Some of these signings were of major international players who should have a profound effect on their teams/league, and TribalFootball.com talked to Canadian international defender Julia Grosso (Chicago), French international winger Delphine Cascarino (San Diego) and Portugal international forward Jessica Silva (Gotham FC) to understand Grosso’s and Cascarino’s motivations for moving, particularly as their former clubs’ head coaches (Juventus and Olympic Lyon, respectively) left during the summer.
We examine the recent signings for Chicago Red Stars, New Jersey/New York Gotham FC, San Diego Wave, Angel City FC, Orlando Pride and Seattle Reign. Over the next few weeks, we will look at some of the other NWSL international signings coming to the league.
We also review the preliminary stage of the expanded 2024-25 Women’s Asian Club Championship—the Asian Women’s Champions League. Finally, we have an update from the most recent European U-19 championship, which Spain won again for the third consecutive time.
Chicago Red Stars
We have said in a previous NWSL season review this season that Chicago was doing better than expected this season but needed to add some players during the summer transfer window—if possible international players and scorers. They did both during the summer regular season break in signing Canadian international midfielder Julia Grosso and Brazilian international forward Ludmila to three year contracts through the 2026 season. On August 31, Morocco international Rosella Ayane (28) was brought in on loan from Tottenham Hotspur of England through the end of the season. She is the first Moroccan in the NWSL and a very good one at that, who was a key force for Morocco in the 2023 WWC as they made the Round of 16.
Grosso played in this summer’s Olympic Games Finals in Paris. Internationally, Grosso debuted for the Canadian Under-15 Women’s National Team in 2014 and then was capped at the under-17 and under-20 level. She was first capped at the senior level against the U.S. in November, 2017. The Vancouver, BC native was named to Canada’s 2019 Women’s World Cup squad in France but did not play as the Maple Leafs fell in the Round of 16. She did play at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games Finals in 2021 and calmly scored the winning penalty kick after extra time as Canada won the Gold Medal against Sweden. After the Olympics, she joined Juventus FC of Italy’s Serie A and played three seasons, winning the 2022 Copa Italia, Serie A league title and the Supercopa. In 2022-23, she was named the Serie A midfielder of the season and scored four goals in 34 matches across all competitions. In total at Juve, Grosso made 76 appearances and scored 10 goals. Grosso previously played at the University of Texas, scoring 21 goals across 60 appearances for the Longhorns from 2018 to 2021.
TribalFootball.com asked Julia Grosso in a media call (with Head Coach Lorne Donaldson), that was set to welcome her to the team on August 22, if, in her decision to leave Juventus, how much of a factor was it that Australian head coach Joe Montemorro was leaving (let go by the club in a mutual decision a few months ago and, after coaching an A-League women All-Star Team against his former club Arsenal this summer, has now taken the job at Olympique Lyonnais in France after Sonia Bompastor moved to Chelsea in England—see our column earlier this summer: The Week in Women's Football: Hayes ends Morgan's USA career; Canada launch new comp - TribalFootball.com). Grosso explained: “I would say Joe was a good part of that. He was a phenomenal coach and a great person on and off the field. I feel like, when he left, it definitely impacted me, because we had a close connection.”
I then followed up and asked if she would miss playing in the UEFA Women’s Champions League (which she did for three seasons—Juve made the Quarterfinals in her first year of 2021-22 falling to Olympique Lyon 4-3 but then fell in the Group Stage in 2022-23 and shockingly in the first qualifying round in 2023-24, losing the final 5-4 on penalties to Eintracht Frankfurt of Germany after a 1-1 tie) and Juventus is again in the WCL for 2024-25, entering in the second qualifying round, which we will discuss in our column over the next two weeks. She explained her feelings about the UEFA Women’s Champions League: “That part was the most exciting for why I went to Europe—it was really cool to be part of the Champions League… At the same time, I’m excited to be here and to be in the NWSL and looking forward to that.”
Lauren Donaldson talked about what Grosso would bring to the club: “Julia makes good decisions with the ball and understanding every game when to go forward, when to hold it, when to circulate it (the ball); she brings a very good understanding of that kind of stuff and technically she’s a solid player.” Grosso also said about her reasons for joining the Red Stars: “There are a lot of great players here that I am excited and looking forward to playing with. I’ve heard a lot of great things about the coaching staff” while Lorne Donaldson smiled and shrugged. She added: “I just felt like it would be a good fit, to challenge my style of play and to continue to grow here.”
Another reporter asked about Grosso’s interest in playing in the NWSL: “Yeah, you know, out of college, I always first looked at NWSL. I just thought, in that moment, going overseas at first was what I wanted to do. But I’ve always been interested in coming back to the NWSL and continuing my professional career here.”
Brazilian international Ludmila joins the Red Stars from Spanish side Atlético Madrid, where she made 159 appearances in seven seasons, scoring 63 goals. She helped Atletico win Spain’s Primera División Femenina title two consecutive times (2017/2018 and 2018/2019). Ludmila and Atlético Madrid also won the Supercopa Femenina (2020/2021) and the Copa de la Reina (2022/2023). For Brazil, she has played 50 times for the national team, including at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics; she has scored five goals for Brazil. She won a Silver Medal with Brazil this summer at the Paris Olympics.
