This week we review the 40 teams in 10 groups in the 2017/18 Women's Champions League Qualifying Round, with 11 moving on to the Round of 32 later next month. We also present the Republic of Ireland's roster for their derby World Cup Qualifier later this month away to Northern Ireland.
Women's Champions League Qualifying Round Review
Some in the women's football media feel that the 40 team Women's Champions League Qualifying Round warrants scant interest, since 29 of the teams will not advance and are from countries that have a very slight chance of advancing and who have made little impact on the European women's football stage, such as: Azerbaijan, the Faroe Islands, Luxembourg, Malta, Northern Ireland and Slovenia.
However, closer inspection of the rosters reveals some very interesting imports from other countries, some with very distinguished pedigrees, while others are trying to make their mark in Europe—what they have in common are very interesting stories. We will feature of few of these players from America and Africa as we review the groups. In addition, eight teams fielded players that featured in this summer's Euro Finals in the Netherlands, including Ajax (the Netherlands), Standard (Belgium), Sturm Graz (Austria), Zürich (Switzerland), Hibernian (Scotland), Stjarnan (Iceland), Sporting CP (Portugal) and Avaldsnes (Norway).
Eleven teams made their Women's Champions League debut this season: Ajax (the Netherlands), Olmpija Ljubljana (Slovenia), Sporting CP (Portugal), WFC-2 Kharkiv (Ukraine), Shelbourne (Republic of Ireland), Kiryat Gat (Israel), Partizán Bardejov (Slovakia), Linfield (Northern Ireland), Istatov (Macedonia), Bettembourg (Luxembourg) and Martve (Georgia), with Ajax the only team surviving the group stage to play again in October. On the other side, Zürich (Switzerland) and BIIK-Kazygurt (Kazakhstan) both reached the round of 16 last season and repeated the feat in this campaign.
The ten group winners and the runner-up from the ten groups with the best record against teams finishing first and third in the group advance to meet 21 clubs given byes to the Round of 32, which begins play on a two-legged knockout format in October.
The teams that had byes to the next round include:
Lyon (FRA, holders)
Wolfsburg (GER)
FC Rosengård (SWE)
Barcelona (ESP)
Fortuna Hjørring (DEN)
Bayern München (GER)
Brøndby (DEN)
Rossiyanka (RUS)
Manchester City (ENG)
Glasgow City (SCO)
Zvezda-2005 (RUS)
Brescia (ITA)
Slavia Praha (CZE)
Sparta Praha (CZE)
Linköping (SWE)
Chelsea (ENG)
Montpellier (FRA)
LSK Kvinner (NOR)
St. Pölten (AUT)
Atlético Madrid (ESP)
Fiorentina (ITA)
Qualifying round 10 group review (matches August 22-28, 2017)
Group 1
Gintra Universitetas of Siauliai, Lithuania and Konak Belediyespor of Izmir, Turkey entered the last match day tied at the top of the table with 6 points after the end of the first two games in Group 1, facing off for the automatic berth to the round of 32 on August 28. A 0-0 tie gave the next stage berth to the Lithuanian side by the narrowest of margins as both sides finished with 7 points, advancing with a 10-9 goal difference advantage over Konak, who must rue the goal that they surrendered against third place Partizán Bardejov of Slovakia (3 points).
Gintra Universitetas has always been a strong importer from abroad and this season had Christina Murillo Ruiz of Mexico (24), who was born in the States, played at the University of Michigan, and then this past summer for expansion side Motor City FC in Detroit of the UWS, before moving to Lithuania. Toriana Patterson of Jamaica (23) was also born in the U.S. but played on various youth teams for Jamaica and at the University of Connecticut.
