Exclusive: Diana Ordoñez on embracing her Mexican heritage and World Cup dreams

Mexico wasn’t Diana Ordoñez’ first love. As a young soccer fan in Prosper, Texas, it was Ecuador that she supported during World Cups and Copa Americas.

The decision to root for La Tricolor rather than El Tri wasn’t an easy one, though, because Ordoñez grew up with split loyalties. You see, her father Diego’s side of the family hails from Ecuador while her mother Amanda's lineage is from Mexico. 

“It is funny because I grew up all Ecuador,” Ordoñez told The Striker Texas from a hotel in Monterrey, Mexico. “When Ecuador and Mexico played each other, I was Ecuador. I don't know what it was exactly, but a big part of it was probably because my Dad just wanted to get all the kids on his side. So that's who we went for.”

Eventually, her mother would have the last laugh.

Switching stripes

As a prodigious youth soccer player in North Texas, Ordoñez played for the FC Dallas women's academy. By the age of 15, she was earning call-ups to the U.S. youth national team and was featured on rosters at developmental World Cups. In 2018, Ordoñez even helped the USA win the U17 CONCACAF Championship. 

In 2019, Ordoñez accepted a scholarship to play at the University of Virginia. There she would go on to score 45 goals in 62 appearances for the Cavaliers and scoop many individual NCAA honors.

While in Charlottesville, Ordoñez continued to rise up the ladder of the U.S. youth national team system. In December 2021, she turned professional and was selected sixth overall by the North Carolina Courage in the NWSL draft.

LISTEN: Interview with Diana Ordoñez ahead of 2022 NWSL Draft  

As recently as January 2022, Ordoñez was still a part of the U23 U.S. youth national team. But not long after that, in the spring of 2022, her plans changed. 

In April, Ordoñez accepted a spot on the senior Mexico women’s national team for the first time in her life. The decision to switch soccer allegiances was made for deeply personal and professional reasons. 

“I wanted to have more representation of who I am and how I grew up,” Ordoñez said.

“I think being Hispanic in general — not just Mexican — is a big part of how I was raised. I think in making this decision, it's very comforting for me to be where I am, and to represent this country and, and to represent my family and where I come from.”

The 20-year-old also felt like she would have more opportunities to play international soccer if she linked up with Mónica Vergara’s team. The forward had traveled the world with the U.S. youth national team and had seen how long the journey to earning a spot on the senior roster could be.

Next year’s 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand was absolutely on Ordoñez’s radar when it came to choosing Mexico over the USA too.

“I felt like playing for the US was a little bit of a guessing game, like you never really knew when you're gonna get your chance. At the end of the day, for me, it kind of came down to: I could wait four or eight more years to play in a World Cup, or I could be in one next year,” she said.

Persistence and patience 

The switch to Mexico has been five years in the making. Although Ordoñez credits many people on the Mexico women’s national team staff for playing a role in helping her come to the decision, there is one person who stood out as playing an integral part in making it happen. 

Jorge Hervert is a scout for the Mexico women’s national team based in Dallas. It was his persistent and patient communication with Ordoñez that started in 2017, when she was 15 years old, and ended in April 2022.

“He was the first person who saw me play and found out that I was Mexican,” said Ordoñez.

“He never let up for as long as it took," she said of Hervert. "For whatever reason, he just kept believing that one day I would come here and he was right. He always kept in touch and always asked me how I was doing even regardless of who I was playing for. He didn't care. He just wanted to make sure that I was doing well.”

The Ordoñez family already has quite a reputation for being supportive in soccer stadiums. When the forward scored her first-ever NWSL goal at PNC Stadium in May, over 40 family members were there to see it. The clan exploded with joy and an iconic Texas soccer moment was born.

You wouldn’t think there was anything that could make Ordoñez and her family even tighter than they already are, but she admits that her decision to play for Mexico has had a profound effect on family members from her mother’s side. Particularly her El Tri-obsessed uncles. 

“They now feel very close to what I am doing. It has more meaning for them. For me to represent my heritage, as well as theirs, was something that I think brought us a little bit closer and allowed them to experience it a little bit more personally,” Ordoñez said about her family.

One night in Toluca

Throughout her career, Ordoñez has had an uncanny ability to score goals, and it appears that playing international soccer for Mexico is not different.

On April 9, Ordoñez made her debut for the Mexico national team in a CONCACAF World Cup pre-qualifier away to Anguilla. With El Tri already up 6-0, the forward entered the match with 56:15 on the game clock. 

At 56:34, Ordoñez got her first-ever touch for Mexico, when she intercepted a misplaced pass from an Anguilla defender. Four seconds later, with just her sixth-ever touch for El Tri, Ordoñez slammed the ball into the back of the net at the near post for her first international goal.  

