Silvia Zaragoza played football (soccer) with the Mexican national team at COPA 71, the pioneering unofficial Women’s World Cup held in Mexico City in August 1971. As a child, Silvia’s father forbade her from playing football, saying that girls were created to stay in the home. If he caught her playing, he would shout and hit her. Silvia became the star of the Mexican team at a monumental tournament, with lavish sponsorship, extensive TV coverage, merchandise of every street corner and crowds of over 100,000 for every match. And it is most likely that you have never heard of this tournament (unless you’ve also seen the documentary Copa 71 narrated by Serena Williams) In her portrait, Silvia wears a crown of flowers that flows from Our Lady of Guadalupe, also known as the Empress of the Americas, Patroness of Latin America and the Queen of Mexico.