How is #WomensFootball on the other side of the world? (part I)

Nowadays, women's football is global. It is present in practically all countries and is played by millions of girls (and the ones that are still yet to play!).

What's women's football like on the other side of the world?, a question that came to my mind one day while watching a Liga Iberdrola match on television. We are not yet lucky enough to be able to enjoy domestic leagues from many other countries on TV, and the truth is that it causes lots of curiosity.

What is women's football like in Paraguay? Australia? China? Scotland? Any country that comes to mind, I'd love to watch it.

For now we have to settle for hearing about it from others. That's why I decided to get in touch with some friends and former teammates to get an idea of ​​what women's football is like in the countries where they currently play at.

In this first part we will talk to players in France, Brazil, Portugal and Venezuela.

Yenifer Giménez

• Plays in the Thonon Évian GG, 2nd division of France.

• She has been playing on this team for 2 years.

• Previous teams: Aurillac Arpajon (same league), América de Cali (Colombia), Deportivo Lara and Máximo Viloria (Venezuela).

• She thinks Division 2 Féminine has a good level "because it is tactical and physical, the matches are always of high intensity."

• What she likes most about the league is the competitiveness.

• She believes that the French 2nd division could improve if it were supported more and the clubs had more resources.

• As a player, the league has helped her "adapt to the European style of play and improve some physical and technical details." As a person, being in 'the old continent' has helped her "have more responsibility, maturity, patience and tolerance."

• For her, it is the strongest and most competitive league she has played in.

• Another positive thing about this league is that "the atmosphere is very good, people like to enjoy games and support their teams."

• In her opinion, women's football could be developed through the creation of "more training academies and more support across all leagues and levels."

• Her daily routine consists of eating a healthy diet, exercising, and taking advantage of rest periods to ensure good performance during training and matches.

• Besides football, she also enjoys reading, meditating, and spending time with family and friends.

Yenifer is also a player for the Venezuelan national team. She played a World Cup with the U20 team and is currently part of the senior team.

Yessica Velázquez

• She plays in 3B de Amazônia, a team belonging to the Brasileirão Série A2 (Brazil's 2nd division).

• The women's football season in Brazil lasts half a year (starting in March and ending in late June). That is why, during the last two years, she has divided her time playing in 3B de Amazônia and other teams in Colombia, since the women's league also lasts half a year there.

• Previous teams: Junior FC, Unión Magdalena and Real Cartagena (Colombia), Comunidad Cristiana de Anzoátegui and Deportivo Anzoátegui (Venezuela).

• She thinks that, despite being a second division, the level "is very good since people live and breathe football in Brazil. The matches are intense, there is a lot of contact and teams never give up, even if they're losing 4-0."

• What she likes most about playing in Amazônia is training. "Here you almost always train double shifts and each session with a lot of intensity."

• When asked what she thinks could be improved in the league, she says that "as always, the second division does not have as much attention as the first." In the case of the Brasileirão Série A2, there are some teams that participate without having the infrastructure or roster to compete, which causes it to lose appeal. However the level is good and has potential to grow.

• Playing in Brazil has contributed to her development as a footballer. "Every time I come to the club in Brazil my level improves a lot. The high intensity present in every training session makes you grow mentally as well."

• "Brazilian women's football, as I have experienced it, is very physical and direct. In Colombia, for example, the level is still very good but the style of play is more tactical and favors possession." Regarding organization and resources, the Colombian league seems to have more to offer, despite the instability caused by not having a fixed start and end date for each season (the 2019 season started in July, while the 2020 season was planned to start during the first semester of the year).

• Yessica enjoys the matches: "the atmosphere is very good, the fields are in great condition and football is very well seen here."

• For her, developing women's football in Brazil (and in many other countries) mainly requires support, for example by televising matches.

• Her daily routine is highly influenced by the mental aspect, essential to have the "best attitude when training; beyond that the psychological part is essential for day to day".

• Some years ago she managed to combine football with university studies and has a degree in Physical Education.

In addition to a great career at the club level, Yessica has also been present in preparation cycles and FIFA dates with La Vinotinto in U20 and senior categories.

Karla Torres

• She plays in Paio Pires FC of the Portuguese 2nd division.

• She arrived in Portugal in January. Before making the jump to Europe, she played in Esporte Club Iranduba (Brasil), Colo Colo (Chile), Junior de Barranquilla and Atlético Huila (Colombia), and Universidad Central de Venezuela.

• As for the level of the league, "in my opinion it is low since there's a big gap between clubs both at the competitive level and at the economic and structural level."

