Mara Gómez and Marcos Rojo are blazing a trail for transgender players in Argentine football. Out on the pitch, they finally can feel like themselves. In addition to the sheer joy that football brings them, Mara Gómez and Marcos Rojo have the extra satisfaction of knowing that after a long and difficult journey, they are blazing a trail for transgender players in Argentina. Tall, slim, and with her hair tied back in a ponytail, Gómez plays for the team of Villa San Carlos in La Plata, 60 kilometers (40 miles) south of the capital. At 23, she aims to become the first transgender player in the new women’s professional league in her native country. “I suffered a lot from discrimination, exclusion, verbal abuse in the street and in school. Football was like therapy for me,” Gómez told AFP. She started playing at 15, encouraged by neighbors.