Women’s football in Argentina begins a new stage. With two matches on the first date, the brand new competition will begin this Friday, which will have the participation of 20 teams, with the debut of Belgrano de Córdoba and Banfield in the highest category of the AFA and with Boca as defending champion.
The slow but progressive progress of women’s football does not stop. From the eight contracts of the first semi-professional tournament two seasons ago, there are now 15 mandatory links that clubs must sign with their footballers, three more than the 12 last year. Although there are still teams that limit themselves to complying with the regulations, more and more clubs are exceeding that number and improving the quality of the competition.
The level of Argentine players has been growing day by day, which is why local soccer players are beginning to be required by different clubs around the world. According to data from the Argentinos por el Mundo (AXEM) portal, which season by season reveals the number of players who play in leagues in different parts of the world, there were almost 150 albiceleste soccer players abroad by mid-2022, when They published the latest report. That figure represents growth of more than 50 percent compared to two years earlier.
For this tournament, the most relevant casualty is that of Yamila Rodríguez, a former Boca goalscorer and figure in the Argentine National Team, who went to Palmeiras. The other great movement is that of Paulina Gramaglia, the first Argentine player to be sold to a foreign club. Houston Dash of the United States finalized the purchase of former UAI Urquiza, marking a new milestone in the history of Argentine women’s soccer. And they are not the only ones, since the markets that are opening up are extremely varied: Brisa Campos, Huracán forward, will play the Champions League with Birkirkara from Malta, while Marina Delgado left the UAI to become a player for Lokomotiv Moscow.
But just as soccer players leave, new faces also appear: the Japanese Ichika Egashira will be one of the attractions of the contest, since Excursionistas presented her this Thursday as a new soccer player on the professional team. “I am very anxious to be able to visit the Bombonera and the Monumental”, said the Japanese, who declared herself a fan of Lionel Messi and a fan of Newell’s
The premiere of the new tournament will be this Friday with two games: El Porvenir will face Estudiantes de La Plata from 5:00 p.m., at the Gildo Francisco Ghersinich stadium, in a match that will be televised by DeporTV, the public sports channel. In addition, at the Alsina Estate, Lanús will be the home of Estudiantes de Buenos Aires, also at 5:00 p.m.
On Saturday they will play Gimnasia La Plata against SAT, at 9 (on DeporTV, at the Zerillo stadium); Huracán-Independiente (at 9, in La Quemita) and Banfield, one of the promoted, will make his debut against UAI Urquiza -last runner-up- at 17 at the Monumental de Villa Lynch, with broadcast on Public TV.
The Gladiadoras de Boca, champions of the 2022 tournament and runners-up of the last Copa Libertadores, will make their presentation on Sunday against Platense, at 9 (on DeporTV) at Predio Galván. On Sunday, the Millonarias, winners of the 2022 Federal Cup, will also play: at 5:00 p.m., at the River Camp, the team led by Daniela Díaz will receive Ferro. Televises Public TV.
On Monday Racing-San Lorenzo (at 5:00 p.m., on DeporTV) and Belgrano-Excursionistas (at 5:00 p.m.) will face each other; while on Tuesday they will complete Defensores de Belgrano and Rosario Central (at 5:00 p.m., on DeporTV).