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It has been two weeks since Leticia Torres has returned from Ecuador where she was playing with the Chilean National Team for the right to play in the World Cup. With the team falling short of their ultimate goal, the team will have to wait four more years for another shot at playing on the biggest stage.
 
But for Torres and a youthful Chilean National Team, it potentially created a stepping stone for women's soccer in the country.
 
"In the next four years, lot of things could happen," Torres said. "We are a very young team, the average age is 22, which is really young for a full team. It depends on what the soccer federation is going to do with the coaches and if they're going to keep training us or their going to wait a year before the next round to start training.
 
Chile opened the CONMEBOL Group Stage against rival Argentina and picked up the 1-0 win. It was the first time Chile had beaten Argentina in an official tournament.
 
"We were up early in the second half and we were trying to manage the game the rest of the way," Torres said. "It was the first game for both of us. It determined a lot of what could come later."
 
They followed it up with a 3-0 win over Bolivia, which caught the attention the people in Chile.
 
"In Chile, they were trying to give us more notoriety, putting us up on their official web pages," Torres said. "Twitter, Facebook, all that. I noticed even with the first two games, people were getting a lot more into women's soccer and were like, 'Oh, this is really cool that they beat Argentina, they beat Bolivia.' People I don't even know are cheering for us. They're all really supporting everything we're doing."
 
But following the team became difficult without TV or a live stream of the games and fans became angry.
 
"They were really upset about that, which is kind of cool," Torres said. "Everyone was like, 'Why do they only care about the men? These girls are doing just as much. We should give them more importance.'"
 
Without a broadcast of the events, social media played a big part in the dissemination of information. Fans began tweeting at Torres (@leti_torres5), wishing her luck and after the tournament was over telling her they had a good run.
 

Muy feliz por este triunfo. Ahora paso a paso. Con todo Chile!!!! #VamosChile #CAF2014 pic.twitter.com/GpRrt9txnT

— Leticia Torres (@leti_torres5) September 13, 2014

 
"It's nice to know that people care and are aware of what's going on with our team," she said.
 
The next match was against the favorite, Brazil, and Chile fought them off before falling 2-0. However, it was a gutty performance that many who had followed the Chilean team had never seen before.
 
"We possessed all second half, we had 10 shots on goal, which that never happens," Torres said. "It's usually Brazil possessing the whole time and you're defending.
 
"Even my coach and a lot of people who watched the game and have been around women's soccer said it's the best game we've ever played against Brazil."
 
Torres was disappointed by their exit in the group stage but sees her team moving in the right direction and could make another run at it in four years.
 
"We've made a lot of significant improvements during the last couple of years. We're definitely on the right track."