Ten-hour commute pays off as Lizbeth Ovalle signs

When she was 15, Lizbeth Jacqueline Ovalle traveled alone by bus for up to 9 hours to play for the Mexican national crew, with no fee other than the price of her ticket.

Her expertise and dedication helped her play in the U17 World Cup and make her 2017 debut in the then-nascent Liga MX Femenil, where she gained six league titles.

On Thursday, the Mexican striker grew to become the most costly participant in ladies’s soccer historical past when she moved from Tigres de la UANL to the Orlando Pride of the National Women’s Soccer League via a $1.5-million switch.

Transfer data appear to be short-lived in ladies’s soccer, reflecting the game’s growth worldwide and golf equipment’ willingness to pay for expertise. Before Ovalle’s switch, the most costly switch was that of Canadian Olivia Smith from Liverpool to Arsenal for $1.34 million, a transaction that came about in July. In January, American Naomi Girma was transferred from the San Diego Wave to Chelsea for $1.1 million.

“We are deeply committed to building championship-caliber teams year after year and this landmark signing is a reflection of that focus,” Orlando Pride proprietor Mark Wilf said in a news release asserting Ovalle’s arrival.

Known for her velocity and one-on-one abilities, Ovalle, 25, selected Orlando after six NWSL groups tried to signal her.

In 2019, the Houston Dash inquired about her, as did European golf equipment such as Barcelona, Real Madrid and West Ham.

In 2024, Angel City supplied $750,000 for her switch, but Tigres didn’t settle for. Recently, she was linked with the Washington Spirit, although she in the end selected between Gotham and Orlando, opting for the reigning NWSL champion Pride. Other golf equipment included Utah, Bay City and Chicago.

In Orlando, Ovalle will be a part of her idol, Marta, the Brazilian legend, and striker Barbra Banda, a star from Zambia.

“It’s going to be a great opportunity in my soccer career,” Ovalle told L.A. Times en Español. “Imagine playing with those kinds of players. Obviously, that motivates me a lot. Having these players on my team is like having it all.”

Ovalle said she had been wanting to break into worldwide soccer for some time, particularly after last yr’s CONCACAF Gold Cup, when she felt she was competing at the extent of elite gamers. She needed to take a look at herself in the NWSL, a league she follows intently.

She said Tigres supported her transfer.

“I told them about my plans, and obviously they decided to help me, but they didn’t want me to go to just any club,” said Ovalle, who acknowledges that the problem might be adapting to a more bodily league than the Mexican one, as she is more of a technical participant than a energy one.

Born in the municipality of Jesús María, Aguascalientes, Ovalle was found during trials for the Mexican national crew, where she stood out among hundreds of gamers. Shortly afterward, she performed in the 2016 U17 World Cup in Jordan, where she scored two targets. She joined Tigres in 2016 after excelling in neighborhood soccer because Mexico had not yet began its skilled ladies’s league. She made her debut with Tigres during the first season of Liga MX Femenil competitors in 2017.

With Tigres, she gained the 2018 and 2019 Clausura, 2020 and 2021 Guardianes, and 2022 and 2023 Apertura. In the 2025 Clausura, she performed 21 video games, scored 18 targets and had six assists.

“I’m leaving with the mindset that I gave my all at Tigres, I gave what I had to give, I won what I had to win,” said Ovalle, who is presently learning sports activities management.

Mexico ahead Lizbeth Ovalle, middle, controls the ball in from of U.S. defender Tierna Davidson, left, during a pleasant match on July 13, 2024, in Harrison, N.J.

(Pamela Smith / Associated Press)

Before leaving Tigres, Ovalle had the option to keep and turn into the highest-paid participant in Mexico, but she most popular the worldwide problem.

With this signing, she turns into the second Mexican-born participant to make the leap to the NWSL via switch, far surpassing the switch charge of Rebeca Bernal, who moved from Monterrey to the Washington Spirit in 2024 on a three-year contract.

“It’s a historic event. It marks a turning point in Mexican soccer,” said Jorge Rodríguez, Ovalle’s agent. “We were waiting for her to grow as a person. Now is a good time to go abroad, she already has the maturity.”

Guillermo Zamarripa, an agent who was key in Ovalle’s leap to NWSL, described the transfer as the most important for Mexican ladies’s soccer and highlighted the growth of the league.

“It’s a statement about Mexican talent, about the Mexican league… the Mexican league is good enough to attract the attention of the world,” said Zamarripa. “These kinds of transfers are anthem songs that raise the ceiling of women’s soccer a little higher.”

This article first appeared in Spanish via L.A. Times en Español.