Lorne Donaldson told the media—the same day that the club introduced Julia Grosso—that: “Ludmilla, she can hold it (the ball), she can break lines with her runs… she is experienced, given the chance to play a little more (with us) and get her to go forward, we have a good combination of forwards and (she will) put some life on the opportunities (in attack).”
Chicago has needed more scoring but has done well so far this season and is on the edge of the playoffs. Based on her club form in Spain, Ludmila could be a key breakout player to help Chicago continue to gain points and make the playoffs this season—as their seven year consecutive playoff appearance streak was broken in 2023 as they finished twelfth in the 14 team league.
Regarding Ayane, at Tottenham, she scored 12 goals in 97 appearances across all competitions from 2019 through 2024. Prior to Tottenham, Ayane had stints at Chelsea, Millwall, Bristol City, Everton and Cypriot First Division club, Apollon Limassol. A native of Reading, England, Ayane played for England at the under-17 and under-19 levels before earning her first senior call up for Morocco in June, 2021, where she scored less than a minute after subbing on against Mali. Ayane has scored 10 goals across 30 international caps, including 2 goals in the 2022 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, helping Morocco advance to the final and qualify for last summer’s Women’s World Cup Finals. This is her first time playing abroad since her stint in Cyprus in 2017-18.
New Jersey/New York Gotham FC
Reigning NWSL champions Gotham added to an already packed lineup of top quality Americans and imports—many of whom are full internationals—with the addition of English defender Jess Carter, who won five consecutive Women’s Super League titles with Chelsea (including in the 2023-24 campaign) for an undisclosed fee. Gotham signed Carter through the 2026 season.
Carter said about her signing: “I cannot wait to join Gotham FC. The club is playing at an incredible level right now in one of the toughest leagues in the world. I cannot wait to be a part of it all.”
On the international stage, Carter has earned 36 caps for the Lionesses since making her debut in 2017. She was a part of the squad that won the 2022 UEFA Women’s EURO at home and that finished second in the 2023 WWC in Australia and New Zealand, in which she played and started in six matches.
Carter began her professional career with Birmingham City in 2014 for four seasons and, in the 2016-17 season was named the PFA Women's Young Player of the Year. She joined Chelsea in 2018.
Another new signing is iconic Portuguese forward Jessica Silva (29) from SL Benfica Women via a free transfer; Benfica has been a strategic partner for Gotham FC since May 2023. With Benfica, Silva won every title available in Portugal in 2023-24, which included the Liga BPI, the Women’s Cup of Portugal and the Portuguese Women’s Super Cup. Additionally, she was a key part of the Benfica squad that did so well and advanced to the quarterfinals of the UEFA Women’s Champions League in 2023-24, in which she scored two goals and one assist in the group stage.
Silva previously played in multiple premier divisions in Europe, including Swedish side Linköpings FC, Portugal’s Clube de Albergaria, Spanish Premier Division Levante Unión Deportiva and Olympique Lyonnaise (OL) of the French Division 1 Féminine. In 2021, she signed with the Kansas City Current, where she appeared in 14 games and had two assists.
On the international level, Silva has appeared in more than 100 matches for Portugal. She played at the 2022 UEFA Women’s EURO Finals as well as the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Silva is an iconic inspiration to young women’s footballers in Portugal, who we featured ahead of the 2023 WWC last summer; we also interviewed her for TribalFootball.com in first stint in the NWLS (see: The Week in Women's Football: World Cup Groups E & F preview; pressure on Marta - Tribal Football).
In a media call on August 28, Jessica Silva discussed why she came back to the NWSL to play for Gotham FC: “My decision was easy to take. I always wished to come back to the United States as the league is growing so much and potentially one of the best, even if it is already not the best league. The league is really competitive; you never know who will win… I dreamed about this so it was an easy decision to take. I am in a big club… The club has been working, not only because last year they became champions. It is an ambitious club and they want more and more. I felt the confidence from the coach, the technical staff and all of the people of the club, so it was a decision that I really wanted to take.”
She also mentioned how the club has changed from the Sky Blue days—which are not lamented by anyone around the game as the club was underfunded and players, fans and media were treated poorly—but that she is coming to what is now a major club in a top league.
TribalFootball.com asked her about her long-time work to inspire young women footballers in Portugal, for which she is a legendary spokesperson at home, and why this work is so important to her. She explained that: “It’s special for me. I’ve been watching the development of women’s football in general and in the world. I’m from a generation that saw nothing (in terms of infrastructure or support for women’s football). We started to dream without seeing nothing, with no reference (to anything) in Portugal.
"We had to play overseas in other championships to earn our salary to become professional players. It’s important for the people from my generation to tell this story for the new generation and support the girls, telling them that: ‘Now you can do it, you can achieve your goals, and become a professional player in our country’… It is really important to spread the message that nothing comes easy... Now It’s me—tomorrow it will be another person (spreading the message). It’s really important for women to support each other—so this is why for me it is so special to be a reference for young girls, even the boys, as they are looking at us too. It’s important that I keep doing my work on and off the pitch to help this game go.”
