The CBS reporter joined Mic'd up to discuss the U.S. national teams, women's soccer in Mexico and Champions League
Jenny Chiu remembers her days as captain of the Mexican U17 national team, being asked to tell reporters that her country badly needed a domestic soccer league. She was there, in the formative times in which the women's game, in particular, was sorely lacking in investment and coverage.
But now the landscape is markedly different, and Chiu is on the other side. As sideline reporter, analyst and studio host for CBS Sports, Chiu is a journalist covering the game, on both the men's and women's side. For her, the immense development of soccer in the United States is a sort of vindication of her own personal journey.
"I was told out of college to do football, to do basketball, there's no money in soccer… And I was like 'I'm only in this because I like the game and enjoy soccer, and that's what I grew up with.' And thank goodness, because now it's paying off," Chiu tells GOAL.
Chiu was on the wave early of women's soccer growth, and has long followed USWNT Emma Hayes. Chiu spent time breaking down her tactics and making U.S.-based content for Chelsea women when the prolific manager was winning everything possible in the WSL and in Europe. These days, it's a full circle moment, with the former Mexican youth national star now covering the manager she analyzed from afar.
And Hayes couldn't be a better fit, she argues.
"After our failures over and over again, and falling in the world rankings and all of those things, Emma Hayes came in at a great time with the respect of the players, with the respect of the organization. I think it's only up from here with he," Chiu said.
But that's not her only focus. Chiu is also handles sideline reporting for Champions League, as well as coverage of the USMNT. She can see the impact that new manager Mauricio Pochettino has had on the team.
"We've needed it for so long. For someone to elevate how seriously we're taken, you also needed a manager to be at that level," she said.
Perhaps most importantly, though, Chiu is cognizant of her position in the space. Texas-born to Chinese and Mexican parents, Chiu is part of a far-too-small group of minority women at the forefront of the game. But her fluency in Spanish helped her get off the ground as a reporter. And in an ever-changing, ever-growing, but always global game, she might be the perfect example of how the sport can touch different corners of a country.
Chiu discussed the USWNT's success under Hayes, Pochettino's influence on soccer in America and more in the latest edition of Mic’d Up, a recurring feature in which GOAL US taps into the perspective of broadcasters, analysts and other pundits on the state of soccer in the U.S. and abroad.
NOTE: This interview has been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.
