From David Beckham’s mohican to Roberto Baggio’s ponytail, haircuts can define a footballer. So eight-year-old Mili Hernandez put thought into it before going to the hairdresser. “When my hair starts to grow I put it short because I’ve always had short hair,” she told WOWT 6 News. “I didn’t like my hair long.”

It was a decision that would get her and her team, Omaha’s Azzuri Cachorros, in trouble. Mili, who is good enough to play for the Under-11s, had helped the team to the final of the Springfield Soccer Club tournament. But four hours before kick-off on Sunday, the Azzuri Cachorros were disqualified after someone complained there was a boy on the team.

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“I was mad. I never had that problem before. She’s been playing so long in different tournaments,” her father, Gerardo, told the Washington Post. “I don’t want no problems with nobody, but that wasn’t the right way to treat people. Why they want to tell my girl looks like a boy?”

The Springfield Soccer Association said that a misprint in the team’s roster identified Hernandez as a boy in “violation of state and tournament rules”, although the Post says another form listed her correctly as a girl. When Gerardo took Mili – along with ID showing she is a girl – to the tournament he claims the officials “didn’t even want to take it”. Mili was understandably upset. “Just because I look like a boy doesn’t mean I am a boy,” she said. “They don’t have a reason to kick the whole club out.”

There was some consolation for Mili after World Cup winners Mia Hamm and Abby Wambach tweeted their support. Hamm invited her to a training camp and Wambach, known for her forthright manner, saw her as a kindred spirit. “Mili, don’t EVER let anyone tell you that you aren’t perfect just as you are.i won championships with short hair,” Wambach wrote.