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Stefany Ferrer Van Ginkel, Angel City bridge the gap across borders

Angel City’s Stefany Ferrer Van Ginkel defends against Tigres during the friendly match Wednesday night. (Courtesy of Angel City Football Club)

LOS ANGELES — “Futból Sin Fronteras, ¡Una Sola Pasión!” read a sign in the supporters’ section during Angel City FC’s match against Tigres Femenil on Wednesday night. The club’s first international friendly was a celebration of the increasing interconnectedness of the women’s soccer world. In the words of the sign, the match was “soccer without borders” in action.

ACFC forward Stefany Ferrer Van Ginkel may have felt that sentiment most strongly. The 23-year-old has played competitive soccer in four countries (Spain, the United States, England and Mexico) and was facing her old team on Wednesday. Afterward, she said the best part about playing her former teammates was having the opportunity to hug them and catch up after the game.

In her first start for ACFC, Ferrer Van Ginkel was named Player of the Match despite having a beautiful assist called back after rookie Hope Breslin was ruled offside. Head coach Freya Coombe praised Ferrer Van Ginkel’s ability to “show some class on the ball in possession” throughout the game. The midfielder played the bulk of the match, which Angel City won 1-0 on Savannah McCaskill’s goal in the 79th minute.

Next year, ACFC will visit Tigres in Monterrey, Mexico to culminate the two-year home-and-home series. On Tuesday, the clubs held a festival that included a youth soccer clinic, a five-on-five tournament and player appearances. Tigres will also host events for fans ahead of next year’s game to promote women’s soccer and engage their community.

Ferrer Van Ginkel understands as well as anyone the unique way sports can connect people. She was born in Brazil and began playing soccer in middle school to make friends after moving to Spain and not yet speaking Spanish. She and her two sisters were adopted by a Spanish family after their mother could no longer take care of them. What began as a way to fit in became an obsession and ultimately a career for the young footballer.

After spending last season in Liga MX Femenil with Tigres, Ferrer Van Ginkel signed a one-year deal with Angel City on Feb. 1 through a transfer agreement between the clubs. Now months into her first NWSL season, she describes the U.S. pro league as more physical and Mexico’s as more technical. Coombe believes the pace of play is faster in the NWSL, but what made Wednesday’s game a good test is that Tigres is one of the faster teams in Liga MX Femenil.

Four players born in California started the game for Tigres, including three with Southern California ties. Defender Anika Rodriguez and forward Mia Fishel were teammates at UCLA, Ammanda Marroquin was born in San Diego, and Bianca Sierra hails from the Bay Area.

In total, nine of the 21 players on Tigres’ roster attended universities in the States, including San Diego State, Washington State, Oregon State, Auburn, Toledo and South Florida. Nigerian-born forward Uchenna Kanu scored 115 goals in 55 games with Southeastern University (Florida) before scoring 17 times in 12 appearances for Pensacola in the Women’s Premier League. Ferrer Van Ginkel became the first international player to sign with Tigres last season, and this year’s team boasts six foreign players (four Americans, a Colombian and a Nigerian).

Rodriguez, a Los Angeles native, said that the partnership between the clubs was important to her personally as a Mexican-American and to the women’s game.

“It’s challenging the boundaries of this sport and crossing borders,” Rodriguez said. “Soccer is universal and knows no boundaries. This partnership is just one step closer to that ideal.”

After signing with the Portland Thorns in 2020, Rodriguez did not make an appearance and instead went to play for a Dutch team for two seasons before joining Tigres. She said the partnership with ACFC benefits her team by expanding its viewer and fan base and reaching the Latinx community in Los Angeles.

Ferrer Van Ginkel predicted the match would also have the effect of growing soccer in L.A., since many other professional sports may steer American fans’ attention away from soccer. In Monterrey, by contrast, the community is “100 percent attentive to soccer,” she says. Ferrer Van Ginkel has found Angel City’s robust, league-leading attendance impressive given all the other choices sports fans have in L.A.

“Maybe other teams in the NWSL now are going to follow and do the same thing,” she said of her club’s partnership with Tigres. “Or maybe it’ll become even bigger and we’ll become a league like a Copa. I think it’s huge for women’s soccer, to always be growing and doing new things like this.”

Before the game started, the teams exchanged scarves and took photos together, which Tigres head coach and three-year NWSL veteran Carmelina Moscato said signified a “football friendship.”