Jessica Silva may be on the back end of her career (she turns 30 in December) that has taken her to so many leagues and countries, but she is so positive, so well-spoken and such a good role model for youth and still a vibrant force on the field—she is a welcome returnee to the league.
San Diego WaveThe Wave, still without a permanent coach after dismissing former English international (with over 125 caps) Casey Stoney at the beginning of the summer (see: The Week in Women's Football: NWSL club review (P2); Stoney axed; Haracic makes Bosnia call - TribalFootball.com), made a major signing for the league in French international and 2024 Olympian Delphine Cascarino (27), who is leaving Lyon where she won nine league titles, the Coupe de France five times and the UEFA Champions League six times. She played ten seasons at Olympique Lyonnaise (having been born and raised in Saint-Priest, only 12 miles from the city center), and scored 45 goals throughout 223 matches across all competitions for the club.
At the international level, Cascarino has made 64 appearances for the French National Team, scoring 14 goals. She made her debut in January 2016 and was part of the 2019 Women’s World Cup roster and the 2022 UEFA European Championship; she missed the 2023 WWC due to injury but did play this summer at the Olympics in her home nation. The forward was instrumental in France’s victorious run at the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in 2012.
Wave sporting director and general manager Camille Ashton said: “Delphine is a world-class player in the prime of her career. Her experiences at both the club and national team level will be invaluable to this team.” She was signed through the 2026 season, with a player and club option for 2027.
On August 23, Delphine Cascarino was introduced to a small group of media, including TribalFootball.com. This reporter asked her about the key factors in her move and whether the recent departure of head coach Sonia Bompastor played a role; she replied: “It was a difficult decision to leave Olympique Lyonnaise. The move was a bit difficult. Sonia Bompastor (who left Lyon to take over from now USWNT head coach Emma Hayes at Chelsea) was a very good coach; it’s not really just because she was moving to England that I decided to come to San Diego but I also wanted to have another adventure in my life and coming to San Diego was one.”
Cascarino also said that the NWSL was attractive to her: “They have some of the best players in San Diego and that is why I am here. I believe in the San Diego project and I want to win something with the San Diego team.”
I followed up on my question to Delphine by asking, after a decade with one club—Olympique Lyon—what is she looking forward to in order to integrate into her new side. She said: “I have to learn a bit more English; my English is not perfect yet (she had a translator during the presser). I’m trying to see how the team is playing to address my playing to the playing of the team.”
She also discussed her role and how she plays: “I am a fairly quick player; I have a good technique and I hope to bring my speed and my technique (here).” She added that she was looking forward to playing in front of the large crowds at home: “I am very excited to play in Snapdragon in front of 20,000 fans.”
Note: In Cascarino’s first game with the club on August 24, a 2-1 loss home to Angel City, she came on for the last two minutes and had three shots on goal.
I think that Cascarino will be an innovative, exciting and productive forward for the Wave and a sign that the NWSL is able to attract some of the top players in the world in their prime. A few international midfielders with France have come and gone of late (Claire Lavogez of Kansas City, who moved to Real Sociedad of Spain after two and a half injury-shortened seasons when she scored only 4 goals in 28 matches, and midfielder Clarisse Le Bhan of Angel City, who joined Lazio of Italy this summer and had only 2 goals in 47 matches in L.A., but Cascarino should be talked about as positively as Amandine Henry and her impact on the league (winning a league title and regular season crown in two seasons in Portland in 2016-17, scoring 4 times in 33 matches and is now with Utah Royals after joining Angel City in 2023).
Cascarino is joining a San Diego side that badly needs her speed and creative skills in attack.
Delphine Cascarino, in the middle in a black warm-up suit and holding a bouquet of flowers, is welcomed to San Diego by a group of Wave fans in August 2024.
For individual honors, Cascarino has earned FIFA FIFPro Women’s World11 (2020), IFFHS Women’s World Team (2020), UEFA Women’s Champions League Final Player of the Match (2020), France’s Division 1 Arkéma’s Féminine Player of the Year (2022-23), and a FIFA Best Women’s Player Nomination (2022).
On August 22, the Wave signed another French international from Olympique Lyonnaise in defender Perle Morroni, who will be under contract with the Wave through the 2026 season. Morroni (26), like Cascarino, also comes from Olympique Lyonnais, where she played for three seasons, with 87 appearances. She helped Lyon to three D1 Arkema championships (2022, 2023, 2024), two Champions Cups (2022, 2023), one UEFA Women’s Champions League title (2022) and one French Cup (2023). Prior to joining OL in 2022, she was with Paris Saint-Germain from 2017-21 where she made 48 appearances (46 starts) and recorded nine assists. In the 2020-21 season, Morroni played 25 matches across all competitions as PSG they dethroned Lyon (for the only time over the past 18 seasons) in the D1 Arkema title race, now the Arkema Premiere Ligue.
At the international level, Morroni she was capped at multiple youth levels and won a European Championship with the U-19 team in 2016. She debuted with the senior team in 2020 and made 11 appearances from 2020-22, scoring two goals.
Angel City FC
On August 12, Angel City signed English international midfielder Katie Zelem through 2026 via free agency. She last played at Manchester United where she was team captain. Zelem said upon her signing: “I’m thrilled to sign for Angel City and take on this exciting new challenge. The opportunity to compete in the NWSL, one of the most competitive leagues in the world, is a huge step in my career. I’m eager to test myself in a new league, against top players whilst contributing to the success of this ambitious club.”
