Maribel Domínguez

Club

Kansas City Mystics, 2002

With the absence of a women's professional league in Mexico, Domínguez immigrated to the United States to play with the Kansas City Mystics in 2002 and further her development as a footballer. During her first and only season with the Mystics, she led the league with 17 goals and 12 assists while helping the team clinch the Midwest Division title. She subsequently earned the Most Valuable Player award from the W-League.

Atlanta Beat, 2003

The following year, Domínguez signed with the Atlanta Beat in the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA), the top division of professional soccer in the United States at the time. She was the first Mexico-born player to sign with the league since its inception in 2001. During her first month with the team, she was named the league's Player of the Month after scoring five goals and two assists in three games. She scored seven goals during the 2003 season and was a leading scorer in the league. Of her experience, she said, "It's very special for me to be in the top scoring position in this league. It's the best thing that has happened to me in my career, right up there with scoring in the 1999 Women's World Cup." The Beat finished second in the standings with a 9–4–8 record.

Denied by FIFA and playing professionally in Spain, 2004–12

In December 2004, Domínguez made international headlines when she signed a two-year contract for second division men's team, Atlético…

Mexico U-15 girls' national football team

On 8 August 2018. Mexico U-15 girls' national football team finished as runners up at the 2018 CONCACAF Girls' Under-15 Championship

Mexico U-20 Women’s national football team

Domínguez was named manager of the Mexico women's national under-20 football team on 19 January 2021. She led the team to qualify for the upcoming 2022 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup as well as reaching the final of the 2022 CONCACAF Women's U-20 Championship. On 21 July 2022, Dominguez and her coaching staff were suspended and separated from the team by the FMF due to a matter that required an internal investigation to be open.

The youngest of ten children, Domínguez was born in Mexico City, Mexico, and grew up in the rural suburb of Chalco. Despite the perception of sport by her father, she played when young football with her three brothers, though her father did not approve: "My father was very old-fashioned, and he didn't like soccer. He didn't even like that my brothers played soccer. When he went to work, I would sneak out of the house to go and practice in the street." Domínguez did not find a girls' team to play on until she was a teenager. Domínguez fooled the boys in the neighborhood she grew up in into playing with her by keeping her hair short like a boy. They called her Mario and only found out that she was a girl when her picture appeared in the newspaper after she made it on the sub-national women's team. In 1997, Domínguez joined a women's team called Inter and was forced to have a full body inspection by a female Mexico league official to validate her sex due to her short hair and ability to "play like a man." Domínguez told the inspector, "All right, but only if you do the same." She was not questioned again.

Player

2002 W-League Most Valuable Player 2002 W-League Team of the Week (3 times) 2003 WUSA Player of the Month 2005 FIFA Player of the Year nominee

Manager

Mexico U-15 girl's national football team CONCACAF Girls' Under-15 Championship: Runners Up: 2018