Farther afield the club has an experienced import from Namibia. Forward Zenatha Coleman (23) moved from local side Brave Gladiators and joined the club in 2016 with Thomalina Adams (who played last season in Lithuania after some time in Germany with Bochum but did not re-sign for the club). Coleman's interview about her long distance transfer to Northern Europe for a Lithuanian newspaper was republished at home in the Namibia Sun. She started playing when she was quite young, including against boys as she grew older, which can be difficult for some young women in Africa, going against a common perception that they should not play such an aggressive sport, much less with males: "I started playing soccer since age six. All my family members played soccer: grandfather, mother, uncle. Once I was sitting in the street and saw the boys playing. Since then, and I decided to start playing, throughout my school career, I played with the boys. Playing with them was not difficult, because everyone knew that I am from a family of footballers." She went onto explain that it was not easy to find a club abroad because: "We do not have a lot of good football players. Our football is still growing. Playing abroad is a great privilege and an honour, because you represent your country." Namibia was a successful host of the 2014 African Women's Championships, which put her on the radar of scouts. She is motivated by her young son back home: "I have a young son, who is four years old. He always says to me: 'Mom, you have to go play, do not worry about me.' Being without him is difficult but you need to adapt." Some of her future goals include helping her national team to improve and playing in England: "I would like for the Namibian national team to break into the world championship. The dream would be to play in the Olympics. I hope that after one more season here I will have the opportunity to go to play in England—that is my dream." Coleman scored 3 goals in the three games in Tbilisi, Georgia during her side's triumph in this season's WCL Qualifying Tournament. If she keeps up that scoring rate, a move to a more established league should be forthcoming.
Other imports for Gintra include Ana Alekperova of Azerbaijan, who has won multiple titles with the club over the past half dozen campaigns. The Lithuanian champions also have two Serbians, one Ukrainian and one from Belarus on the squad. This year marks the side's 12th consecutive appearance in the Women's Champions League, but only the second time they have made the Round of 32; in 2014-15 they advanced to the Round of 16, falling to Brondby of Denmark 5-2 on aggregate.
Turkey's Konak Belediyespor is more of a home grown side than Gintra Universitetas, but they did have a few imports: midfielder Valeria Pankratova of Russia 22, who played with CSKA last year, midfielder Raluca Monica Sarghe, a long-term player from Romania (30) along with forward Cosmina Dusa (27) also of Romania, and Esther Sunday of Nigeria (25), who previously played at Minsk in Belarus. Turkish international Kader Hancar scored 6 goals over the 3 games, including a hat trick against Partizan Badezov, and she was the leading scorer in the competition during the Qualifying stage.
Partizán Bardejov of Slovakia had two Serbians supporting their home-based side, and the hosts Martve, a Women's Champions League debutant of Georgia and the first Georgian team since 2010/11 to compete in the continental competition, had four imports from Eastern Europe—two from Azerbaijan, one from Ukraine and one from Armenia. Martve finished last with 0 points 0 goals and 14 goals allowed.
Group 2
Olimpia Cluj of Romania hosted Group 2 and entered the last game on August 28 with a two point advantage over Hibernian Ladies (6 points to 4 points). Cluj won the group with 7 points after a 0-0 tie with the Scottish side, who finished with five points just ahead of WFC-2 Kharkiv of the Ukraine (4 points). The Romanian side made the Round of 32 for the fourth time in seven consecutive seasons in which they have participated, with their best effort in 2012-13 when they fell to Verona in the Round of 16. Cluj had an all Romanian roster except for two Americans: goalkeeper Jillian McVicker (23), who played last year at Ohio State University and missed much of her senior season after suffering a lacerated kidney, broken rib and punctured lung; she made 18 starts as a junior. She played all 3 games for Cluj, surrendering 1 goal in the Qualifying Round. Forward Hanna Leinert 22, who played 2 years at Illinois State University before finishing at Purdue University in Lafayette, Indiana, signed in June. She had 36 career goals and 21 assists—27 with ISU—she also had her senior season cut short with an injury (to her knee). She played all 3 group games for Cluj. The club's two leading scorers were both young Romanians: 20-year-old midfielder Cristina Carp and 22-year-old Romanian national team member Alexandra Lunca 22, who both scored twice.
Hibernian Ladies FC's roster was entirely from Scotland. WFC-2 Kharkiv of the Ukraine also used all local players and had some veterans in forward Vira Diatel (33)—
she reached the 2009 Champions League Final with Zvezda Perm of Russia and played for a short time with Linkopings in Sweden and in Spain with Sporting de Huelva—
midfielder Olena Khodyreva (36)—whoplayed in Russia with Nadezhda Noginsk and Zvezda Perm—and defender Iryna Vasylyuk (32)—who also played in Russia and in Poland with Medyk Konin—the three were the side's oldest players. However, their leading scorer was one of their youngest squad members, 18 year old midfielder Tetiana Polyukhovych, who has played internationally with Ukraine at the U-17 and U-19 levels; she scored three goals in the three group matches.
