The Interview: María Fernanda Mora
The Fox Sports Mexico Broadcaster, Studio Host and Journalist on the Mexican Women's League, Tigres and Monterrey, the Mexican Men's and Women's National Teams, Her Story and More
María Fernanda Mora’s willingness to get out of her comfort zone is extremely impressive. The Mexico City-based Liga MX Femenil broadcaster, studio host and journalist for Fox Sports Mexico speaks English as her third language (after Spanish and German), but she didn’t hesitate to agree to be interviewed publicly in English for the first time when I asked her about it recently. And there was a lot to talk about. On Monday night, the two best teams historically in the Mexican women’s league, Tigres and Monterrey, were set to meet again, and the Mexican women’s national team will try to get back to the World Cup for the first time since 2015 in July at the CONCACAF qualifying tournament in Monterrey. We also spoke about a lot of other things, including the Mexican men’s national team as it prepares for the World Cup in Qatar.
The entirety of the written interview below is reserved for paid subscribers. As always, you can still get the entire free audio version of my podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you like to go for your pods.
Grant Wahl:
Our guest now is a friend of mine in Mexico City, María Fernanda Mora. She's a journalist and studio host for Fox Sports Mexico, where she also broadcasts games of the Liga MX Femenil women's league. She also covers tennis, golf and Formula 1, among other things. Marifer, it's great to talk to you. Thanks for coming on the show.
María Fernanda Mora:
Hi, Grant. Thanks for inviting me.
Grant Wahl:
I realize that this is your first interview you've done [where you’re being interviewed] in English, so thank you very much. I know you do interviews of other people in English, but I also sometimes do interviews in Spanish, and it's not always the easiest thing for me. So thank you very much for doing this.
María Fernanda Mora:
Thanks for inviting me. I'm kind of nervous, but you should show off, you do TV in Spanish. [laughs]
Grant Wahl:
So this interview is coming out on Monday, April 25, and it's the night of the huge rivalry showdown in Liga MX Femenil between Monterrey, Rayadas, and Tigres in the city of Monterrey. These two teams have won six of the eight titles in the history of the league, and they're in first and second place in the league this season as well. What kind of atmosphere are you expecting for this game?
María Fernanda Mora:
It's crazy. For me, it should be called El Clásico Nacional, the National Classic, because Tigres and Rayadas are the most important, they have the biggest fan base, I would say, in Liga Femenil, and you always see spectacular games. They leave their soul on the field. It's going to be great. I have been to a final twice between them, and the atmosphere is great.
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Grant Wahl:
And they've had a lot of fans come to these games. What does that say about the culture of support for women's football in the city of Monterrey?
María Fernanda Mora:
For me, it's like a response, because the organizations, both Rayadas and Tigres, have done it perfectly. They have invested in good players. They give the players scholarships, they have hired players from other countries, and people are happy. Then you see teams like Mazatlán, or Bravas, or Centellas [Necaxa] in Aguascalientes, and maybe the leadership, I don't want to say don't care that much, but they can't do the same effort from various reasons, and you see these very big two teams that win everything, and then you have the teams at the bottom that struggle to win one match throughout the whole season.
“I have this mission. If you have a platform, you have to use it for good. Otherwise, I think you're letting this big opportunity go. So when I see something that I consider is not fair, it's like I have to say something. I have to tweet something. For instance, in Mexico there have been many domestic abuse cases in sports, and I have always shared my piece, and sometimes that leads to a great amount of backlash and insults. But for me I couldn't go on and act as if nothing happened.” — María Fernanda Mora
Grant Wahl:
One thing I've noticed is that Rayadas and Tigres have been at the top of this league, and then América and Chivas have also done well in the league. And it looks like those clubs are investing, like you say, in the growth of this league. It's interesting to me because Liga MX Femenil only started in 2017 when organizers in Mexico decided to stop allocating Mexican national team players to teams in the NWSL here in the United States. And we're now five years into the league. In what ways do you think the Liga MX Femenil is succeeding?