Zelem joined Man United when their women’s team was started in 2018-19 in the second tier Championship and at the end of that season, they had won the title and promotion to the Women’s Super League (WSL). Zelem had scored 32 goals with 46 assists in 161 match appearances in all competitions. She helped lead the club to a FA Women’s National League Cup title. Previously she helped Juventus win the Serie A title during the 2017–2018 regular season, notching four goals in 18 Serie A appearances. She also won two WSL championships during her 2013–2017 stint with Liverpool, where she appeared in 52 total matches and scored 12 goals.
Zelem was called up to the senior England Women’s National Football Team in 2021, appearing in three matches during the FIFA Women’s World Cup UEFA qualifiers, where she assisted one goal. She made two appearances at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, where England were runners up. Zelem also represented England from the U-15 through U-23 levels, compiling a total of 14 goals.
Katie Zelem talked to the media after her second game with the club, coming on as a substitute first in a 2-1 win in San Diego on August 24 and then a home triumph over Chicago on September 1 by the same score.
She discussed the difference in play between the NWSL and the WSL in England: “The main difference would be that this league, from what I’ve experienced so far, is much more transitional. I've never been on a team with so many quick players. What I’ve heard from the girls is that every team has at least five or six players that are absolutely rapid. The physicality of the league over here is probably quicker and stronger, but it’s more transitional which makes sense when players are much quicker. There’s more turnovers and things like that. Hopefully it’s something that I can help the team manage.”
She also commented on how she sees her game improving in the NWSL: “It’s so amazing to see so many English players over here with Jess (Carter—with Gotham FC) and Esme (Morgan—with the Washington Spirit) obviously over on the other coast. For me, I was so comfortable and used to the WSL that you know all the players and the test you’re going to get each week. Stepping into a totally new environment, in a new league that you’re perhaps not as familiar with is definitely going to improve you as a player. There’s a certain aspect here. The physicality and the transitions that you probably wouldn’t experience as much in England. I think it's an amazing step and an amazing place to improve my all-around game.”
Zelem felt that she can help Angel City in a few specific ways: “A big part of my game is being able to control the tempo and help finding solutions for the team. I really enjoy watching football and learning about football. When I get on the pitch, I try to apply things that I’ve learned or things that I notice while I’m playing. I want to be able to get on the ball, play forward, and hopefully be the starting point for attacks, but also help control the tempo of the game, whether that be building out from the back or around the opposition box.”
Orlando Pride
Goalkeeper Claire Winter joins the Pride after finishing up stints with Thisted FC of the Danish 2nd Division and Treaty United FC of the League of Ireland Women’s Premier Division. She previously was signed to a National Team Replacement Player contract with NJ/NY Gotham FC in 2021. Winter played collegiately at UCLA and was part of the team that won the 2013 Division I National Championship. As a senior, she co-captained her team. Winter has also played professionally with Puerto Rico Sol FC and RCD Espanyol de Barcelona in Spain’s Liga F.
On August 14, Orlando Pride’s Zambian international midfielder Grace Chanda was placed on the Season Ending Injury list after suffering a ruptured quadriceps tendon in her right leg while with Zambia at the Paris 2024 Olympics. She was due to start playing with the Pride after the Olympics, having signed during the summer transfer window. She will work with the Pride’s medical team and partners at Orlando Health to outline her recovery and rehabilitation programming. Prior to signing with the Pride, Chanda most recently played for Madrid CFF in Spain’s top-division Liga F and was one of three players shortlisted for African Women's Footballer of the Year in 2022 (see more when we reported on her signing earlier this summer: The Week in Women's Football: NWSL club review; Orlando showing genuine star power - TribalFootball.com).
Seattle Reign
At the end of July, Seattle signed Haitian international striker Nerilia Mondesir from Montpellier of France; she is the first Haitian-born player to sign with a NWSL side.
Mondesir (25) is signed through the 2026 season, with a mutual option for 2027, for an undisclosed transfer fee. She joins the Reign after playing for Montpellier HSC of Division 1 Féminine in France since 2017 (eight seasons), where she made 89 starts in 123 appearances. The speedy attacker recorded 20 goals and 16 assists for the French club, scoring 19 of her goals over the last three seasons. In 2022, she led the team in scoring with nine goals.
On the international stage, Mondésir has represented Haiti since 2014, beginning at the U-15 level, when then head coach Shek Borkowski used to bring up his young players to Goshen, Indiana to acclimatize to the U.S. and play more quality opposition, including professional club sides and top international teams. She played for Haiti at multiple youth levels and also earned her first cap at the senior level as a 15-year-old in a 1-0 loss to Mexico at the CAC (Central American and Caribbean Games) in Veracruz in 2014. She played for Haiti against the U.S. 2015 WWC champions in September of 2015 in Detroit (5-0 defeat, which this reporter covered and spent hours with the team after the match) and Birmingham, Alabama (8-0 defeat).
