Jan. 6, 2012
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- University of Michigan women's soccer head coach Greg Ryan announced Friday (Jan. 6) that freshman midfielder Christina Murillo (Ojai, Calif./Nordhoff) has been invited to train with the Mexican Women's National Team and will take off the winter semester in hopes of making the roster for the Summer Olympics in London and/or the U-20 FIFA World Cup. Murillo plans on re-enrolling at Michigan at the start of the 2012-13 academic year and will rejoin the team prior to the start of the 2012 season.
"We are all excited for the opportunities in front of Christina, and our whole team wishes her the very best in Olympic qualification and in preparation for the Under-20 World Cup," Ryan said. "We will miss her this spring but are so happy that she will have these great experiences while representing Mexico."
Murillo, who last played with the Mexican Women's National Team in a November friendly against France, is one of 30 players named to Mexico's initial training roster. After playing two exhibition matches against the L.A. Vikings on Jan. 12 and Jan. 14 at Cal-State Fullerton, the team will select a roster before heading to the CONCACAF Olympic Women's Qualifying Tournament, to be held Jan. 19-29 in Vancouver, B.C. Mexico can earn a bid to the Summer Olympics if it makes the finals of the tournament.
Mexico also will send a team to the CONCACAF U-20 Women's Championship, which will be held March 1-11 in Panama. The top three teams will earn bids to the 2012 FIFA U-20 World Cup, which will be held in Japan later this summer.
Murillo started all 19 matches last season for Michigan at midfield, registering five assists. She was named to the Big Ten All-Freshman team.
Contact: Brad Rudner (734) 763-4423