María Fernanda Mora:
I'm just going to correct you. They were forced to create the women’s teams. So it was like some of them took it as an obligation, and some of them have even launched meetings and discussed disappearing their female teams. And some of them took it as an opportunity to grow their fanbase to expose the female soccer market. So that's why you see the difference between some teams and the others.
For me, some owners took it seriously, and the others are struggling still with the decision after five years. But for me, it's very inspiring to see now, when I go to the stadiums, little girls and boys who ask the players for autographs and tell them, "I want to be like you when I grow up," because when I was a child I couldn't even dream of becoming a professional football player. That was not an option. My idols growing up, Jorge Campos, David Beckham, Rafa Márquez, they are all men. So it's fascinating.
Grant Wahl:
Who are some of the most popular players in the women's league in Mexico for kids?
María Fernanda Mora:
Norma Palafox. She plays in Pachuca. Charlyn Corral, who used to play in Europe, and now she's here, she's back. Katty Martínez from América. [Former Chicago Red Star] Sarah Luebbert, she only has been playing here for two seasons, but she has won over not only América fans, but the whole Mexican fanbase, because she's a truly lovely player. Alicia Cervantes, Desirée Monsiváis, Renae Cuéllar. Maybe I'm missing some, but those are the biggest stars right now.
Grant Wahl:
And you and I met up in Mexico last month when I was there for the men's World Cup qualifier. And you were telling me how there are several players in the league, women's players, with very interesting personal stories. I was wondering if there were one or two players that have really interesting personal stories that you could share a little bit about those players.
María Fernanda Mora:
For example, Desirée Monsiváis, who is the historic goal-scorer, the top goal-scorer in history, she is an architect. She has a masters, and then she also is a coach. And she's over 30, but she is still playing, she is still scoring and she's amazing. She's awesome. She's “la arquitecta del gol,” the Goal Architect, because of her profession and also the way she plays. Then you also have Lizbeth Ángeles in Pachuca, and she used to work for the federal police. And she used to play for their team, and with the creation of the Liga Femenil she started playing professionally, but it was a big change of careers for her. You also have two or three players who are now studying to become doctors, which is amazing, because everybody knows what being a doctor implies, with schedule and hours and no sleeping and everything, and they are also playing professional football. There are so many interesting stories. For example, Norma Palafox, who right now is in Pachuca, was playing for Chivas. Then she left the team to be part of Exatlón, you know what that is?
Grant Wahl:
To be part of what?
María Fernanda Mora:
A reality show.
Grant Wahl:
Oh, wow.
María Fernanda Mora:
Exatlón. Yeah. It's a reality show. You do physical circuits and drills boot-camp style. Then she came back to play, and then she left again to do another season, and now she's back. And many criticize her, because they say, "How can a professional athlete leave for a whole season to do a reality show?" But they've got to understand that she won't, that's a fact, make that amount of money playing soccer in Mexico. It's not possible. So if she has the opportunity, and she has fame and is well-known and everything, to earn some money and secure her future, I mean, why not? For me, in my point of view.
Grant Wahl:
Yeah. It's interesting. A friend of mine, Heather O'Reilly, who used to play for the U.S. women's team, she retired as a player a few years ago, but she works in television now and just tried out recently for a reality show, one of those physical challenges shows. I understand all of that stuff and why people do it.
Now there's another player, and I think this is interesting, an American player named Mia Fishel, who chose to not play in the NWSL, and she signed with Tigres, and she's been scoring goals in the league. What do you think of her as a player?
María Fernanda Mora:
She's great. All the players who play in Tigres are great, and Tigres has like two starting 11s, really, on the bench you see players who would be starting with all the other teams in La Liga Femenil. It's crazy. So for me, it's very interesting that players like Mia, or María Sánchez, back in the day when she was here, are deciding to stay in Mexico. That tells you something about the growth of our league, and it was a big discussion when the owners approved that non-Mexican players could play in La Liga, because some said that it was going to impair the growth of the young Mexican players.
