Sports activities Information
A few of the finest athletes on this yr’s World Cup will compete towards the USWNT.
Most American followers would have a straightforward time choosing Megan Rapinoe out of a crowd, given her worldwide soccer stardom and her signature brightly coloured hair (in the intervening time, it’s cotton-candy blue).
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World Cup 2023: Meet the US ladies’s nationwide workforce
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However with this yr’s Girls’s World Cup area expanded to 32 groups — up from 24 4 years in the past — there are extra gamers producing buzz than ever, and athletes from across the globe are on the hunt to make their names and nations identified on soccer’s largest stage.
With competitors kicking off Thursday from Australia and New Zealand, listed here are 10 non-USWNT gamers to observe.
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Sam Kerr, Australia
People could also be acquainted with Australian star Sam Kerr from her days within the NWSL. Kerr, now with Chelsea, nonetheless holds NWSL data for probably the most regular-season objectives (18), single-game objectives (4), objectives in a single half (4), hat tips in a season (2), and consecutive seasons scoring no less than 15 objectives (3). She can also be the league’s all-time main scorer, with 77 objectives.
The 29-year-old ahead will exhibit her playmaking means in entrance of a house crowd throughout this yr’s world cup.
“It’s going to be the most important honor on the planet to signify your nation at a house World Cup in entrance of your loved ones and buddies,” she informed the Guardian in April. “We hope this workforce is remembered without end and we signify Australia in one of the best ways attainable and present that Australia generally is a actual footballing nation.”
Kerr will miss the primary two video games of the match with an damage suffered throughout coaching.
Alexia Putellas, Spain
The primary participant to win the Girls’s Ballon d’Or two years in a row, 29-year-old Putellas has made 100 appearances for the Spanish nationwide workforce and is ranked the No. 1 participant on the planet by each CNN and the Guardian.
Putellas suffered a torn ACL in her left knee in July 2022 however returned to coaching March forward of the World Cup. She missed Spain’s match towards Vietnam final week and left Monday’s coaching early, which a workforce spokesperson stated was a deliberate departure. Nonetheless, her latest absences increase considerations about her availability all through the match.
Debinha, Brazil
Débora Cristiane de Oliveira, higher referred to as Debinha, joined the NWSL’s Kansas Metropolis Present this season and leads the workforce in objectives throughout the common season with 9 objectives and 15 assists. Earlier than signing with Kansas Metropolis, Debinha was a two-time NWSL champion with the North Carolina Braveness.
The 31-year-old ahead has represented Brazil in three Olympics in addition to the 2019 Girls’s World Cup. She appeared in all six 2022 Copa America Femenina matches, making 4 begins, and scored a team-best 5 objectives.
Lena Oberdorf, Germany
Germany hasn’t lifted the World Cup trophy since successful back-to-back titles in 2003 and 2007, however 21-year-old Oberdorf could possibly be the lacking piece in an already harmful lineup. She appeared within the 2019 World Cup as a 17-year-old excessive schooler however has matured a lot within the 4 years since.
Oberdorf was named the UEFA World Champions League Younger Participant of the Season and is understood for her defensive playmaking. She had the best variety of tackles of any participant within the Girls’s EURO in 2022 with VfL Wolfsburg.
Ji So-Yun, South Korea
After spending the final eight seasons with Chelsea, Ji returned to South Korea following the tip of the 2022 season. She totaled 68 objectives in 210 appearances for the Blues and was part of all 11 main trophies that Chelsea gained within the WSL period. She has gained six Tremendous League titles, 4 FA cups, and two Continental Cups in her storied profession.
At age 32, she has extra objectives with the South Korean nationwide workforce than any participant, male or feminine.
Ada Hegerberg, Norway
After sitting out of the 2019 World Cup to protest Norway’s lack of funding in growth of its women’ and girls’s soccer packages, Hegerberg returns to the World Cup with probably the most spectacular resumes of the match.
Hegerberg gained the Ballon d’Or in 2018 and has gained 22 trophies with Olympique Lyonnais, together with six Girls’s Champions League titles. The 28-year-old ahead is arguably Norway’s most deadly goal-scorer, including to a stacked offense that additionally options Caroline Graham Hansen.
Khadija “Bunny” Shaw, Jamaica
Shaw was named the 2022 CONCACAF ladies’s participant of the yr, turning into the primary Caribbean athlete to earn the award. The 26-year-old striker was the driving power in serving to Jamaica turn out to be the primary Caribbean nation to qualify for the World Cup, which the workforce completed in 2019.
Shaw, who scored 15 objectives in 19 WSL video games for Manchester Metropolis in 2022, led the Jamaican nationwide workforce to a third-place end on the 2022 CONCACAF Championship to earn its second consecutive World Cup berth. Her three objectives — one in a 1-0 win over Mexico and two in a 4-0 win over Haiti — sealed Jamaica’s World Cup qualifying bid.
Asisat Oshaola, Nigeria
Oshoala gained the African Girls’s Soccer of the Yr award 5 instances in eight years — together with in 2022 — and is considered one of Barcelona Femeni’s most dynamic gamers. She scored 21 objectives for the membership and was a driving power behind its historic 62-game win streak, marking the primary time a workforce gained greater than 50 straight video games in line with FIFA.
The 28-year-old is understood for her pace and ability and has scored 83 objectives in 89 video games for Barcelona. She appeared in each the 2015 and 2019 World Cups, serving as Nigeria’s vice captain for the latter.
Caroline Graham Hansen, Norway
Hansen makes up half of Norway’s attacking one-two punch alongside Hegerberg, creating probably the most fearsome scoring duos on this yr’s World Cup area. The Barcelona ahead introduced in August that she was planning to take a break from worldwide competitors however returned in April to hitch this yr’s World Cup roster.
The 28-year-old is dynamic on the wing and has scored 35 objectives in 100 video games for Barcelona since 2019. Hansen led Barcelona to UEFA Champions League titles in 2021 and 2023 and Liga F titles yearly from 2020-23.
Keira Walsh, England
England will probably be with out numerous its stars this World Cup on account of accidents, placing extra stress on the 26-year-old Walsh, identified for her distribution by way of the midfield. Barcelona acquired her from Manchester Metropolis in September for a reported 400,000 British kilos, a world report for a feminine participant.
Walsh was named the participant of the match when England defeated Germany 2-1 in additional time to win the 2022 Euro championship on house soil.
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