Swansea City Ladies, with finished last in Group 2 with 0 points, 0 goals scored and 16 surrendered, had only two non-Welsh players: goalkeeper Kate Brisland (24) of England, who went to Cardiff Metropolitan University in Wales, and defender Pam Pelders (17), who was born in the Netherlands but grew up in Wales.
Group 3
Ajax of the Netherlands faced Standard Liege of Belgium in the final match of Group 3 on August 28, held in Estonia, with both sides even with six points, WCL debutants Ajax won emphatically 3-0, with two goals from captain Desiree Van Lunteren. Ajax had five players from this summer's Netherlands 2017 European title winners: Desiree van Lunteren, Stefanie van der Gragt, Sisca Folkertsma, Kelly Zeeman and Liza van der Most. Ajax had two imports from Spain and two from Belgium along with Nigerian/American forward Antoinette Oyedupe Payne (22), who is in her second year in the Dutch league and formerly played at Duke and for the U.S. in the U-17 Women's World Cup in Azerbaijan in 2012. She was a member of the U.S. U-23 team before deciding to play for Nigeria at the senior level—the country of her parents. She was drafted by FC Kansas City as the thirteenth selection (second round) in this year's draft but opted to go to Europe.
She explained her move earlier this year with TopDrawerSoccer.com: "For me I'd say the environment of it all and the perceived passion of the community and the love for the game. And also a different sense of professionalism just depending on what club you're with. I think just being able to have the opportunities like, for me and I would assume most women watch European men's leagues, and to be able to play at that type of level for a woman I think is a really good opportunity and really cool, and something I think I've wanted to do since I was a little girl." The fact that Ajax Women's side is part of the legendary men's team was also important to her: "I think you can mostly see a sense of more professionalism when it's paired with the men's teams. Unfortunately that's the case, but I think in terms of being more financially stable in terms of a club, it definitely helps." Payne had one goal during the week-long tournament.
For Standard Liege (6 points), their only import was Sanne Schoenmakers of the Netherlands, along with their coach Hamide Ait-Ahmed Lamara of France (43), who guided the club to the Belgium league crown in 2016-17. The other two sides were from the Balkans: Group 3 hosts Parnu Jalgpalliklubi of Estonia (3 points) had an import each from the Ukraine and Belarus, while Rigas FS Futbola Skola of Latvia (0 points, 0 goals for, 16 goals against) was an entirely home-based side.
Group 4
Medyk Konin of Poland won Group 4 and advanced to the WCL Round of 32 with a 2-1 victory over PK-35 Vantaa of Finland on August 28, coming back to score 2 goals in the last 11 minutes to offset PK-35 Vantaa's (Finland) lead gained late in the first half from Finnish international forward Sanni Franssi. Medyk Konin entered the last game tied for 4 points with Vantaa, with each defeating Linfield of Northern Ireland while Shelbourne of the Republic of Ireland had two ties against the two teams. The Finnish side finished third with 4 points while Shelbourne leap-frogged them to finish second with 5 points, going undefeated after beating their Northern neighbors and group 4 hosts Linfield 3-1 in an Irish derby in the last game on August 28; Linfield finished with 0 points, 2 goals for and 8 against. Linfield used an all-Irish squad.
Medyk Konin of Poland had three imports from North America among eight in total, with two from Romania, a pair from Belarus and one from Romania. American Goalkeeper Emily Dolan (23) came from Florida Gulf Coast University in Ft. Myers Florida; she played all three matches and only conceded two goals. Defender Casidee Lynch is another American (23) and played at St Mary's University in Moraga, California; she scored 1 goal during the week. Brittany Kindzeirski (26) of Canada, who played at UTEP (University of Texas-El Paso) and has been as assistant coach for four years at the University of Alberta, scored one goal in the group matches. Medyk Konin is competing in its fourth consecutive year in the Champions League, and has made it from the Qualifying Round to the Round of 32 each year.
PK-35 Vantaa (FIN) used all Finnish players except for Ashley Riefner of the U.S, who played at the University of Richmond and scored 13 goals and 18 assists in 73 matches in her four seasons. Reifner played in two of the Women's Champions League Group matches. This is the first time in five attempts that Vantaa did not make it out of the Qualifying Stage to the Round of 32.
