KANSAS CITY – The Kansas City Current take on their second Liga MX opponent in the “NWSL x Liga MX Feminel Summer Cup” on Thursday, August 1st. The opponent is Tigres UANL Women. This is each team’s final group-stage game. Tigres sit with 3 points and The Current sit with 6 points.
Tigres won their first match against Pachuca 4-2 and then were defeated in the next game by the Houston Dash 2-1. This is a must-win game for Tigres if they want to stay alive in the tournament. This also is a big game for the Current so they can get top priority in the knockout stages.
The Current played Pachuca last week and defeated them 3-0. This game easily could’ve been more of a blowout if The Current wanted it to be. All goals were scored in the first half and The Current took their foot off the gas in the second half. Fans were able to see multiple debuts and see players they don’t always see. The big talk was about the number of missing players KC had. Star player, Temwa Chawinga was out with a leg injury. Lauren, Nichelle Price, and Desiree Scott were all out on international duty for the Olympics.
Fans should expect a similar lineup on Thursday. Bia should be back soon as she is projected 4-6 weeks away with her injury, we are on about week 4 of that, so probably not this week, but soon. These missing players, however, allowed other players to shine. Debinha had been struggling quite a bit this season with only one goal so far. On Saturday she ended up scoring two goals. Hopefully, this added some confidence for her and she can use this momentum against Tigres this week.
It seems Tigres should be a tougher opponent than Pachuca as this Tigres side has historically finished better in the standings than Pachuca. The question is; how much better? It is hard to tell how they stack up against NWSL teams as their loss against the Dash wasn’t a large margin. Granted, The Dash has not been good at all. So, time will tell.
This Summer Cup is great for each league. Both head coach for The Current, Vlatko Andonovski, and head coach for Pachuca, Oscar Fernando Torres made points for how beneficial the event was. It is great for the NWSL to have exposure on an international stage to grow their fanbase. it is awesome for Liga MX Feminel to have these games to improve the level of play in their league as it is only seven years old. These games allow their players to see the next level and see how to improve the league and quality of play at a different scale.
The game will kick off at 7 PM CT at CPKC Stadium in Kansas City, MO. This game can be streamed on Paramount Plus.