“It’s celebrating the spirit of women’s football, how it’s growing, how two clubs are pushing boundaries, how two clubs are first movers in their respective countries,” Moscato said.

For Coombe, too, the partnership exceeds far beyond the pitch.

“It it is more about how we are able to learn from each other,” Coombe said. “How we are both looking to take the best points from each other’s clubs and implement those to grow the game in our communities.”

Both head coaches said the goal is to push women’s soccer forward and agreed that, in the absence of a Champions League in the Americas, partnerships like this are needed to elevate the game. Last month, the women’s Euro final between England and Germany easily broke the attendance record with 87,192 fans watching the Lionesses win at Wembley Stadium.

“I think (this partnership will) inspire other leagues to get moving,” Moscato said. “When you start to see the game growing and connecting in these ways, people want to be part of this. It’s unique.”

Moscato said that a few Concacaf leagues are invested in and pushing boundaries for women’s soccer. She identified the NWSL and Liga MX Femenil as leaders among this group.

“The women’s game is growing rapidly, globally and regionally, which has been happening in almost an accelerator for the past decade,” said Moscato, specifically referencing the visibility that stems from every major international tournament. “It’s the years between those international events where club football does the heavy lifting.”

Angel City and Tigres Femenil are doing the heavy lifting, and they’re doing it without being bothered by arbitrary national borders.

Joshua Fischman is a contributing writer at Just Women’s Sports covering Angel City FC and the Los Angeles Sparks. He has covered basketball for Vantage Sports and Hoops Rumors and served as co-host of “On the NBA Beat” podcast. Joshua received his master’s in Sports Media from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. Follow him on Twitter @SportsCommsJosh.

Top Tennis Stars Crash Out of Wimbledon in the First Round

US tennis star Coco Gauff reacts to her 2025 Wimbledon first-round loss to Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska.
World No. 2 Coco Gauff fell to Ukraine's unseeded Dayana Yastremska in the first round of 2025 Wimbledon on Tuesday. (Robert Prange/Getty Images)

The grass court chaos of Wimbledon didn't disappoint this week, as the unpredictable surface claimed more than one surprise victim in the 2025 Grand Slam's first round.

A full 10 of the London tournament's 32 seeded players fell in the competition's first round, including four of the WTA's Top 10: World No. 2 Coco Gauff, No. 3 Jessica Pegula, No. 6 Qinwen Zheng, and No. 9 Paula Badosa.

"I should just play no tournaments, get no wins, then roll into Wimbledon, and maybe I'll have better results," US star Pegula joked after her two-set Tuesday loss to Italy's No. 116 Elisabetta Cocciaretto, referencing her recent wins.

Gauff's short Wimbledon outing also represented a new challenge for the 21-year-old standout, as the top-ranked US tennis player struggled to bounce back after winning the 2025 French Open last month.

"I feel like mentally I was a little bit overwhelmed with everything that came afterwards," Gauff told ESPN. "So I didn’t feel like I had enough time to celebrate and also get back into it."

The upsets continued as Wimbledon entered its second round on Wednesday morning, claiming several more seeded players like world No. 5 Jasmine Paolini and No. 15 Diana Shnaider, though both No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and unseeded fan favorite Naomi Osaka cruised into the Slam's third round on two-set wins.

No. 8 Madison Keys now leads the US contingent, with fellow US contender No. 12 Amanda Anisimova joining the 2025 Australian Open champion in snagging their own two-set, second-round victories on Wednesday.

How to watch the 2025 Wimbledon Championships

Second-round play at the 2025 Wimbledon women's singles tournament continues on Thursday, as seven US players — including No. 10 Emma Navarro and No. 28 Sofia Kenin — look to advance to the competition's third round.

Live continuous coverage of the London Grand Slam airs on ESPN.

USWNT Faces Rivals Canada in Final Summer Friendly

USWNT players Alyssa Thompson and Sam Meza eye the ball during a June 2025 training camp.
The USWNT will face Canada in their final summer friendly on Wednesday. (Brad Smith/ISI Photos/USSF/ISI Photos via Getty Images)

The world No. 1 USWNT will close out their summer international break against a familiar foe on Wednesday night, facing North American rival No. 8 Canada for the first time this year.

"It's never friendly, you know? It's always like a final," US midfielder Sam Coffey told media earlier this week. "We all know each other super well."

"I'm really excited to be a part of it again for our younger, newer players," she continued. "I think it's going to be a huge learning opportunity on what representing this crest means."