Shelbourne, like Vantaa utilized all local players (from the Republic of Ireland) except for one American—forward Gloria Douglas, who played for Roa in Norway in 2014 then Iga FC Kunoichi in Japan before heading to the Emerald Isle. Douglas was a U-18 U.S. international and tallied 22 goals and 15 assists in four years at the University of Virginia. She played in all 3 games in Group 4.
Group 5
Host Apollon of Cyprus won the group undefeated with 9 points and 14 goals scored versus 1 surrendered. Sturm Graz of Austria and Apollon both entered the final match with 2 wins but Apollon won the crucial tie 4-1. Apollon had as always a large collection of internationals. Goalkeeper Libby Stout (27) played 10 games last season with the NWSL Boston Breakers, averaging a 2.10 goals against average, but had a miniscule 0.33 average by allowing only 1 goal in 3 WCL matches. She previously was with Liverpool in England, Cloppenburg in Germany and Yzeure Allier in France after playing college at the University of Louisville. Ex-Florida State University and American midfielder Michaela Hahn won a NWSL title last year as a rookie with the Western New York Flash but was waived in preseason by the North Carolina Courage; after some time with Seattle Reign she left for Apollon this summer. She also played in all three Group matches.
Along with the two Americans, there are pairs from four other countries, just like Noah's Ark, which some coaches like to do so that their imports have someone they can communicate with in their native language to assist with their transition to the new club and country. Apollon had two imports from Sweden: defender Julia Molin (27), who played at AIK and Kristianstad at home and scored 2 goals in the Qualifications Round and Teresa Bjork (35). There are two players from Greece: Danai-Eleni Sidira (26) is a Greek international midfielder that has been with the club for four years and Kyriaki Kynossidou. They have two signings from Italy—sort of: Italian/Canadian Alyssa Lagonia (28) scored 2 goals in the tournament. She played a few games for the senior national team Canada in 2009 and has played in Italy, England (Doncaster Rovers Belles in 2012), Austria and now Cyprus. Martina Capelli (25) has played in Germany, Spain, at home in Italy and in the semiprofessional WPSL, with OSA of Seattle. Finally, there are two imports from England: Rosella Ayane (21), an ex-Chelsea reserve and English youth international who also played with Millwall, Bristol City and Everton, was second among all 40 teams in the scorers table with 5 goals in the Qualifying Round, along with Ashleigh Bullock (21), who is in her second year in Cyprus.
Apollon also had one import from Hungary: Loretta Nemeth (21), a prolific scorer at home with Gyori ETO, who just moved abroad for this season, and one from Romania, with forward Laura Rus being a notable signing. She has played around the world in Denmark, Spain, Cyprus and South Korea and is a guiding light for a vastly improving Romanian National Team, who narrowly lost to Portugal last year in a play-in for a final Euros 2017 spot. She scored 3 goals in the Qualifying Round. Experienced Apollon, who have played in the last 9 consecutive Women's Champions League, has now advanced to the Round of 32 in 7 of the last 8 seasons.
Second place Sturm Graz (6 points) had all Austrians except for two players: American midfielder Emily Cancienne (25), who played at Louisiana State University and has been with Sturm Graz for two years; she scored one goal which was the winner in a 3-1 win over NSA of Bulgaria. Sturm Graz also has forward Modesta Uka from Kosovo. FC NSA Sofia (BUL) finished third with 3 points and fielded an entire roster of Bulgarians except for 25-year-old Macedonian international goalkeeper Viktorija Doneva. Noroc Nimoreni of Moldova finished last with 0 points, 0 goals for and 11 surrendered and used all home based players. This was their third Champions League appearance since 2012-13 and they have yet to advance to the Round of 32, and have scored only 2 goals against 50 goals conceded.
Group 6
The surprise of the Qualifying Stage had to be ZFK Minsk of Belarus, who advanced to the Round of 32 on goal difference over FC Zurich of Switzerland. Both teams entered the final game tied on 6 points, but Minsk had a superior goal difference of +13 vs. + 6, which held up after the team's 0-0 draw on August 28. ZFK Minsk (7 points) destroyed Birkikara of Malta 8-0 and Olimpija Ljubljana of Slovenia 5-0, while Zurich (7 points) defeated the Slovenian hosts by only a 2-1 score on the first day. FC Zurich also advanced as the second best placed team in the 10 groups. Olimpija Ljubjana of Slovenia finished third (3 points) after a last match narrow win over Birkirkara of Malta 1-0.
