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On December 5th, France Football presented the 64th annual ceremony of the Ballon D’or, which is supposed to recognize the best footballer in the world for 2019, we all know that this year’s decision was very controversial and, in my opinion, given to the wrong person.

The 21 nominees for this year’s award included Vivianne Miedema, Ellen White, Marta, Sam Kerr, Rose Lavelle, Amandine Henry, Ada Hegerberg and others, the winner was American player Megan Rapinoe, who was also awarded the title of FIFA’s Best Player, second place to Lucy Bronze and third to Alex Morgan.

Before I start stating facts, I’d like to be totally clear that in no way I hate either Rapinoe or Morgan, in fact, Morgan was one of the reasons why I got into Women’s soccer and still is one of my favorite players, but we can’t deny that their performance this year, though it certainly wasn’t bad, wasn’t award deserving. Now going through some statistics, neither Morgan or Rapinoe scored any goals for their club team, and during the World Cup they scored most of their goals against weaker teams or as penalty kicks and both played in only six or less games in the NWSL. However, Rapinoe has not only become internationally famous, or infamous, for her “I’m not going to the f******g White House” quote, but she has also been an important voice on the fight for equal pay, and her popularity definitely counted when it came to choosing her as the Best.

Out of the Top 3, the only player whose position feel correct is Lucy Bronze. Bronze has proven to be essential for her national team, England, and for her club team, Lyon. The most robbed player has to be Vivianne Miedema, who ended up in an unfair 5th place.

The dutch player has in scored six goals out of the eleven her team scored, in total in Arsenal's match against Bristol City, she has eleven goals and seven assists for Arsenal in the 2019-2020 season of the WSL, two goals in the FA WSL Cup and ten in the UWCL. Her National team performances have also been outstanding, having eight goals and one assist in the five matches she played in the UEFA Women’s championship and three goals in the World Cup this summer.

Another player that deserves more recognition from the awards is Sam Kerr. She recently announced that she’ll be a part of Chelsea as of January 2020. During the 2019 NWSL season she scored 19 goals and had 5 assists on her 23 matches with the Chicago Red Stars and also scored 5 goals on her time with Australia in the World cup

Rapinoe’s win was a big disappointment, especially when knowing who should have won instead and why, but it wasn’t a surprise. The official awards shouldn’t be considered a big deal in women’s soccer until they decide to actually give them to who deserve it, not to who’s the big celebrity at the moment. It would be more than fair to give Rapinoe an award for having a big voice like she does, her participation in the community is very important and should be valued, nevertheless the Ballon d’Or and the FIFA Best should go to the best performance on field and shouldn’t be biased by any of the player’s attitude outside of it.

Miedema herself admitted that she doesn’t care for individual awards and rather win as a team so may have been a reason why she didn’t win, but didn’t seem to be bothered by it either. Even if that kept her from winning, it’s fair to say Bronze, Kerr or Amandine Henry, who has also had great performances scoring three goals for Lyon this season and two in the World Cup, were way more deserving that the actual winner.

Honestly, these awards now are seen as jokes to the fans and to the players. Wolfsburg midfielder Ella Masar tweeted “We have come SO far in the women’s game but seriously, when will it stop being a POPULARITY contest?!? 4 men, it’s stats, it’s number for country AND club”, which clearly isn’t the same for women because in one club game, Miedema scored the same amount as Rapinoe did this year. Masar finished her tweet saying “They’re incredible players, absolutely, but the best 4 of the year?! Hmmm”, showing her opinions on the unfairness of the decision.

As long as the media votes for whoever brings in headlines that will get more hits, that being Rapinoe and Morgan, the results will not be awarding the deserving footballers and women’s soccer will continue to be disrespected. We can now hope for improvement in the next year and continue to grow the game so it’s taken more seriously and stop being a popularity joke contest.

Writer: Isabella

Editor: Sarah

Last week, I discussed the structure of the English Women's League and four impressive players this season so far. To add to the list of talent, this part will include more diverse players. I would like to bring up once again that this selection of players is based merely on my opinion and is not biased towards any team and that this list is not placed in any order.

5- Janine Beckie

The Canadian International traded in her Sky Blue FC jersey for a Manchester City one last August. After the forward failed to impress last season—15 goalless appearances—she made it her mission to start fresh and prove all the doubters wrong. Last season, she helped Manchester City secure the double by providing them with 8 goals in her 15 appearances. The move started to make sense the more she played. This season, she is acting as more of a playmaker—contributing 3 assists of her 6 games in the league; however, during their run in the Champions League, she only managed to secure 5 goals and an assist to her name. They gave Atletico Madrid a run for their money but came up short of a goal on aggregate.

