While taking part in a pickup soccer game underneath San Diego's Coronado Bridge in Barrio Logan, the last person I expected to show up was Christina Burkenroad .

On a summer break after her European season in 2019, and months before becoming one of the most recognizable names in Mexican women's soccer, the forward didn't step into the session as an ego-filled celebrity, but instead as just another local on the rugged concrete floor.

I knew she had UEFA Women's Champions League minutes. I saw first-hand the footwork and intelligence that embarrassed numerous men's players on that balmy June day, but little did I know about how it all started. How, when it all began, that the money had run dry.

A decade before emerging as a star for Monterrey (commonly known as Rayadas ), Burkenr

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