But right now, the limit is two players per team, and if those two players are like, I don't know, Mia or Uchenna Kanu, or Sarah Luebbert, they will only help to grow the level, to increase the competition, the internal competition between the players. For me, it is actually amazing. It's not like in a men's league that you buy for $1 million five South American players who no one has seen them play, and maybe they just occupy some space in your roster. For me in La Liga Femenil, they are doing it great with this mix of Mexican, Mexican American, or Mexican whatever, and external players.
Grant Wahl:
So the Mexican women's national team did not qualify for the women's World Cup in 2019, but obviously they have played in the tournament in the past, and the chances are good that Mexico will qualify for next year's World Cup under coach Mónica Vergara. The qualifying tournament will take place in Monterrey, Mexico, this summer-
María Fernanda Mora:
Yeah, it was a great choice, Monterrey was a great choice for me.
Grant Wahl:
I think so, right? Because we've talked about the women's football culture being very good in Monterrey, and there's 32 teams in the next women's World Cup, up from 24, next year. How do you feel about what's happening with the Mexican women's national team these days?
María Fernanda Mora:
First, we've got to understand that CONCACAF, in contrast to what happens with the men's national team, in the women's side it's so hard to qualify, because the U.S. and Canada are unstoppable. So for the women's Mexican national team, it's hard. They're measuring themselves to two of the biggest teams in the world. So this time around, I think they will qualify. If you saw the pre-Mundial right now, against Puerto Rico and Anguilla, they won all the matches. The support by the fans was amazing.
Mónica Vergara, for me, is the ideal coach for the team. She already was the finalist with the under-17 national team. She's a well-respected coach, and right now with the world of the league, we have many stars. We have players in the U.S., we have players in Europe, and I think they are playing great. You can see they're starting to understand each other on the field, and for me they have to do it this time. I mean, they have all the elements to qualify.
Grant Wahl:
I'm looking forward to it, I'm going to go to Monterrey this summer for the big games in that tournament. I assume they're going to be in the newer stadium there, which I'm really excited about visiting, it's beautiful. I wanted to ask you a little bit about your career. How did you start broadcasting games for Liga MX Femenil?
María Fernanda Mora:
Well, I was already working at Fox Sports as a reporter, and then the league was born, and Fox from the start has had six teams. So there was like, "Okay, but who is going to be the voice?" Or we have to, like the Avengers, to create a team of female voices to represent the company in that league. So luckily they chose me, and it was from one day to the other, "You're going to analyze women's games." So I was like, "Okay," because it was a new challenge. I mean, I was excited, but I am also very perfectionist, so I wanted to nail it from the first time around.
But I had to prepare, to listen to other commentators, because one thing is when you just watch or listen to the matches, and you are not really paying attention, and the other is when you know you are going to do it the next day, and you have to be really invested in what they say, when they say it, the statistics, your voice, you have to moderate your voice.
I mean, it was a challenge, but a beautiful one. And for me, I think we all have also grown as professionals, because we have learned that language matters, that we can't call, for example, the players "girls," because it was one thing that we did at the beginning. Not with a bad intention, but just because we saw a 14-year-old playing and we used to say, "Oh, that girl is really good," but you have to understand that you wouldn't call a male player a boy, never. So we had to relearn the way we talk, if that makes sense. It has been a very interesting process.
Grant Wahl:
That's actually really fascinating from a language perspective. What are the different things that you do in your job for Fox Sports?
María Fernanda Mora:
All the things I do? I do La Liga Femenil, I also host Central Fox, which is our news show, and occasionally I still do some work in the field as a reporter for F1, golf. I love golf. I absolutely adore tennis, and also some soccer still.
Grant Wahl:
What is your story of how you got started in sports media?
María Fernanda Mora:
Oh, it's a very long story, but in the quick version, when I was 19 I wanted to study architecture abroad, but for many reasons I wasn't able to go. So I decided to take a leave year, and then I have always loved sports. So I started tweeting about mainly soccer and tennis, and I also started a blog that I guess still should be out there on the internet.