Minsk has a young squad with 9 players 22 of age or younger. Two imports from Ghana contributed: defender Faustina Ampah (20)--played in 3 games—and midfielder Ernestina Abambila (18)—had 1 goal in 2 games. Defender Alvine Njolle (23) from Cameroon played all three matches. Young Ukrainian defender Lyubov Shmatko (23) played all three matches while Ukrainian international midfielder Tamila Khimich (22) had four goals as did Anna Pilipenko (28) of Belarus. Minsk has competed in the Champions League for the last four seasons, and advanced to the Round of 32 in the last three campaigns.
The Zürich side was all Swiss-based except for 18-year-old midfielder Federica Cavicchia, who was born in Switzerland but plays for Italy at the U-19 level, and 26-year-old forward Sara Krisztin of Hungary, who has also played in and won a league title in Slovakia. Olimpija Ljubljana had all of their players from Slovenia except Bojana Ratkovic (20), a goalkeeper from Serbia who did not play as 37-year-old Slovenian Jadranka Zilic was preferred in all three matches. For fourth place Birkirkara, all of their players were from Malta except defender Jelana Sakic (24) from Serbia.
Group 7
Stjarnan of Iceland won Group 7 on 9 points after defeating hosts Osijek of Croatia 1-0 in their final match, though a tie would have sent them through as well as they entered the game with a huge goal difference over the Croatians (+20 vs +10). The Icelandic side dominated the group with 21 goals (7 more than the next best scoring side Apollon in Group) and shutout their opponents in all 3 matches. They have made the Round of 32 in four WCL appearances, advancing from the Qualifying Round in their last two attempts (this season and in 2015-16). Scottish international goalkeeper Gemma Fay (35) backstopped her national team at their debut Euros in the Netherlands earlier this summer and recently retired at the international level, finishing with a record 203 caps. Fay played mostly at home with Celtic and Glasgow City, though she did have time in England with Leeds and Brighton and Hove Albion. She recorded 3 shutouts for the winners. Other imports include defender Ana Cate (26), a native of Florida who played at Auburn University but has played internationally for Nicaragua for seven years. American Lorina White (23) played at Ball State in Indiana and was named Mid-American Conference Defender of the Year for both her junior and senior year; she had one goal in the Qualifying Round matches. Kim Dolstra 28 of the Netherlands played with Verona in Italy and at home with ADO Den Haag.
Midfield Imen Troudi of Tunisia won the league championships in Tunisia at Association Sportive Feminine du Sahel and played in the now defunct North American W-League with Amiral SC de Quebec. She then played for five years in the United Arab Emirates. In the next few weeks, we will feature an interview with Troudi on her interesting career and her hopes for her side to advance further in the Champions League. Forward Donna Henry, who was raised in the U.S. in New York but plays internationally for Jamaica, has played professionally—primarily in Iceland but also in Switzerland with Neunkirch—had 5 goals while Gudmunda Oladottir of Iceland (23) had 4 goals.
Osijek of Croatia had only one import in 20-year-old Antonela Radeljic, a Bosnia-Herzegovina international. Osijek is a veteran of the European Club Championships, with 14 appearances since 2001-02. When they have had to play in the Qualifying Rounds, they have advanced only 3 times out of 12, with the latest being a Round of 32 appearance in 2014-15.
KÍ Klaksvík of the Faroe Islands lost 9-0 to Stjarnan of Iceland 9-0 in the battle of North Atlantic nations (2 years ago in the same stage, they lost 4-0 to the Iceland side). Klaksvik are the only side to qualify for all 17 European Women's Champions League competitions but has not advanced out of the Preliminary Round for 9 consecutive years. Their lone import was 29 year old goalkeeper Ana Ivanov of Serbia. Klaksvik beat SC Istatov of Macedonia 6-1 in their last match.