She captained Haiti last year at their historic first-ever appearance at a FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia/New Zealand after qualifying from the ten team Intercontinental Playoffs earlier in the year in New Zealand. Mondésir has scored 30 goals in 25 caps for her country. In 2018, she captained Haiti’s U-20s when they qualified from CONCACAF to their first women’s world tournament at the 2018 WWC in France, when the team did very well in a very tough first round group, building on that success five years later at a full Women’s World Cup.
Seattle Reign brought Switzerland international forward Ana-Maria Crnogorčević (33) back to the NWSL for the remainder of the 2024 season and all of 2025. The Reign will pay Atletico Madrid an undisclosed transfer fee. Crnogorčević, Switzerland's all-time leading goal-scorer, has 74 goals in 159 caps for her country. That includes a goal in each of two 2025 Women’s EURO Qualifying matches this summer (which were essentially friendlies for the host nation Switzerland next summer), a 2-0 away win in Turkey and a 3-0 home win over Azerbaijan to win their Group B1 and promotion to League A from League B in the 2025-26 UEFA Nations League. She played for the Portland Thorns from 2018-2019, scoring six goals in 32 regular-season matches.
Following her time in Portland, Crnogorčević moved to global powerhouse Barcelona in Spain and scored 21 goals and notched 17 assists in 117 matches. Crnogorčević helped Barcelona win two Champions League finals and four straight Liga F titles. After the 2023 WWC, Barcelona told her 10 days before the close of the summer transfer window that they wanted to move her on. She transferred to Atletico Madrid for the 2023/24 season and scored once and assisted on two other scores, playing just 534 minutes as she dealt with an illness earlier this year, which she recently recovered from. She told the Swiss newspaper Blick in July: “I have been seriously ill for days on end over the last six months. I was in hospital every day for a week for tests.” She has been stellar for years with the Switzerland national team, leading the attack with Ramona Bachmann (now Houston Dash). Though critics typically reference two WWC Round of 16 appearances (in 2015 and 2023) with a complete collapse against Spain 5-1 last summer in Australia/New Zealand.
Among the soccer-mad fans in Seattle, Crnogorcevic was a controversial signing, given that many feel that the struggling side this season needs a major rebuild, with some comments the local Sounders at Heart website, including:
“She was too old (at 33) with too little experience in the NWSL.”
“Too old, two (sic) little scoring experience in NWSL (33 years old).”
“Happy to see reinforcements, but not sure how much a 33-year-old is going to impact the club for the next 18 months. I was hoping to see more players in their primes, not players on the tail end of their careers.”
“A team that is apparently firmly stuck between rebuilding their obviously deficient roster and also thinking that they’re only one player away from competing (for the league title).”
“It’s as if the scouting director for the club fell asleep in 2020 and just woke up.”
“Yet another veteran getting in the way of the needed rebuild.”
Crnogorcevic is also viewed skeptically by some followers of the game in Europe as well. One continental media person has labeled her: “The most wasteful striker in the history of women’s football.”
True, some of her shot attempts over the years have seemed to go into orbit, but Seattle badly needs scoring help, and even as a stop-gap for the rest of the season—particularly with Bethany Balcer being traded to Louisville this summer (which we will cover in an upcoming column)—her signing may not be a bad move for the club; hopefully she syncs well with Mondesir, who should definitely boost the Reign attack.
2024-25 Women’s Asian Club Championships
The AFC has expanded their Women’s Club Championship for the 2024-25 season, after holding it on an occasional basis over the past few years. The new tournament will include:
A preliminary stage (one group of four teams and three groups of three teams), in centralized venues in August of 2024.
A main tournament with 12 teams (three groups of four teams), in a centralized venue in October of 2024.
Quarterfinals, hosted by the group winners and second place teams and the two best third-placed team in March of 2025. (single leg matches)
Semifinals and final, in a centralized venue in May of 2025 (single leg matches).
Direct entrants to the Group Stage included:
Urawa Red Diamonds of Japan—the 2023-24 WE League title winners.
Melbourne City of Australia—the 2023-24 A-League Women Premiership (regular season title) holders
Wuhan Jiangda of China—the 2023 Chinese Women’s Super League champions
Incheon Red Angels—the 2023 WK League champions
Ho Chi Minh City—the 2023 Vietnamese Women’s National League champions
Kaya-Iloilo—the 2023 PFF (Philippines) Women’s League champions
Taichung Blue Whale—the 2023 Taiwan Mulan Football League champions
College of Asian Scholars—the 2024 Thai Women’s League champions
The preliminary round entrants include:
Al Nassr (Group A)—the 2023-24 Saudi Women’s Premier League champions
Myawady (Group A)—the 2023 Myanmar Women’s League champions
Young Elephants (Group A)—the 2023 Lao Women League champions
Abu Dhabi Country Club (Group A)—the 2023-24 United Arab Emirates (UAE) Women’s Football League champions
Lion City Sailors (Group B)—the 2023 (Singapore) Deloitte Women’s Premier League champions
Odisha (Group B)—the 2023-24 Indian Women’s League champions
Etihad (Group B)—the 2023 Jordan Women’s Pro League champions
Nasaf (Group C)—the 2024 Uzbekistan Women’s League champions
Sabah (Group C)—the 2023 Malaysia National Women’s League champions
APF (Group C)—the 2023 Nepalese National Women’s League champions
Bam Khatoon (Group D)—the 2023-24 Kowsar (Iran) Women Football League champions
Kitchee (Group D)—the 2023-24 Hong Kong Women League champions
Royal Thimphu College (Group D)—the 2023 (Bhutan) Women’s National League champions
The favorites from the Preliminary Stage—played at the end of August 2024—were expected to be Odisha of India and Etihad of Jordan (though they were drawn together in Group B) and Abu Dhabi Country Club of UAE and Al Nassr of Saudi Arabia (again drawn in the same group in Group A). In Group C, Nasaf of Uzbekistan are favored, in part because they were in the 2023-24 eight team AFC regional club tournament and hosted one four team group, but finished in a tie for third with one point behind Group B winners Incheon Hyundai Steel Red Angels of Korea Republic (9 points), Sydney FC of Australia (6 points) and even with Iran’s Bam Khatoon (also one point) —while group D, composed of teams from Bhutan, India and Hong Kong, seemed too close to call, though again Bam Khatoon participated in last season’s abbreviated tournament.
