South American women's soccer still fighting for respect

The women’s soccer tournament at this year’s Olympics just became more important to the hosts, with the men’s team struggling to qualify for the next stage after draws with South Africa and Iraq. South America’s other representatives, Colombia, play the US on Tuesday but outside of the Olympics there is a bigger issue that has received little attention. While South America boasts some of the best men’s teams in the world, with six teams in the Fifa top 20 and nine World Cup titles, South American women’s teams (only one team in the top 20 and zero World Cups) are still searching for recognition, legitimacy and an equal level of respect from their own people.

Rio 2016: South American women's soccer still fighting for respect

When Dania Cabello joined the women’s team of the Brazilian giants Santos FC in the summer of 2006 she could hardly believe it was happening. “It was like a weird dream I hadn’t fully realized,” she said in a phone interview. Having finished an illustrious college career for the University of California in Berkeley, Cabello – daughter of Chilean exiles who fled to the US to escape Pinochet’s dictatorship – moved to Brazil to continue her education and found there was an opportunity to try out for one of the most famous names in South America. This was after all the club that introduced us to Robinho, Neymar and, of course, Pelé.

“As excited as I was for being here I was also aware that my situation was extremely unique because I was an American Latina playing in South America.” Away from the comforts of being a college athlete in the US, Cabello began to witness a different world of the women’s game that she had never seen before. “In the US, having played division one college soccer there was very much a professional feel to it. But after a few days I began to feel that the women’s pro game in Brazil was in some ways like a downgrade.”

Cabello described in detail the contrast between Santos’s men’s and women’s teams and their respective resources. In one example, she recalled how during pre-season training camp the men’s academy would eat their own giant dining-room complex while the women would have to stay in their rooms where they would receive trays of food. “I don’t want to call it leftovers, but it definitely felt like that.” Additionally, unlike the men’s team, the women didn’t have their own practice gear and instead would wear men’s hand-me-downs. Their frequent practices on the beach – as glamorous at is sounds – were due to the fact that the U11 boys’ team had first call on the soccer field over the women. Friendly matches were not against other female clubs but instead much younger male academy players.

Elsey believes that part of the problem is the lack of support from male soccer players. “I think it would be really important and valuable if they found allies with male stars, and the Olympics would be a perfect opportunity,” she says. “It’s really important for young boys to see that men take a genuine interest in women’s soccer.”