Cruzeiro Women

Vanessinha has been on the pitch for Cruzeiro's women since the department existed at all, a run that now reads back as more than 130 appearances and 46 goals, since it put a professional women's side together on 27 February 2019 under Barbara Fonseca. The team plays as the Cabulosas, in blue shirts with white shorts and socks, and its listed home is the Arena Independência in Belo Horizonte, though money and scheduling send it to Contagem's Arena Gregorão or the Arena do Jacaré in Sete Lagoas more often than not — the Mineirão, where the men play, is rarely part of the picture.

State football has been kind to them. Cruzeiro have taken the Campeonato Mineiro Feminino four times — 2019 on penalties against América-MG, then 2023, 2024 and 2025, the last two also finished off against América-MG, by 3-0 and then 4-0. Byanca Brasil put up 26 goals in that 2024 campaign alone.

The national stage has been tougher to crack. In 2025 Cruzeiro reached the final of the Campeonato Brasileiro Feminino and ran into Corinthians, losing 1-0 away before a 2-2 draw at home was enough to hand the title to the visitors on aggregate. A year earlier it had been the same opponent in the Supercopa do Brasil final, beaten 1-0. Jonas Urias took charge with those results behind the club's recent run, and the fixtures against Atlético Mineiro and América Mineiro remain the ones that carry the most weight locally.