AFC Women’s Club Championship Preliminary Round Review
Host nations for the Preliminary groups were: Saudi Arabia (Group A), Jordan (Group B), Malaysia (Group C) and Bhutan (Group D), with preliminary round games held from August 25 through August 31.
In Group A, in the first match day on August 25 in Riyadh, host side Al Nassr defeated Myawady of Myanmar 3-0 ,with Clara Luvanga (19) of Tanzania scoring twice in the first half. Luvunga had 11 goals in 14 matches last season for Al Nassr. Saudi Arabian international Mubarkh Al-Saiari (25) added a third goal just after the hour mark.
In the other match in Group A on August 25, Abu Dhabi Country Club of UAE defeated Young Elephants of Laos 2-1, with the latter’s goal coming seven minutes from full-time. Goals either side of half-time from Ghanian Eugenia Tetteh and Rekha Poudel, a full international from Nepal, did the job for Abu Dhabi.
On August 28, Abu Dhabi Country Club again squeaked home another win, this time over Myawadi of Myanmar (1-0) with substitute Fatema Almarzooqi’s 87th minute winner, on an assist from Ghanaian U-21 international Cecilia Nyama (21), the difference in front of a small crowd of only 50 at the King Saud University Stadium. Al Nassr defeated Young Elephants 3-0 in the other match in front of 181 fans at the same stadium. Clara Luvanga (19) of Tanzania, French-born (and French youth international at multiple levels) Algerian international midfielder Lina Boussaha (25) and DR Congo international forward Ruth Kipoyi (26—ex ALG Spor of Turkey) scored for Al Nassr. With the results, Myawady and Young Elephants were both eliminated ahead of their final match on August 31.
The wins saw Abu Dhabi Country Club and Al Nassr even on six points at the top of the table going into their deciding match on August 31, while already-eliminated Myawady faced Young Elephants of Laos. The Saudi Arabian champions held the goal difference advantage in case of a tie (+6 vs. +2) as only one team from each group moves on to the next round, so Abu Dhabi had to win the game to advance. The upsets on the last match day of the Preliminary Round continued—as the Group A matches were played in West Asia and were the last two of the day among the five matches in the tournament—as Abu Dhabi CC upset heavy favorites and Suadi Arabian Premier League two time reigning champions Al Nassr 1-0, with Nepalese international Rekha Poudel scoring her second goal of the tournament in the 68th minute to send the UAE side onto the Final Group Stage.
The crucial play started with Country Club goalkeeper Jeane Da Cruz (25) of Brazil (who won a CONMEBOL Copa Libertadores Femenina in 2020 with Ferroviaria of Araraquara of Sao Paulo State after finishing runners-up in the same tournament in 2019) sending a long pass to Eugenia Tettah, who befuddled on-coming Al Nassr and Saudi Arabia international goalkeeper Sara Al-Dossary (28) before passing the ball to Poudel to score. Al Nassr’s comeback effort was hampered when forward Clara Luvanga earned her second yellow card of the game and was sent off.
Abu Dhabi Country Club, in addition to Jeane Da Cruz from Brazil and Rekha Poudel from Nepal, had six imports from Ghana (including Eugenia Tettah) and one each from Ukraine and Algeria for their coach Sara Hassanien of Egypt. Tunisian international Imen Troudi, who we have interviewed in the past when she was playing for Starjnan in Iceland in 2017, has been playing and coaching with the club for many years and was a trailblazer for Tunisian women players going abroad.
Al Nassr of Saudi Arabia had four imports on their Champions League roster: one each from Tanzania, DR Congo, Algeria and defender Kathellen (28) from Brazil.
In the other Group A match on August 31, Young Elephants defeated Myawady 3-0 with a brace by Japanese import Saki Yangisawa (28), who played the last two seasons with Albirex Niigata in the WE League in Japan after a season with Urawa Reds, and the 24th minute opener from another Japanese import, forward Nanami Sone (24), who played the last two seasons at home with JEF United Chiba of the WE-League. The Laotian champions finished third on three points, ahead of Myawady with 0 points and behind Abu Dhabi Country Club (9 points) and Al Nassr (6 points).