Then one guy who worked for La Afición, a sports newspaper, contacted me and asked me if I was looking for a job as an intern. I had just finished high school. I wasn't even attending university. So I was like, "Okay," but I didn't tell him the whole story. So I took a test, like a general knowledge, sports knowledge test. I passed it, and then I revealed the truth that I'm still just finishing high school, I am figuring out what to do next year. He said, "Okay, if you want to stay, I can see that you've got skills and everything. So you can stay, but let's not tell the big bosses." So we didn't tell them, but they figured it out when they saw a 20-year-old who had nothing to do the whole day, they told me, "Can you come at 3 PM?" "Yes." "At 4, at 11 AM?" "Yes." They never saw me with books or anything, but I don't know. [laughs]
They liked me also, so I stayed, and then I went on to study communication, and I stayed at Milenio for three years. Then I worked at ESPN as a production assistant for almost three years. I started doing radio on the side, and then I worked for Radio Formula and then Fox Sports. But I have done dot com, also for the newspaper, production assistant, radio, and then hosting. So for me, when someone tells me, "This can't be done," production-wise, I know when they are lying to me, because I know what's doable and what is not.
Grant Wahl:
Thank you for sharing that. It's really interesting, and I know that you're very vocal in your support of women in sports. I follow you on Twitter. Even though Mexican sports culture is still often very male-dominated, dominated by men, in what ways have you been vocal on Twitter and other places supporting women's sports over the years?
María Fernanda Mora:
Several interviews. Several forums, mainly in my social media, which sometimes leads me to trouble. We have talked about it, and also I have this mission. If you have a platform, you have to use it for good. Otherwise, I think you're letting this big opportunity go. So for me, when I see something that I consider is not fair, truly, believe me, it's like I have to say something. I have to tweet something.
For instance, in Mexico there have been many domestic abuse cases in sports, and I have always shared my piece, and sometimes that leads to a great amount of backlash and insults, but for me I couldn't go on and act as if nothing happened. For me, the players shouldn't be an example, but they are. So if they misbehave, we have to call them out. That's part of journalism.
Grant Wahl:
It's really interesting, and I have always admired you for your willingness to do that. If a student, especially, well, any kind of student, it could be a female student, it could be a male student, who wants to do what you do in sports media, if they ever ask you for advice, what sort of things would you tell them?
María Fernanda Mora:
The biggest lesson is this is not a sprint race. This is a marathon, because I've seen very, very few people that in one or two years go from starting to an important place. So you have to be very constant. You have to prepare yourself every day. You have to be willing to let me think about the right word, soportar, like endure, endure some backlash, machismo, people who are older and tend to think that young people, because of their age, are underqualified. I don't know why many think that sometimes age is the standard to know if someone is qualified or not. I mean, I've known very young people who are extremely qualified and older people who are not, and preparation has nothing to do with it. With experience, yes, but sometimes you have to give someone the opportunity so they acquire that experience.
What else? You have to prepare yourself. If you want to be a soccer reporter, you have to really invest yourself in the game. Watch every match, read every news outlet. Also, for me, I like to read in other languages and to get other perspectives. Also not just read about sports. For me, you're a journalist first, then a sports journalist. So you have to cultivate your general culture and also consume all media products. Watch movies, series, documentaries, really cultivate yourself to have a better vocabulary, and final tip would be also learn another language. It's always a good idea.
Grant Wahl:
I think those are great pieces of advice. It's interesting how many story ideas I come up with myself from reading things that aren't sports media. So it might be the New Yorker magazine, or, the New York Times, or something like that, and I think that's really important. And obviously you speak several languages, and I think that comes in handy with the interviews you do, the fact that the sports we cover are very international sports. And you actually went to a German school, a German international school. Is that right?
María Fernanda Mora:
Yeah, my German is much better than my English, but I can't practice my German enough because nobody, yeah, some people, actually speaks German [in Mexico], and sometimes I've done interviews or little chats with Nico Hülkenberg and Alexander Zverev, but not many German athletes come to Mexico. We've got to improve that.
Grant Wahl:
I also know how big tennis is for you. What's the story of your history with the sport of tennis? Why are you so into tennis?