SC Istatov used all local players from Macedonia, with all 25 on the roster between the ages of 15 to 23. They scored 1 but let in 24, the most of any side in the Qualifying Round and 7 more than second-best Swansea Ladies in Group 2. With such a young group it was a struggle but certainly is a learning experience for the Macedonian side that they can hopefully build upon.
Group 8
BIIK-Kazygurt of Kazakhstan, who last year advanced to the Round 16, entered their last group game against host MTK Hungaria of Hungary with a 3 point advantage and won the crucial decider 3-0 to clinch advancement. Hungária finished third on 3 points, while Sporting of Portugal finished second on 6 points, with a narrow 2-1 loss to BIIK the difference between making the Round of 32 and going home. Hajvalia was Kosovo's WCL representative for the second year in a row, since Kosovo was accepted into UEFA. Last season Hajvalia gained two points in their three games, holding PAOK of Greece and Klaksvik of the Faroe Islands to draws but this year lost all three games and scored 1 goal and allowed 7.
BIIK is in their 11th European Club Championship and has advanced to at least the Round of 32 for the fourth consecutive season under former FC Indiana (WPSL/W-League) assistant coach Kaloyan Petkov, who doubles as the Kazakhstan national women's team head coach. BIIK, as always, has a number of imports from around the world. They have two Americans: defender Brooke Dunigan US (22), who played at Stephen F. Austin University in Texas, and midfielder Kaelyn Korte (23), who played at Central Michigan University after one year at Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska.
From Cameroon, they have defender Josephine Ngandi and midfielder Annette Jacky Messomo, who has played in the Czech Republic, Serbia, Germany and Slovakia before joining BIIK last season—internationally Messomo is tied to Equatorial Guinea. Russian defender Kristina Mashkova played in the WCL Round of 32 with Zorky of Russia in 2015-16. Defender Darya Kravets of the Ukraine played with Mashova at Zorky. Forward Gulnara Gabelia (32) is a Georgian international and tallied 3 goals in the Qualification games. Charity Adule of Nigeria (23) joined BIIK in 2014 and is a full Nigerian international and also played in the 2010 (Germany) and 2012 (Japan) U-20 World Cups. She scored one goal last week. Chinwendu Ihezuo of Nigeria (20) is also a full international and played at the 2014 U-20 World Cup in Canada; she tallied 2 goals in 3 matches. Kyrgyzstan international forward Alina Litvinenko (21) has played in the Champions league for BIIK since the 2014-15 season.
Sporting Lisbon's Portuguese international Ana Liete—who scored the winner in their EURO 2017 2-1 win over Scotland—tied for the team lead for goals in the WCL matches with two, along with Diana Silva and Tatiana Pinto, who both were also on the Portuguese national squad this summer at the European Championship Finals in the Netherlands.
Sporting recently signed 21-year-old American midfielder Carlyn Baldwin, who spent the first half of the year with the BSC Young Boys of Switzerland's top division, the Nationalliga A. Baldwin played in two WCL games for her new side and the former 2014 U.S. U-20 World Cup team member played at University of Tennessee, where she left after her junior year to play professionally in Europe. This is still a rarity among Americans as they typically finish their collegiate careers—many of whom have been provided full tuition waivers for five years even though they have four years of athletic eligibility, allowing them ample time to complete their degrees—but if Baldwin continues to succeed with a rapidly improving Sporting team, no doubt there will be others who will leave college early for Europe.
She explained her decision in a school press release last year: "This was a very tough decision but I really want to be a full-time player, and I'm so thankful BSC has given me this opportunity. I'm so thankful for the team at Tennessee and the support they have given me during this process. I will miss everyone at Tennessee and I hope to make the program proud during this next chapter of my career." Bladwin then explained her decision in more depth to Jennifer Gordon of Equalizer Soccer: "I mean it was a tough decision but ultimately, I want to play soccer full time. That's always been my dream as a player to be able to fully dedicate myself to my development and I explained that to the staff, to my team there (and) they were extremely supportive."
