SHANGHAI, Sept. 16 — Years ago, before she became the youngest player on the U.S. women’s national team and a starter in this month’s World Cup, Stephanie Lopez was visiting Mexico, her paternal grandparents’ birthplace, when she decided to join the local boys on the soccer field.

Not only were they taken back by the presence of a female player — an absurd sight in Latino culture — “they were so surprised that the girl was actually decent in soccer,” she recalled.

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