Young Elephants of Laos had three imports from Japan as well as Cambodian international forward Yon Yoeurn (24), who was loaned by Cambodia Women’s League side Nagaworld this summer. Her goal against Abu Dhabi CC on August 25 was the first goal by a Cambodian player in the Asian continental club competition. Myawady WFC of Myanmar had no imports on their roster for this tournament.
In Group B on August 25 in Zarqa, Jordan, Odisha of India and Lion City Sailors of Singapore were deadlocked 1-1 at the break before the Indian champions scored three second half goals, with Indian youth international Linda Kom (19) scoring twice and the Singapore side putting the ball into their own net in the 88th minute.
On August 28, Etihad of Jordan eliminated Lion City Sailors with a comprehensive 5-0 victory, building a 3-0 lead by the half. Maysa Jbarah (34) scored four goals—two in each half); she was born in Kuwait but has over 130 caps for Jordan and scores at a goal a game clip for the WNT, who have traditionally been one of the top women’s sides in West Asia. Jbarah has played in Lebanon, UAE with Abu Dhabi Country Club in 2016-17, Turkey—scoring 16 goals in 24 games for Ankara BB Fomget in 2021-22—France and the last two years in Saudi Arabia for Al Nassr, who were league champions the last two seasons in the rapidly developing league that is the biggest and richest in the Middle East/North Africa. Jbarah returned to Jordan to join Etihad for the 2024-25 season.
On August 31, Etihad and Odisha—both at the top of the table with three points—faced off for a berth in the final group stage, with Etihad’s 5-0 win three days earlier giving them the advantage on goal difference (+5 vs +3 for Odisha). Odisha shocked the home side with a 2-1 win with two goals by Jennifer KanKam Yeboah (22) offsetting another Maysa Jbarah goal for Etihad. Only 200 people were at the game in Zarqa. Yeboah, a native of Ghana, has been playing in Egypt’s women’s league side ZED FC, scoring 36 goals and 16 assists in 15 matches in 2023-24.
Odisha had two imports: Yeboah and Maryam Ibrahim (28) of Nigeria, who played for their U-20 national team in the past. In addition, Indian international midfielder Kiran Pisda (23) has played in Croatia with Dinamo Zagreb earlier this year.
Etihad used four imports from Tunisia to boost their heavily Jordanian-based side (and quite young as well as 12 of their 18 players from Jordan were 23-years-old or younger, with the youngest only 16) for their head coach Khaled Harban, who is from Bahrain and has coached his country’s WNT in the past. Jordanian international midfielder Enas Al Jamaeen (20) has played in Turkey for Forget in Ankara and Amed S.F.K in Diyarbakir.
Lion City Sailors of Singapore was mostly a domestic-based squad, with three imports: a 17-year-old forward Priscille Le Helloco, who was born in France, a 19-year-old forward from Japan in Miray Altun and defender Sara Hayduchok (29) of the States. Hayduchok joined the team in August of 2023 from Singapore’s Tampines Rovers and has played and coached in Malaysia; at Lion City she also is a youth coach and is their Commercial Manager in charge of sponsorships. She played in the U.S. at the University of Delaware and Cairn University in Langhorne, Pennsylvania, where she then was an assistant coach. Note: We will have an interview with Sara Hayduchok in an upcoming column of TribalFootball.com.
In Group C on August 25, in front of a crowd of 75 fans in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, Nasaf of Uzbekistan defeated APF of Nepal 1-0, with Ghanian international Lily Niber-Lawrence (27) scoring the only goal in the 49th minute. In the second match on August 28, in front of 2,983 in Kota Kinabalu, home side Sabah and APF tied 0-0, leaving the last match on August 31 between Nasaf and Sabah to decide the group. Sabah won the match 2-1 (a mild upset) in front of a home crowd of 3,683 as Myanmar international Win Theingi Tun (29) scored a pair of goals 12 minutes apart towards the end of the first half.
Tun has scored at close to a goal a game clip in over 70 Myanmar women’s national team games and has played in India with Gokulam Kerala, Lords FA in the Kerala State league and last season with Odisha; she has also played at home and with College of Asian Scholars in Thailand and scores around three goals on average in club games in her career. Late in the second half, Alvine Njolle (30)—who was capped once by Cameroon at the senior level and played with Minsk in Belarus, where she won four league titles in five seasons from 2016-2020—gave Nasaf late hope but they could not break through for an equalizer, as Sabah moved on to the final group stage of the competition.
Nasaf had three imports from Ghana and Alvine Njolle from Cameroon to go with their Uzbekistan natives. Sabah had Win Theingi Tun from Myanmar and two midfielders from Japan. APF’s roster was comprised entirely of players from Nepal.
In Group D on August 25, home side Royal Thimphu College of Bhutan took a 1-0 lead against Iran’s Bam Khatoon through their Bangladeshi international midfielder Ritu Porna Chakma (20), who scored from a 30 yard blast in the 27th minute past Bam Khatoon and Iranian international goalkeeper Mahdiyeh Molaei (33), who’s one full cap came in 2016 in a 7-0 friendly loss to Sweden in Gothenburg.