6- Ji So-Yun

Chelsea’s Number 10 is one of the best midfielders in the world, it only takes watching her play for fans to come to the same conclusion. The South Korean holds the goal-scoring record for her international team with 55 goals at the age of 28. Currently, she has 3 goals and two assists in the league but her hunger for success ensures that she is not done yet. Ji shines up the pitch and shows no weaknesses while playing. Her crosses and skills are lethal and her agility helps her slip through the feet of the defenders. Her free kick goal against Birmingham City, that targeted the top left corner yet bounced off the fingers of the oppositions goalkeeper, will definitely be a contender for goals of the month. Having her on your team is like having an extra player on your side. Many U.S Women's National Team fans will remember her for scoring the equalizer in Jill Ellis’ last game in charge.

7- Leah Williamson

Leah’s Arsenal journey is an epic love story. Joining at the age of nine, the now 22-year-old plays a crucial role in the current champions’ starting defense. The England International climbed up the academy’s rankings, until 2014, when she made her senior debut during a 2-0 loss to Birmingham City. Williamson is one of the most consistent centre-backs in both the league and for her national team. This season, Arsenal managed to keep 10 clean sheets in 13 games and Williamson is one of the reasons behind the team’s defensive success. Considering her age, she manages to play week in and week out like any mature and experienced player. Her positioning allows her to read attacks well. Fans can tell, just by watching her play, the amount of passion she holds for the game and her club. In the Lionesses’ last friendly against the Czech Republic, she scored the winner in a 3-2 victory.

8- Beth England

After missing out on a spot in the 2019 Women's World Cup roster, England continued to show the Lionesses coach why that was a huge mistake. The 25-year-old striker has four goals and two assists in the first six games of the season and she won’t stop hitting the back of the net any time soon. With Chelsea announcing the signing of goal-scoring machine Sam Kerr last week, England now has to compete for her starting spot and prove to Emma Hayes that she deserves to play. Her England call up came a little later than anticipated, making her debut in August 2019 against Belgium. She scored her debut goal for the lionesses after being subbed on against Brazil. This was the only goal in their 2-1 defeat, which caused Lionesses’ fans to notice the talent that she holds. In November, Beth made her first start for England during their friendly against the Czech Republic. She contributed yet another goal during their 3-2 victory. It is honourable to mention that the striker managed to bag five goals in the first four games in the continental cup. This concludes the list I have compiled. Although it doesn’t do the league’s talent justice, it is a start. There are so many players that deserve recognition and I hope to expose more football-lovers to the Women's Super League and to support the women's game. To keep up with the English league, download the ‘FA Player’ app where matches, highlights and many more are available to watch for free!

Writer -Toby: @ oosa.wnt on Instagram // @ oosawnt on Twitter

Two-time National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) Champion, three-time NWSL Shield Winners, and one-time Women’s International Champions Cup winner. If you haven’t guessed it already – yes, I’m talking about the North Carolina Courage Women’s Soccer Team.

It’s no surprise the NCC won the 2019 NWSL Championship (for the second time in a row). The reasoning isn’t just a coincidence, it has to do with experience, certain key players, and the history that got them there. From 2013 to 2016, the NCC was formerly known as the Western New York Flash. In 2017, the NWSL franchise sold and relocated as the North Carolina Courage.

In the first ever NWSL Championship game (2013), the Western New York Flash (currently NCC) lost 0-2 against the Portland Thorns, but won the NWSL Shield. In the 2016 Championship, the Western New York Flash (NCC) went against the Washington Spirit and won 3-2 after a penalty shoot-out. In the 2017 Championship game, the NCC lost 0-1 to the Thorns, but won the NSWL Shield (again). In 2018, the NCC and Thorns found their way to each other again and and finally won 3-0 against their rival, while also taking home the NWSL shield. In 2019, they became back-to-back champions as they took on the Chicago Red Stars, winning 4-0. They also claimed the NWSL Shield for the third time. Overall, the NCC have won the NWSL Championships three times, were runner-ups twice, and won the NWSL Shield four times. I’m not good at math, but hey, the numbers don’t lie.  

Even though the NCC have a lot of experience going into finals, there’s a lot of talent within their team as well. Heading towards the 2019 Women’s World Cup, Jill Ellis called up four NCC players (Abby Dahlkemper, Sam Mewis, Jessica McDonald and Crystal Dunn). Additionally, Abby Erceg who plays for New Zealand, Debinha for Brazil, and Stephanie Labbé for Canada also got to play in the 2019 WWC for their country. In total, that’s seven players out of twenty-five who played in the 2019 WWC.