In the spring of 2014, Baldwin trained with Olympique Lyon and considered skipping college and going straight to the professional ranks at that time, joining Lindsey Horan and Mallory Pugh as the highest profile players to do that. After her time in Lyon, Baldwin spoke with Horan—who gave up a full scholarship at powerhouse University of North Carolina to play at Paris St. Germain and is now with the Portland Thorns and a full international—and U.S. Technical Director (and former U.S. women's national team head coach) April Heinrichs about the possibility of going pro. In the end, she joined the University of Tennessee: "College athletics is great, being a student athlete is great, being able to play a sport and get your education at the same time is something really special, but for me, at least at this time, it's about fully dedicating myself to my development. I know I grew tremendously there from the coaching staff and all players but I just thought it was kind of next step in my career." Baldwin, who also considered signing with JIF United in Japan when she went to Switzerland, scored 6 goals and 4 assists in three seasons at Tennessee.
Other imports at Sporting include forward Carolina Venegas (25), a World Cup and Pan Am Games player in 2015 for Costa Rica; she played 3 games in the WCL tournament. Venegas also played in the States in the UWS with Santa Clarita Blue Heat—league finalists this summer—and before that with Madrid CFF in 2015-16. She is a proven goalscorer and should do well in the Portuguese League (1A Divisao Women).
MTK Hungaria finished with 3 points and utilized all local players. Hajvalia of Kosovo finished in fourth with 0 points, 1 goal for and 7 against. The squad has 14 players from Kosovo and 5 Albanians—the countries are close ethnically and historically. They had two other imports: American goalkeeper Audrey Baldwin from Texas A&M University at Corpus Christi, who has played in Iceland, Denmark and Portugal. She conceded 7 goals in their 3 group games. Defender Ugne Smitaite is a Lithuania international who won four titles with Gintra and is a lawyer in her home country; she joined Hajvalia this summer.
Group 9
Avaldsnes of Norway entered the last group match on August 9 with another tight battle between a Nordic nation and an Eastern European side making strides—ZFK Spartak Subotica of Serbia—as we saw in Group 7. This is Alvaldsnes' second consecutive year playing in the WCL and they again made the Round of 32—last season they lost to Lyon 10-2 on aggregate—advancing on August 28 with a 2-0 win over Spartak, who finished second with 6 points with 13 goals for and 3 against. For Spartak, Serbian international forward Marija Radojicic (who also has played in Austria and Iceland along with four sides in Serbia), and fellow international Violeta Slovic, both had 3 goals. Spartak Subotica also had midfielder Alexandra Bruch of Canada, who played for the Calgary Foothills UWS side this summer.
The expansion franchise in Alberta finished second in their division to Santa Clarita Blue Stars; Bruch said about her time with the Calgary side; "It was an excellent group of players and a high-intensity training environment that kept me fit and challenged me to raise my game." Bruch played all three games in the group stage. Other imports for Spartak were Dorine Chuigoue (28), an Equatorial Guinea international who was born in Cameroon; she finished the Qualifying Stage with 2 goals. The side also included Marcela of Brazil and forward Simona Krstanovska of Macedonia, who transferred to the side in 2016, and went onto win the Serbian Super LIga Zene and make it into the Qualifying Stage for the European Champions League, after missing it in 2016-17. Spartak has made the WCL in six of seven seasons since 2011-12, making the Round of 32 on three occasions.
Avaldsnes had seven imports, including three Australian internationals, midfielders Gema Simon (Newcastle Jets) who had 3 goals, up-and-coming star Chloe Logarzo (Newcastle Jets and Eskilstuna in Sweden in 2016) who had 2 goals, along with forward Emily Gielnek (Brisbane Roar and Liverpool in 2012) who had 2 goals in her 3 games in the Qualifying Stage. The Norwegian club also has three Brazilians: defender Daine (3 games and 1 goal), midfielder Luana (2 games 1 goal) and midfielder Francielle (27)—who played in WPS and was due to play with the Boston Breakers in the NWSL in 2015 but then Brazil created a full-time residency camp for training ahead of the Women's World Cup and Olympics; she also played in 2015 in Stjarnan in Iceland and last season for Corinthians in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Francielle played all three games in the Qualifying Stage. American goalkeeper Katie Fraine is in her first season in Norway and played 3 games and surrendered only 1 goal; she has played in Sweden with Vittsjo and during the 2014 and 2015 seasons with Linkoping, after playing with WPS Atlanta Beat in 2011. Avaldnes has never won the Norwegian title, finishing second on two occasions—in 2015 and 2016—but at the halfway stage this season they have a one point lead at the top of the table over Lillestrom.
