‘In Panama, if you’re a soccer player, you’re a lesbian’

Raiza Gutierrez, former national team player Panama and the current technical assistant of the senior team that will compete in the Women’s World Cup Australia-New Zealand 2023, assures that the road to get there was not easy, in a country where players and their families still struggle against sexist stigmas that keep girls away from the sport, thereby losing potential soccer stars.

“IN Panama there is still that machismo that says football is for men. Unfortunately, we still live in a country where, if you’re a soccer player… you’re a lesbian, and that’s not the case,” condemned the coach of the U-20 team in an interview with EFE. Panama.

She added that this stigma, which many female players struggle with, leads parents not to support their girls.

“I’m using this opportunity just to tell you: if your girls’ passion is to play football… support them, because women’s football in Panama It’s growing,” he said.

He made it clear that, although improving, the Panamanian women’s league still does not allow for a living from soccer.

“The truth is that you cannot make a living from women’s football Panama, There are girls who don’t charge. The same applies to teams that try to give their players something, but again they don’t give them a decent salary,” he admitted.

Raiza Gutierrez She was remembered as the top scorer in the tournament National Women’s Football Association (Anafufe 2003-2013). This talented shooter started like all athletes in Panama, in a street school.

“Raiza started playing in the San Miguel neighborhood when she was very young, I started very young, believe me they used to play in the streets in the neighborhood. where I used to play,” he said.

His first football idol was his brother, whom he followed to all the fields to watch his matches, from there Raiza’s love for football was born.

“At first my brother didn’t want me to play because of the problem that people always say they are players, and then they realized that it was my passion and gave me all their support,” she commented.

Now from the technical bench, root She is living the dream she couldn’t fulfill as a player, reaching the Women’s World Cup.

“That very nice experience was something I always wanted since childhood, I think that in my beginnings as a player my dream was always to play in the World Cup. Unfortunately, that was not given to us as players, (but) it was given to me now as a coach and believe me I enjoy it just the same,” he said.

She revealed how she experienced the moment of the qualification: “until the end of the second, I shouted to the judge time, time… when she played it was one thing, it was something unforgettable”.

Get ready to enjoy the World Cup experience where for the first time 32 teams will compete for the Women’s World Cup, aware that they have a tough group in the tournament that starts next July Brazil, Jamaica and France, but “we will enjoy with a lot of responsibility”.

“Being at the biggest party in football is something that every person or any player would like to experience, and now it’s up to us to enjoy it,” she celebrated.