Iranian international midfielder Mona Hamroudi (30) tied it up seven minutes later on an assist from Iranian international midfielder Samaneh Chahkandi (35). Iranian international defender Shahnaz Jafarizadeh (30) scored a second goal with her head with 15 minutes left from a free kick ball into the box from the influential Iranian international forward Zahra Ghanbari (32), who has played in Iraq with Kirkuk and Vechan Kurdistan in Iran before joining Bam Khatoon. With the home team in action, the attendance was by far the best of the day in the tournament with 2,400 watching at the Changlimithang Stadium in the capital city of Thimphu.
RTC used three internationals from Bangladesh: midfielders in Maria Manda (21) and Monica Chakma (20)—along with Ritu Porna Chakma, was resilient against the Iranian champions. There was one other Bangladeshi international that they tried to bring in for the tournament—Sabrina Khatun (30), who has scored 34 goals in 53 international appearances and is their team captain—but the club was unable to register Sabina for not acquiring the International Transfer Certificate from Indian outfit Kickstart FC where she last played in January. Bangladesh won the 2022 South Asian Football Federation Women’s Championship and will defend their championship in October in Nepal and the seven nation tournament.
Bam Khatoon and Iranian international midfielder Samaneh Chahkandi (#11 in yellow) in action against Royal Thimphu on August 25 in Bhutan—Bam Khatoon won the match 2-1 in AFC Women’s Champions League Preliminary Stage.
On August 28, Kitchee of Hong Kong eliminated Royal Thimphu College from the championship with a 1-0 win in front of 1,700 in Thimphu. Hong Kong international Taylor Fu Chui Man’s (26) goal four minutes before halftime gave Kitchee SC a 1-0 win; she formerly played at Eckerd College in Florida in the States.
On August 31, Group D continued the theme of last match upsets in the Preliminary Round’s Groups with a surprise of historic proportions as Iranian Women’s League Champions Bam Khatoon secured a 2-0 win over Kitchee of Hong Kong in front of 450 people in Thimphu. Granted Group D was comprised of minnows but it is a tremendous achievement for the growth of the game in Iran, which has struggled for years to gain traction against edicts to play fully-clothed and without males in the stands. Iranian full international defender Fatemeh Amineh Borazjani (27) scored in first half injury time and then fellow Iranian international and midfielder Mona Hamoudi scored the clinching goal just past the hour mark. Bam Khatoon had an all Iranian roster for the tournament. Kitchee’s roster was all from Hong Kong except for defender Deanielle Vos (24) of the Netherlands and forward Mikalya Simons (23) who is a dual national of Hong King and the U.S. and played at Warner University in Lake Wales, Florida.
Vos was born in Norway and grew up in various nations around the world as her father worked in airport construction, including Netherlands, United States, Australia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, staying only a few years in each. Three years ago, she came to Hong Kong where her father was working on their International Airport to study for a master’s degree in business analytics at the University of Hong Kong, after playing collegiately in the States at Kennesaw State University in Georgia.
Bam Khatoon of Iran (in black) in action against Kitchee of Hong Kong on August 31 in Bhutan. Bam Khatoon won the match 2-0 to advance to the AFC Women’s Champions League.
The AFC Women’s Champions League Group Stage Finals will be held from October 6-12 with three groups of four teams. The AFC will provide each group stage participant with at least U.S. $100,000. The team that lifts the trophy takes home at least $1,300,000
Group A
Wuhan Jiangda of China
Incheon Red Angels of Korea Republic
Sabah of Malaysia
Abu Dhabi Country Club of UAE
Group B
Melbourne City of Australia
Kaya-Iloilo of Philippines
College of Asian Scholars of Thailand
Bam Khatoon of Iran
Group C
Urawa Red Diamonds of Japan
Ho Chi Minh City of Vietnam
Taichung Blue Whale of Taiwan
Odisha of India
The top two teams in each group and two best third place sides move on to knock out stage.
In the 2023-24 final edition of the previous AFC women’s Club Championship, an eight team tournament was held—with four team groups held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan and Chonburi, Thailand. Only the two group winners advanced to a one-game championship final, held in Saitama, Japan (a Tokyo suburb) where home side Urawa Red Diamonds defeated Incheon Red Devils in front of a crowd of 5,271.
This season in the expanded AFC Women’s Champions League, Urawa Red Diamonds are favored to repeat as continental club champions, while Incheon of Korea Republic should at least make the semifinals, along with Australia’s powerhouse Melbourne City.
Spain Wins Third Straight U-19 Euros:
Spain defeated the Netherlands 2-1 in the U-19 European Championship final to equal Germany’s record of three titles in a row. Intza Eguiguren (18) of Real Sociedad scored the winner two minutes before the end of extra time in Lithuania. It was Spain’s sixth victory in the competition and means they remain reigning champions in all FIFA and UEFA women’s youth tournaments. They did finish fourth in their first Olympic Games Final (see more in last week’s column: The Week in Women's Football: Olympics review; is it the end?; Marsch intervention in Canada drone storm - TribalFootball.com) but that has been an anomaly for the seniors, who won their first Women’s World Cup last summer and this year captured the first UEFA Nations League title.
Tim Grainey is a contributor to Tribal Football. His latest book Beyond Bend it Like Beckham on the global game of women’s football. Get your copy today. Follow Tim on X: @TimGrainey