Banyana's group G foes Argentina look to cast off shadow of Messi and Co

Argentinian women's soccer players, fans and referees will be seeking to step out of the shadow of Lionel Messi and the world champion men's team when they take the field at the Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand this month.

Argentina are in group G with Banyana Banyana, Sweden and Italy. They kick off their tournament against Italy in at Eden Park on Monday, then meet South Africa at Dunedin's Forsyth Barr Stadium, then complete their group campaign against Sweden in Hamilton on August 2.

Banyana meet Sweden in their group G opener at Wellington Regional Stadium on Sunday (7am SA time).

Where football is almost a religion in Argentina and fans sport tattoos with images of Messi or the late idol Diego Maradona, the country is warming to a women's game that has grown rapidly since it became professional in 2019.

Though not favoured to win, Fifa's 28th-ranked team hope to generate a similar wave of excitement to that which greeted the men's title triumph last December and turn players like Estefania Banini, Yamila Rodriguez and Laurina Oliveros into household names.

“The only difference is gender, but we do the same thing,” said Boca Juniors goalkeeper Oliveros, who will travel to the World Cup but not play due to injury.

Oliveros said she and other players want the same respect and working conditions as male players, but they are also carving out their own space in the sport.

“We have our own playing style, our own dynamic. We understand the game differently and want to play it differently.”

The ninth Women's World Cup, which kicks off on July 20, is expected to attract the largest television audience in the history of women's soccer and Fifa will pay $30,000 directly to each participating player.

The players, fans and referees are gaining prominence like never before, achieving greater visibility on TV networks and drawing bigger crowds, and even managing — sometimes — to play at the same stadiums as the men.

Laura Fortunato, a 38-year-old Argentinian referee who is among the six Latin American women officiating at the World Cup, recalled there were only 10 women referees in Argentina when she first took up the whistle, compared to 50 now.

In her early days, having a woman referee was a shock to the players.

“From how it was when I just started to now, [it] has advanced by leaps and bounds,” said.

“Before, you would arrive on the pitch and they would look to see where the referee was coming, and you told them, 'Hello, here I am'.”

In Argentina, the big local teams do not always open the doors of their stadiums for women's soccer matches, which are played at smaller venues.

Yet fans say more and more women are turning out at venues like Boca's 54,000-capacity 'La Bombonera' home to cheer on their idols in what have traditionally been male spaces.

“You feel on a par [with the men], you are one more fan,” said Martina Borgatello, a 31-year-old Boca supporter.

Jacinta D'Andreiz, a Boca fan and feminist activist, said women have always followed football but now they are gaining more recognition.

“Let's hope one day we women are the same owners of the stands, of the sport and of the decisions as the men,” said D'Andreiz.

Despite progress, there are still many differences between the men and women's sport in Argentina, especially when it comes to finances.

Oliveros, 29, said the gender pay gap was still huge, though narrowing. “Little by little it's improving. Year after year the salaries improve, the clubs contribute a little more, but we are far away.”

The World Cup kicks off with it's opening match between New Zealand and Norway at Eden Park on Thursday (9am SA time).

Reuters