Fresno’s Anisa Guajardo headed to Women’s World Cup

Fresno’s Anisa Guajardo is on her way to the Women’s World Cup, joining the Mexican National Team as a last-minute injury replacement, the team announced Wednesday.

The 24-year-old striker, who debuted on the Mexican senior squad in 2011, replaces Arianna Calderón, who was unable to overcome a rib injury and was dropped from the team.

Two months ago, Guajardo was one of 24 players to participate in the Women’s National Team training camp but was not an initial World Cup selection by coach Leonardo Cuéllar.

Just last week, Guajardo played her first game with her latest club, Heidelberg United of the Women’s Premier League in Australia.

Guajardo got the news late Wednesday and has been busy packing and making arrangements with family, she said in an email. She will leave Melbourne on Friday to join the Mexican National Team in Moncton, Canada, the site of their first match on Tuesday against Colombia.

The other two group matches are scheduled for June 13 against England and June 17 against France. All matches are scheduled for 1 p.m. and will be televised on KMPH channel 26.1 or Telemundo.

Guajardo had a standout four-year career Buchanan High that included four Central Section titles and a 2008 Fresno Bee Co-Player of the Year award. She followed that with a stellar college career at Pepperdine, leaving with 27 career goals to rank fourth in program history.

She played professionally for the Pali Blues and the National Women’s Soccer League’s Boston Breakers before joining Heidelberg United in May.

Guajardo, whose junior national-team highlights for Mexico include a hat trick in a 3-0 win over Dominican Republic at the 2012 CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament, will look to help Mexico get out of the group stage for the first time in its third World Cup appearance.

This story was originally published June 4, 2015 at 4:00 PM with the headline "Fresno’s Anisa Guajardo headed to Women’s World Cup."