Must Be The Money
Two years after the US women exited early and Colombia shined at the ’23 World Cup, the Americans flipped the script at the SheBelieves Cup. But is there more to this result than meets the eye?
The US women won Thursday by the score line of 2-0 over Colombia.
» Compare this to the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup when the Americans, led by Vlatko Andonovski, bowed out at the Round of 16. Conversely, Colombia not only won its group, the tricolor triumphed in the Round of 16 and lost 2-1 to England in a wildly entertaining quarterfinal.
But, two years feels like a long time ago.
» This past Thursday at the opening game of the 2025 SheBelieves Cup was a ferocious battle that to their credit the Colombians forged until the final whistle blew at Shell Energy Stadium in Houston. They sent wave after wave of yellow jersey into the US penalty area, balls skittering out of bounds after flying tackles pierced the chilly night air with blades of grass and groans—and 26 fouls between the teams.
Along with the clattering of legs creating a cacophony of sounds, it was unlike anything you'd seen from either team's men. That’s not where discrepancies stop, either. The Colombia soccer federation, or FCF, pays each woman $80 per game in comparison to the $18,000 per diem the US Womens National Team player receives. From my vantage point, it also looked like the Colombians were wearing the same uniforms from the Women’s World Cup.
» Ana-Maria Guzman [above left with US/Utah Royals goalkeeper Mandy McGlynn] is a Colombia international and defender on the Royals who entered the game Thursday immediately after US midfielder and Royals teammate Ally Sentnor performed quite a feat. In the 59th minute, US striker Cat Macario sent a pass into the shadow of Sentnor, who slalomed past two Colombian defenders like she was dodging flags on Park City Mountain, cutting the ball to her right foot to launch a missile. Lo, this was not a moment of deep reflection for Sentnor who was getting her first real first-team action on the US seniors and wanted to have an impact in the worst way. The ball went screaming past the final defender into the six yard box, into the ether, gathering steam as it whooshed past the Colombian goalkeeper for a 2-0 lead.
If Sentnor knew about the wage discrepancy she’d be mortified; how could anyone not be? But, with her game face on, the Utah Royals’ midfielder spun away from her defender near the sideline earlier in the game in the first half, contributing to Macario’s first goal in three years for the Americans in their 2-0 win.
» If you wonder how this world can be so unfair and how we got here, understand that despite a litany of accusations of sexual harassment, sexism and player abuse pertaining to pay, of all things, FCF president Ramon Jesurun has had numerous chances to explain his stance, however, in years past he’s referred to Colombia’s women’s players as “daughters” and “granddaughters”—all while holding a dual role at FIFA and calling them “amateurs.”
» Ethiopia president Sahle Work-Zewde made it clear that this is not just a Colombian issue—it’s a global problem. “Women’s football does not enjoy the same level of support and investment that men’s football does,” she said ahead of the 2019 Women’s World Cup that the Americans won. “This directly translates into an awareness gap that is affecting the ability of our female footballers to excel and be rewarded for their hard work.”
» After Colombia has exited this 2025 SheBelieves Cup with more losses than wins, it’ll be hard to convince anyone that such glaring disparity doesn’t exist in women’s soccer.
Having only received $240 for their efforts on a playing field where none of Colombia’s players are currently in the NWSL’s top 12 in yearly salaries marks another sad footnote. For a league that only pays its players about $36,000 per player per year, consider that not only do the Colombians not have anyone earning anything close to this on their womens’ National Team, the American players can earn up to 50 times that per game, with bonuses—and still have four of their players rank in the NWSL’s top 12 in that regard.
Going into this week’s final round of games at the SheBelieves Cup, Utah Royals striker Mina Tanaka has scored four goals for her Japan side that had a new development take place recently within its federation. As of 2021, women were required to be in at least half of all of its professional club’s “staff posts,” per Japan Times. Japan won its first game 4-0 against Australia and then blasted Colombia 4-1, setting up a winner-take-all game this week against a US squad under new head coach Emma Hayes that has looked energized after winning Olympic gold in Paris. «
📸» Fatima Nawabi
Bill Selfish
RUMORS» Down south, national media piled on Kansas for losing though they let Bill Self speak for himself—and then in typical millennial fashion used the Jayhawks coach’s own words against him in the headline because they’re spineless.
Meanwhile, BYU thumped Kansas 91-57 at a sold out Marriott Center bathed in white and proved without a shadow of a doubt that they belong in the Big Dance and probably just punched their ticket to it the same way that Utah punched theirs to the postseason [NIT?] by defeating the Jayhawks Saturday in a two-thirds full Huntsman Center. Better attendance than what the women got but I digress. [By the way, BYU is now No. 25 in the country while Utah fired head coach Craig Smith after four seasons at the helm.] «
Overthink This Photo 📸
This is a happy day for BYU punter Ryan Rehkow; he just signed a two-year contract extension with the Cincinnati Bengals after a record setting season in which the rookie set single season team records in gross and net punting and belted an 80-yard punt, longest in Bengals’ history. Rehkow was discovered at the NFL Draft Combine back in 2024; who will be the big find in Indianapolis this year? We’ll have a locals recap on this week’s BVU Show that is now on Spotify…
Oh Where Oh Where Do We Go…»
Some People Say » that legalized gambling has been a boon to state and local economies. Maybe so, but the industry seems to be running out of physical places to grow.
"Last year saw brick-and-mortar revenue growth slow, while online gaming and sports betting continued to grow," said American Gaming Association VP of research David Forman during a recent conference call. "These past few years have reshaped the industry, and the revenue pie, while it's much bigger, looks very different than it used to. That's increasingly driven by new online gaming options available to more people than ever before."
In Utah, the closest legalized form of gambling is in Wendover, Nevada, 110 miles west of Salt Lake City, which has the largest concentration of people in the state. «
#WhatAreWeDOING Playoffs [Most-voted candidate advances to next round; two candidates per week]
» #1 Candidate: Tiger Woods is back! He’s got ears like an elepha—ohh, wait:
» #2 Candidate: one tournament liked 44-year-old Venus Williams so much that they gave her an invite to it—then she turned it down!
Advancing to the #whatarewedoing playoff second round thus far:
Frat pledge set on fire
Player pushes his coach
Ohio State female coach
Dad uses baby to clean off car
Rob Ryan rant
Shedeur Sanders song
Thanks for reading; be safe and be well. I’ll see ya next time. «