Before the end of that match, Ordoñez would add another. In the 68th minute, the forward volleyed home a cross from 10 yards out to give Mexico its ninth goal of the day. The strike meant she finished her national team debut with two goals from the 26-minute appearance.

Three days later, Ordoñez played in Mexico for the first time in a 6-0 win over Puerto Rico. That victory confirmed El Tri’s place at this summer’s CONCACAFW Tournament.

At Nemesio Díez Stadium in Toluca, Ordoñez once again started the match on the bench. This time she was introduced in the 53rd minute and had to wait an exorbitant two whole minutes to find the back of the net. 

The goal, assisted by Mexico stalwart Steph Mayor, was smooth and clinical. Two words that, if needing to be brief, could sum up Ordoñez’s playing style. For a player who brings such a focused intensity on the pitch, there was something so captivating about the emotion that Ordoñez unleashed that night in Toluca. 

Ordoñez’s eruptive celebration, after the ball had nestled in the bottom corner of the net, was quickly immortalized. Looking up into the stands behind the goal, Ordoñez clutched the Mexico badge on her shirt with her left hand and pointed to it with her right index finger. All the while letting out a yell of unfiltered emotion. 

“I didn't think about it. I didn't plan to do what I did. That was just what I felt. And I just felt really proud and grateful at that moment to be in that stadium with those fans and with this team and country. It was just a lot of pride. And my parents were there,” said Ordoñez.

“That night was…it was the cherry on top. After the whole camp and me making my decision to come here and then playing in front of the fans. It wasn't like I scored a go-ahead goal or anything like that. It was the fifth goal of the game. And they were celebrating it like I had won the game.”

Monterrey awaits

On July 4, Ordoñez and her Mexican teammates will continue the road to qualification for the 2023 World Cup. The nation is hosting this month's qualifiers in Monterrey at the Estadio BBVA and the Estadio Universitario, nicknamed El Volcan by the UANL Tigres fans. Both of Ordoñez's parents will be in Monterrey for the whole tournament.

READ MORE: How to watch the CONCACAFW Tournament/World Cup qualifiers  

The USA was drawn into the same group as Mexico. The North American rivals are set to meet in the third match of the group stages on July 11. Unlike in the men's game, the rivalry has been very one-sided over recent years. Mexico has only beaten the USA once in its history, during the 2011 World Cup qualifiers, and the defending champs have a 32-1-1 record all time. In November 2010, El Tri won 2-1 at Estadio Beto Avila in what some call the greatest upset of the decade. 

When I ask Ordoñez if she has the USA match on her mind, she cooly says that she and her teammates are solely "focused on Jamaica." Mexico will open with Jamaica on July 4, then play Haiti on July 7 before then closing out the group stages against the USA. 

"Our focus is on the first game, that first match will set the tone. We don't have our sights set on anything beyond that right now," she added. 

When I press Ordoñez to talk about going up against the country of her birth, she elaborated on what she is expecting on July 11. 

"Look, I do believe that honestly, the U.S. has been in many situations where they're the favorite, where they have their fans filling in the stadium. I don't think there have been too many games, at least kind of in this newer era, where they felt uncomfortable. I think it's going to be uncomfortable," Ordoñez said.

Many of Ordoñez's Mexico teammates either currently play for Tigres Femenil or used to in the past, like Houston Dash midfielder Maria Sánchez. She says that the Tigres contingent has been hyping the atmosphere of El Volcan and how playing at home could have a major impact on Mexico's fortunes in the tournament. 

"The fans here are relentless, and they are going to make sure that you know that this is Mexico and that we're playing at home. This country is obsessed with soccer. They live and breathe soccer. It is going to be loud," Ordoñez said.

Having failed to qualify for the 2019 World Cup, Ordoñez believes that some of her teammates are playing with the pressure of the past on their shoulders. She says that the more senior players and Vergara do a great job of not putting that pressure on the younger players, like herself. 

Vergara is challenging players to be the best they can be and not get caught up with where they fall in the roster or who they are competing with for a starting spot. Develop, work hard and the opportunity will come. 

"A lot of times what she tells us," Ordoñez said of Vergera, "is to just give your best the team like no matter what that looks like for you or what you can bring. Your best doesn't have to be better than anybody else's. But it's all you have." 

Should Mexico qualify for next year's World Cup and Ordoñez make the squad, then it would be a dream come true for the young forward. Not quite how she dreamt it, but perfect in its own way. 

"I mean, growing up, that's all you think about: 'I want to play in a World Cup. I want to play in a World Cup.' And you know, growing up, this is probably not the way I thought it was gonna look. But I'm excited for who I represent."