My sister also played soccer, at a pretty high level, and she started with boys - but she was a special case because she was a goalie, which is just a matter of insight and bravery. Throwing herself in front of kicking legs with the right timing, that was always cool to see.
Now the shenanigans with that weird woman who scored a penalty and now things she can run the country, so sad. Demanding equal pay for, by pan-gender standards, a less than mediocre athlete in a branch of commerce which is wholly paid for by fans is sort of a new low in banal pipe dreams.