RECORD BREAKER – Enter the Magician!

With the news breaking that 25-year-old Tigres midfielder and Mexican international Lizbeth Ovalle is set to move to the Orlando Pride for a world-record $1.5M fee, fans of Mexican women’s football – including our writer Alexis Monteith – might argue that the only surprise is that this premium transfer did not happen earlier.

There’s a reason the Mexicans call Ovalle La Maga (the magician). She hasn’t travelled under the radar in her career. If you’ve been following, it’s not just her stats—136 goals in 292 games for Tigres—that catch the eye, but the way she produces them on the field.

A free-kick master and eye-catching dribbler, Ovalle is a six-time Liga MX Femenil champion with three Campeón de Campeonas titles to her name. Her magic with the ball at her feet is purposeful—it isn’t just there to bedazzle.

Known for her directness and speed, La Maga drives at defenders, delivering threatening crosses or bursting into the penalty box from all angles.

In 2018 a powerful left-footed strike against Brazil won her the FIFA Best Goal of the 2018 U20 World Cup. She scored three Olimpico goals for Tigres in Liga MX Femenil, with the first coming against Pumas in 2022 and the other two against Santos Laguna in 2023.

Spectacular

Her penchant for the spectacular continued in 2025, when she went viral for a stunning reverse scorpion kick against Guadalajara that sent shockwaves across social media—from Mexico to the Americas and Europe. When a reporter asked her after the match what she would call the spectacular goal, she chuckled and replied, “El camaroncín (the little shrimp).”

If NWSL fans hadn’t been paying attention to the Mexican league, they were probably watching when La Maga came to the USA in 2024 with the Mexican women’s national team, El Tri, and eluded the onrushing US goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher to lob the ball over two defenders, opening the scoring in a startling and unforeseen 2–0 win.

Ovalle’s transfer to Orlando Pride should bring fresh energy to the Florida-based team as they challenge for a second consecutive NWSL Shield and Championship. Currently third in the league and 12 points behind leaders KC Current, winning the Shield—which goes to the team with the most points in the regular season—remains a formidable challenge. Still, the Pride are very much in contention to power through the playoffs and claim the Championship, the league’s coveted postseason prize.

Mouthwatering

With the likes of prolific goalscorer Barbra Banda and Brazilian legend Marta already on the roster, the addition of La Maga is a mouth-watering prospect for Orlando.

Tigres will miss Ovalle as they chase glory in Liga MX Femenil, but the unprecedented $1.5M from the transfer deal should help them find viable ways to fill the gap.