Living my Dreams

Janae Gonzalez is a member of the 2014 U17 Women’s Mexican National Team, as well as a reporter for The Vista Voice. While out of the country for competitions, Gonzalez will contribute weekly updates on her experiences abroad.

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After I scored my first World Cup goal I celebrated with Chicharito, the monkey, because he belongs to my best friend Briana Woodall who was unable to play because of a knee injury; but before we always celebrated together and I did not want to break the tradition.

I don’t think I could of asked for a better start to my first World Cup. Prior to our first game we had a few trainings; the fields are beautiful fresh turf. And wherever we drove, there were people waving to us shouting “MEXICO!!.” It was all surreal.

Our first opponent was Colombia. We quickly went ahead 3-0 in the first 15 minutes and finished with a 4-0 win. I scored the third goal. My goal made the top 5 plays on ESPN Deportes.

Our second game was against China, a very fast and technical team that is often a favor to do well in the World Cup. We got another 4-0 win; I scored the second goal, assisted the first and fourth, and was awarded the “FIFA Player of the Match.”

By winning our first two games we will advance to the Quarter Finals. This is HUGE because this will make us the first Women’s Mexican National Team to advance out of the first round; we are making history. Our next goal is to beat Nigeria and finish first out of our group.

Everything that I am experiencing here in Costa Rica has surpassed what I had dreamed about when I was little. Everyday thousands of social networking notifications confront my teammates and me. We have fans, people who are supporting us, who believe in us, and who are proud of us.