Not to mention the NCC have a goal-scoring machine, AKA Lynn Williams, who made 12 goals of the 2019 NWSL season, placing 2nd under Sam Kerr for the most goals. Kristen Hamilton is ranked 3rd with nine goals. Debinha is placed in 2nd with seven assists, under Yuki Nagasato, and Jaelene Hinkle is ranked in 3rd with six assists. Overall, the NCC made 54 goals during the 2019 season, had 42 assists and made 364 shots with 171 of them being goals on target.

It’s a known fact that the NCC had a great season, but what makes them so dominant? The answer may lie within their experience, their players, or even North Carolina (the state). Looking into the history of North Carolina, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a hot spot for women’s soccer. It is also the birthplace of notable soccer players such as Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly, Heather O’Reilly, Whitney Engen, Lucy Bronze, Tobin Heath, Meghan Klingenberg, Lori Chalupny, Crystal Dunn, Allie Long, Katie Bowen, and Jessica McDonald. Recognize all those names? Same. Moreover, the North Carolina Tar Heels women’s soccer team has won 22 of the 36 NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Championships and are 4-time runner-ups. In addition to their legacy, the Tar Heels’ announced Heather O’Reilly as the new assistant coach. HAO, who’s had a legendary soccer career, is about to coach and mentor the Tar Heels’ women’s soccer in hopes of leaving and impact and leading the way for greatness.

So, if you want to know what makes a team so good? The answer may lie deeper than the coaches and the players. The history of women’s soccer and the experience within a particular area may contribute to what makes a team so dominate. North Carolina is one of the few states that carry along the encouragement for women’s soccer and most importantly, the youth. In order to build greatness, you have to have a strong foundation. To all the colleges, high schools, junior highs, elementary schools and after school programs – uplift the youth with sports and encourage them with the vision that they can lift up trophies, they can wear medals, they can stand in the hall of fame, they can make records and they can  become so good.  

Written by: @USWNTXNWSL on IG

In March 2019, 28 USWNT players sued U.S Soccer, accusing the federation of unequal treatment and payment, despite being more successful than the men’s team. The lawsuit made headlines all over the country and even abroad, getting a lot of support, but it was also questioned by many, mainly due to the alleged revenue difference between women’s and men’s soccer.

When comparing the situation to the gender difference in basketball, Executive director of the NBA Player’s Association, Michele Roberts, responded, “We have to be realistic about in some respects is the revenue that is generated in each game.The men’s game is just much more profitable and generates more revenue that the women’s game do.” WNBA player Sue Bird was quick to respond to Roberts on her Instagram stories that they all understood how business and revenue worked, but the conversation was all about the unequal investment. Bird’s girlfriend and 2019’s Best FIFA Women’s player, Megan Rapinoe, reposted her story, agreeing with Bird’s comments and adding, “Don’t tell us we finished 50m behind the winner when the winner had 100m head start”.

Are the people who claim the payment difference is all due to different revenue wrong? Well, not exactly. What they don’t understand - because they don’t take their time to look into the issue and instead make uninformed opinions - is that, as Bird and Rapinoe said, the investment in men and women’s sports is incredibly unequal. Equal pay will never come if the federations don’t start promoting both games in the same way or if they don’t respect the players the same way, because yes, sexism is there! It’s unbelievable that the six time Best Player in the World Marta gets offered a 24x smaller sponsorship than men who probably haven’t even won big awards, and it proves how the companies don’t take female footballers as seriously as they deserve.

Lastly, many people argue that the women’s game isn’t at the same level as men’s, and even though there are teams that would be able to compete and defeat the men, there are also plenty of teams that would never win because they don’t receive the same quality of practices and investment. The talent is clearly there, but no talent is enough to win professional championships without proper training.

Luckily the Women’s soccer community has grown a lot, especially after the World Cup and FIFA has recently committed $1 billion to women’s soccer between 2019 and 2022! However, us, as fans, can also help growing the game. If you live in a place where there is a local team to support, invite your friends and go root for the team in the stadium and even if you don’t have a local team, you can watch the games and show your support on the TV or online. Share your love for the game and get more people to love it.

Equal pay can become a reality, so we need to prove that we won’t stop watching and make everyone else, including the federations, believe that Women’s sports is as interesting as the men’s, and it can get even better with more investment!

Writer: Isabella Almeida @ isabellagomesa on insta