• Something that she likes and excites her is that the first two teams at the end of the season automatically get promoted to the first division, unlike other leagues where only one team (the champion) has the opportunity to move up.

• In her opinion, the Portuguese 2nd division still has a lot of room for improvement in every aspect, but something that seems to be a priority for her is to increase the competitive level of the tournament. "The results are very bulky during the first phase of the tournament and you can see a significant difference in level between the teams."

• Despite only spending a few months in Portugal so far, she has learned to "be more tolerant, mentally stronger and more demanding" with herself.

• The league where she plays now and where she played before cannot be compared in level or in resources. However, there is something very positive that other leagues do not have to the same extent: fans. "There are a lot of fans here, people like to watch women's football. In other countries, such as Chile, people do not attend matches as much."

• The atmosphere, therefore, is great to play in since "people identify themselves with the team."

• Some ideas that Karla thinks could help develop women's football in her current league include "creating a 3rd division league where the more amateur teams participate, leaving the 2nd division with the teams that are both competitively and structurally qualified to maintain a good level." Another thing would be "offering a minimum salary to all the players of both 1st and 2nd division" and also "getting sponsors to help the clubs financially so that they can professionalize all the footballers."

• Her daily routine consists of good nutrition, gym training in the morning and field training at night, and resting and keeping in touch with her loved ones in Venezuela.

• Among other things, she likes to watch TV series and read.

Karla has been part of the Venezuelan national team in all categories (sub 17, sub 20 and older).

Orlianny Marcano

• She plays in Estudiantes de Caracas SC, team in the Superliga Femenina (Venezuelan 1st division).

• She has been playing for ECSC for a year. She has played her entire career as a football player in Venezuela, forming part of the following teams: Mickey Sport, Deportivo Anzoátegui, UCV, Atlético Venezuela y Deportivo La Guaira. This makes her highly knowledgeable about the past, present and future of women's football in Venezuela.

• When talking about the competitiveness of the Superliga Femenina, she thinks it's regular. "Teams currently in the tournament have great players, but there has been a significant amount of girls going to play abroad, causing the competitive level of clubs to decrease a bit." At the structure level, she thinks it's quite low. "It hasn't been given the importance it really deserves. Support and proper organization are scarce and this is one of the main reasons why most players prefer to play abroad."

• One of the things she liked most about the league is that tournament organizers were more demanding in terms of the participation criteria for some teams. "This made the Superliga Femenina take more shape and pushed teams and players from the amateur league to work harder to be in the professional tournament."

• For Orlianny the organization and importance given to the league is what should be taken into account to improve it. "For years, Venezuelan women's football has been treated as a mandatory tournament, so the resources and efforts made to keep it running are the minimum."

• Despite the difficulties, she has grown a lot as a person. "This year has been one of immense growth - understanding the value we have as players and everything we are capable of doing." She also reflects on how close she got to her teammates: "I was lucky to be with an incredible group... We became stronger people: if we could have that willpower to make a comeback during a game, we could also do it off the field, maintaining a resilient mindset".

• Despite not having played in any other country, she has been able to experience a before and after of Venezuelan women's football, even if it has only improved in a few aspects. "The fact that they made this league a professional tournament gave a little more formality to the women's game in Venezuela; however, in most teams, players are still treated the same way and with the same conditions as in previous leagues and tournaments."

• A positive aspect that has undoubtedly improved is the support of the fans. "The growth that has been seen at the national team level has sparked the interest of many people and has managed to increase the support of the fans: they want to see who they are, where they come from, how they play... this has greatly increased the attendance at local matches."

• When asking her for ideas to develop women's football in Venezuela, she gives us 4 essential aspects: more support and attention for players living in difficult or at-risk situations, improving playing fields, salaries for players and resources for the proper functioning of teams (minimum conditions for travel, meals , medical attention, etc.)

• Besides being a footballer, she is also a goalkeeper coach in her club and also is in the administrative team of the Venezuelan Professional Football Players Association (AUFPV in Spanish).

Orlianny played with La Vinotinto at the 2010 U17 FIFA World Cup in Trinidad & Tobago.

As we can see, the style of play can vary from country to country, even if it is in the same continent. For example, that perception that generalizes South American football as more paused and possession-driven is broken - in Brazil it is more physical and direct, even resembling the North American style of play.

We can also note that the testimonies of all the players, regardless of the league, agree in one thing: women's football needs support, organization and fair treatment.

Comment below and let me know what you've learned or what other things you would like know about #womensfootball worldwide. Subscribe to be notified of part II, where you will be able to read about what women's football is like in more countries around Europe and Latin America. Don'tmiss it!

Twitter @RetandoAlFutbol