The Northern neighbors are the USWNT's most frequent opponent, with the US entering the pair's 67th meeting with a 53-4-9 all-time record against Canada.

Wednesday's matchup will also mark Canada's first US clash under new head coach Casey Stoney, who joined the team in January following her abrupt June 2024 dismissal by the NWSL's San Diego Wave FC.

As for US boss Emma Hayes, she'll be looking for yet another refreshed set of starters on Wednesday after swapping out all 11 players between the team's two friendlies against Ireland last week.

"It's a testament to players and staff alike that we can rotate to different groups like we did last game, and everybody's understanding [the tactics] to varying degrees," Hayes said on Tuesday.

With months to go before the next USWNT camp in October, Wednesday's showdown serves as the last chance for bubble players to prove their worth, all while the team aims to cap the summer window with a big win over their longtime rivals.

How to watch the USWNT vs. Canada on Wednesday

The USWNT will cap their three-friendly summer break against Canada at 7:30 PM ET in Washington, DC.

Live coverage of the clash will air on TNT.

Indiana Upsets Minnesota, Wins WNBA Commissioner’s Cup Without Clark

The Indiana Fever celebrate and lift the 2025 WNBA Commissioner's Cup trophy.
The Indiana Fever upset the Minnesota Lynx to win the 2025 WNBA Commissioner's Cup. (David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images)

The Indiana Fever lifted their first trophy since 2012 on Tuesday night, winning the 2025 WNBA Commissioner's Cup with a 74-59 upset victory over reigning Cup champs Minnesota — all while injured star guard Caitlin Clark watched from the sidelines.

To snag the win, Indiana leaned on balanced scoring, with forward Natasha Howard's 16-point, 12-rebound double-double leading the Fever's five double-digit shooters.

At the same time, the Fever employed a shutdown defense, limiting the Lynx to their lowest point total of the season.

Beyond the $500,000 payout, Tuesday's win gives the 8-8 Fever a momentum boost as the team continues contending with both high-profile departures and the limited availability of their floor general.

"We have a resilient group, you know?" Indiana head coach Stephanie White said after the game. "They're tough, mentally and physically, they pull for one another. I'm just really proud."

"It felt good to get a win under gut-check circumstances," echoed guard Kelsey Mitchell. "To have so much going on and still stay consistently for each other, it was beautiful. It felt really amazing."

As for the league-leading Lynx, the Commissioner's Cup loss won't impact Minnesota's regular-season WNBA standings — and they’ll hope to build on the learnings from last night's ego blow.

Minnesota also has a bit of history one their side, as the last two Commissioner's Cup runners-up went on to win the WNBA Championship in the same year.

"We have to take this game to heart and learn from the mistakes we made, the way we showed up, the way we prepared, and make sure we don't do it again," said Lynx center Alanna Smith.

How to watch the Indiana Fever, Minnesota Lynx this week

Neither 2025 Commissioner's Cup contender will have much time to reflect on Tuesday's game, as both Indiana and Minnesota will dive back into regular-season WNBA play on Thursday.

The Fever will host the Las Vegas Aces at 7 PM ET, airing on Prime, before the Washington Mystics visit the Lynx at 8 PM ET, with live coverage on WNBA League Pass.

Indiana Fever Guard Sophie Cunningham Sounds Off on WNBA Expansion

Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham speaks to reporters before the 2025 WNBA Commissioner's Cup final.
Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham expressed concern about the new WNBA expansion cities. (David Dow /NBAE via Getty Images)

Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham turned heads on Tuesday, criticizing the latest WNBA expansion plans in light of ongoing WNBPA CBA negotiations.

Cunningham drew ire from some fans after expressing skepticism about the WNBA awarding expansion teams to Detroit and Cleveland over other possible cities, while also suggesting that the league might be growing too quickly.

"You want to listen to your players, too. Where do they want to play?" she told reporters ahead of Indiana's Commissioner's Cup win. "I'm not so sure what the thought process is there, but at the end of the day, you want to make sure that you're not expanding our league too fast."

"It's kind of a hard decision-making situation. But man, I don't know how excited people are to be going to Detroit or [Cleveland]."

Elsewhere, Phoenix Mercury forward Satou Sabally also voiced her expansion concerns on Tuesday, calling on the WNBA to keep player support at the forefront when adding expansion teams.

"We really have to put an emphasis on the players that are in our league right now," she told reporters. "Maybe focus on the teams that find excuses continuously to lack investment in their players before we focus on adding more to the grain of people that can't really be sustained."

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