Meet the experts: Mónica Vergara

Football has been a huge part of Mónica's life, leading her to represent her country at every level, both as a player and as a coach. After making her international debut at the age of 13, she went on to play for Mexico for 17 years between 1997 and 2011 before transitioning to coaching. She has managed her country at U15, U17, U20 and senior level, and her vast experience ensures her insights are hugely valuable to our TSG.   

“I am really looking forward to this tournament as there are so many exciting players to see”, she said. “It will be the most competitive Women’s World Cup™ [ever], because there are many strong teams now. The mentalities of the players will be important, especially how they adjust to the tournament pressure. The standard is so high now and it is likely that very small details will be the difference in the big games.

“In the U20 and U17 tournaments in Costa Rica and India last year, we saw how fast the game is becoming at that level. It has increased significantly and with four years since the last senior tournament, we can expect an increase in the speed of the games in this tournament also.  

“Players are fitter and faster in transitions now. Teams are more compact when they do not have the ball, so they will be more difficult to break down. I am intrigued to see how teams approach matches and how they adapt their styles or approaches based on the different challenges their various opponents will pose.  

“I’m expecting fast, tactical games, and at this stage I just cannot predict who the winner is likely to be. That is very exciting,” she concluded.

Vergara will be based in Adelaide and Sydney throughout the competition.