not on the roster for the 2024 Spring season.

Pumas UNAM

Returning imports from last season included:

• Midfielder Aerial Chavarin (25) of the U.S.; she played at Yale University and spent time with the Chicago Red Stars and in Iceland with Keflavik. She has 14 goals in 42 matches across two full seasons with Pumas, first joining the club during the Clausura of 2021-22.
• Forward Irma Pinzon (24) of the U.S.; she played at Cal State-Los Angeles, which has always been a pipeline for Mexican-American players as Leo Cuellar, former Mexican Women's National Team coach for many years and then Technical Director at Club America Women, coached their women's college team in the past. This is her second full season with Pumas.
• Forward Stephanie Ribeiro (29) of the U.S.; she played professionally in Norway, Iceland—scoring 10 goals in 15 games with Throttur of Reykjavik in the summer of 2020—and in the 2020-21 season with Koge of Denmark, where she had five goals in 12 games and won the 2020-21 title. She played collegiately at the University of Connecticut. She first came to Mexico for the Apertura 2022 with Club America, scoring once in 11 games. She then crossed Mexico City to join Pumas for the Clausura 2022 and has scored 19 goals in 41 regular season matches for the University affiliated Pumas. She could play internationally for the U.S. or Brazil.

New import signings for 2023-24 were:

• Defender Deneisha Blackwood of Jamaica (26) played at Navarro Community College in Texas and then at the University of West Florida. She then had brief stints in the NWSL with Orlando Pride (2020) and Houston Dash (2021) as well as at Slavia Prague; she also spent time with GPSO 92 Issy in France. She has been on Jamaica's WWC Finals side in 2019 and 2023.
• Defender Amber Diorio (24) grew up in the U.S., played at Virgina Commonwealth University but plays internationally for Puerto Rico; she played in five matches in the Apertura 2023 for Pumas.

UANL Tigres

Returning imports from last season included:

• Defender Anika Rodriguez (27) of the U.S., who was born in California, played at UCLA, and spent two years with PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands after not seeing action in 2020 as a Natioal Team Replacement player with the Portland Thorns. She was a U.S. U-17 international and capped by Mexico at the full level in 2021. Since joining Tigres for the Apertura 2023 campaign, she played in 52 regular season and playoff games across two seasons. She was not on the roster to start the Clausura 2024.
• Forward Maricarmen Reyes (23) of the U.S.; she has played internationally for Mexico at the U-17, U-20 and senior levels. She played at UCLA in Southern California and won a UWS league title with Los Angeles Galaxy-OC [Orange County] in the summer of 2019. She scored six goals in 16 regular season matches in her first campaign with Tigres during the Clausura 2023 and increased her production to 15 goals in 15 regular season matches—tying with Guadalajara's Alicia Cervantes for the Golden Boot—and one goal in six playoff matches during the Apertura 2023.

New import signings for 2023-24 were:

• Defender Konya Plummer (26) was born in Jamaica and played collegiately in the States at Southeastern University in Florida and at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. She played in Sweden with AIK and captained Jamaica at the 2019 WWC Finals in France and was on the 2023 side that advanced to the Round of 16 in Australia/New Zealand.
• Midfielder Alex Chidiac (25) of Australia was on loan from Racing Louisville during the Apertura 2023 season but was released by Racing at the end of the season after Racing's Swedish head coach Kim Borkegren was dispatched at the end of the 2023 season. Chidiac played in nine games for Tigres in the fall (including three in the playoffs). At the end of her loan period, on December 30, she signed a permanent contract with Melbourne Victory through the end of the 2025-26 season. She played with Victory during the two previous A-League Women seasons and her stellar performances last season helped her to make the 2023 WWC Finals squad last summer, after being a late cut in 2019 when she played in Spain. I suspect that she will be loaned out to a club in America or Europe during the A-League Women off-season.
• Forward Evelyn Ijeh (22) of Sweden has been capped at the U-17 and U-20 level. She played in the Damallsvenskan with Kopparbergs/Goteborg/Hacken from 2018 through 2021 before spending the 2022 season in the second tier Elitettan with Vaxjo (scoring 22 goals in 25 games) for the second division title winners. She then scored 10 goals in 17 games in 2023 with the promoted side Vaxjo in the Damallsvenskan.
• Manager Milagros "Mila' Martinez (38) of Spain joined the club this season and has coached for Suzuka Point Getters male side in Japan. She had an immediate effect on the fortunes of the Ciudad Juarez side, leading the club to the playoffs for the first time in the Clausura 2023 during her first full season in Mexico. In the Apertura 2023, she won the league title with Tigres.

Note: Forward Jenni Hermoso (33) of Spain is an iconic player for Spain's WNT with 106 caps and 52 goals and won the 2023 WWC this past summer. She also heroically dealt with the pressure and duress and was a true leader for women's rights after then Federation President Luis Rubales kissed her on the lips during the celebration after Spain's 1-0 Final win over England. She won seven league titles at home—five with Barcelona and one each Atletico Madrid and Rayo Vallecano along with the 2020-21 UEFA Women's Champions League title with Barcelona—and also played at Paris St. Germain.

Her signing with Pachuca for the 2022-23 season made a huge positive statement for Liga MX Femenil around the world and she had 18 goals in 17 Clausura 2023 regular season matches in 2022-23. She scored three goals in seven Apertura 2023 regular season matches after the WWC finals. She has scored a total of 26 goals and 10 assists in 41 matches in Mexico's Liga MX Femenil. She could add to the total as she joined Tigres ahead of the 2024 Clausura from Pachuca. Hermoso said upon signing with Tigres on social media: "Nothing makes me more excited than announcing that I will be part of this incredible club. All my desire and enthusiasm to wear the [Tigres] shirt. Incomparables, are you ready? See you soon."

Tim Grainey is a contributor to Tribal Football. His latest book Beyond Bend it Like Beckham is on the global game of women's football. Get your copy today.

Follow Tim on Twitter: @TimGrainey