María Fernanda Mora:
I started playing when I was 13, 14, and I fell in love. When I started playing, I didn't watch tennis, but to understand what you are doing, you start watching it. Then it was when Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer were building the biggest rivalry in tennis history, so I stayed for many years, 16 now. And it's a fascinating sport, because with individual sports you see the athlete struggle mentally, and that reflects in the game. Then the mental aspect of the game is very, very interesting.
Grant Wahl:
I find tennis to be fascinating as well. I realize I haven't asked you any questions about the Mexican men's national team. How do you feel about the team these days? What are your thoughts?
María Fernanda Mora:
I have a love-hate relationship with the Mexican men's national team since the no era penal, the Arjen Robben-Rafa Márquez thing [at the 2014 World Cup], because I thought that was the game. I thought, and I was at the cinema. I went with my mother to watch that game at the movie theater. And I cried when the whole thing happened. I started crying, I went to the hallway and I kept crying until the match ended. For me there was, "Oh, these guys, it's always the same story." It's always, they do a qualifying phase sometimes good, sometimes bad, but they end up going to the World Cup, and then they play great matches against Argentina, or the Netherlands, but they end up losing them. For me, it's like, have you seen Dark, the Netflix show?
Grant Wahl:
I haven't.
María Fernanda Mora:
Okay. There is a phrase, "It's all happening again," because it's a time-travel thing. With the Mexican national team, it's always the same for years, and it's the same thing, and the expectations. And the fans spend all their money to go to Qatar, and then you see this big failure. But for me right now, I don't like the way they're playing with Tata. If you see pictures of Gerardo Martino when he started and right now, the poor man, he looks like, I don't know, 20 years passed by.
And this issue with El Chicharito that no one wants to talk about, this is the reason why we are not calling him to play with the Mexican national team. He's scoring, he should be on the roster, but there is so much gossip about what really happened, and with Carlos Vela not wanting to play for Mexico's national team. That's absurd. If they don't do something in the next few months to fix the whole situation inside the team, and to repair the relationship with the fans, I don't think this will be a good World Cup for Mexico.
Grant Wahl:
Very interesting. We had John Sutcliffe on the podcast not too long ago, and he went into some details on what happened to create this situation between Chicharito Hernández and the Mexican federation. It just sounds very complicated at this point. I'm very curious to see-
María Fernanda Mora:
But also-
Grant Wahl:
Go ahead.
María Fernanda Mora:
There are some versions that the other players don't want him there, don't want him on the team. You know, players cannot rule or have the coaches hostage with the decisions. He is the authority, and for me, sometimes, some players, I don't want to generalize, but are divas. That's the truth. And they think they can do whatever they want.
Grant Wahl:
And there's an interesting history there with different players on the Mexican national team like that. Just to ask my last question here, what sort of things do you want to do in your career? What are you hoping to achieve?
María Fernanda Mora:
I would like to have my own interview show. But not like in a classic manner. I like various comedians like Graham Norton. They don't do sports, I don't know. But they're great interviews, Graham Norton, Stephen Colbert, and Jimmy Kimmell, something more relaxed, where the athlete can feel at home and get loose and share some more personal details and share stories, funny stories, and that sort of thing. And I would like to attend the World Cup and the Champions League final, and I want to go to Wimbledon, cover one Wimbledon. It's my ultimate dream. I don't know, I used to set five-year goals, like short-term or middle-term, because if you think of what I want to be doing in 10, 15 years, for me it's too much time. So I like to visualize things in the near future.
Grant Wahl:
Well, I really want to thank you for doing this interview in English. Your English is better than you say it is, and I really appreciate you taking the time. If I can ever return the favor and do an interview in Spanish, I will do that, even though it makes my head hurt sometimes. María Fernanda Mora is a journalist and studio host for Fox Sports Mexico, where she also broadcasts games of the Liga MX Femenil women's league. She also covers tennis, golf and Formula 1. Marifer, for thanks so much for coming on the show.
María Fernanda Mora:
Thanks so much for inviting me, and you've got to stop being modest because your Spanish is great. That's all I want to say. Gracias, amigo, see you soon!