Women's Champions League debutants and Group 9 hosts Breznica Pljevlja of Montenegro had 1 point with 3 goals for 10 against, notching an historic point after a 2-2 tie with Maccabi Kiryat Gat of Israel. Breznica had 5 imports in their side: 4 Serbians and 1 Croatian.
Maccabi Kiryat Gat of Israel finished with 1 point with 5 goals for and 15 against. Maccabi had two Brazilians: goalkeeper Raissa (26), who played in 3 games and surrendered 15 goals in the Champions League Qualifying Round, defender Zizi of Brazil (32) and midfielder Adailma (21), who both also played in all three matches. Forward Danielle Schulmann (27) came this season from the U.S. and played last season in the NWSL with Sky Blue FC; she scored 3 goals in 3 games in the Qualifying Round. Romanian midfielder Andreea Laiu (31) played for years for Apollon in Cyprus and also appeared in all three WCL matches for the Israeli side.
Group 10
PAOK Thessaloniki (GRE) had a three point advantage over hosts SFK 2000 Sarajevo before meeting them in the final game on August 28; PAOK defeated the Bosnian-Herzegovina side 3-0 to top the group with 9 points (12 goals for and 0 against) while Vllaznia of Albania finished second with 6 points, with 3 goals and 1 against. Sarajevo finished third on 3 points and Bettembourg of Luxembourg fourth with 0 points (0 goals for and 13 against).
For PAOK, midfielder Eleni Giannou (23) of Cyprus, who has been with the side for two years, formerly played at home with Apollon. Forward Elena Dimitrijevic of Serbia won league titles six times for PAOK since 2010-11 and scored 2 goals in the WCL Qualifying stage. Seventeen-year-old Efthimia Brame of Albania also had 2 goals. The leading scorer was Dimitra Panteliadou of Greece with 3 goals; she played with the Olympic Team when they hosted the 2004 Athens Games, while Greek forward Thomai Vadali had 2 WCL tallies.
KS Vllaznia (ALB) had four imports, 2 from Montenegro, 1 from Serbia and American forward Kristina Maksuti, who scored one of her side's three goals in the Qualifying Stage. She scored 30 goals and 14 assists in her career at Fordham University in New York, with injuries causing her to lose almost two full seasons.
Sarajevo of Bosnia Herzegovina had one import, Jasna Djokovic, who is a Montenegrin international, and played previously in the Champions League with home side Ekonomist Niksic.
Bettembourg of Luxemborg had seven players from Portugal on the roster along with one each from Spain (Katarina Darrosa—22) and Germany (Nathalie Kettenhofen—37).
Head Coach Colin Bell names Republic of Ireland Squad for World Cup Qualifying Derby with Northern Ireland.
Republic of Ireland Women's National Team coach Colin Bell named 20 players to face Northern Ireland in the first European World Cup Qualifying match on Tuesday September 19 at Mourneview Park, Lurgan, Northern Ireland. Bell, a native of Leicester, England, spent most of his playing career in Germany's Second Tier and as a coach, mostly in Germany with women's sides. He took Frankfurt to a Frauen Bundesliga title in 2014 and Women's Champions League title in 2015 and also coached Alvaldsnes in Norway. He was appointed as the national team boss of Ireland in February of this year.
Nine of the players are home based in the Continental Tyres Women's National League, six play in England, and one each come from France, Germany, Northern Ireland, Scotland and the U.S. Niamah Fahey recently transferred from Chelsea to the French Feminine Division 1. Florida State University Seminoles midfielder Megan Connolly is not in the squad as she is competing in their collegiate season this fall. Three players have received their first senior call-ups: UCD Waves defender Claire Walsh and Maiden City midfielder Tyler Toland and Peamount United striker Amber Barrett.
At press time, Northern Ireland has not released their squad yet for the match. TribalFootball.com will update readers when it is announced.
Republic of Ireland WNT squad v Northern Ireland
Goalkeepers: Marie Hourihan (Manchester City—England), Amanda Budden (Cork City WFC), Amanda McQuillan (Shelbourne Ladies).
Defenders: Harriet Scott (Reading WFC—England), Megan Campbell (Manchester City—England), Sophie Perry (Brighton and Hove Albion—England), Diane Caldwell (SC Sand—Germany), Louise Quinn (Arsenal—England), Claire Walsh (UCD Waves).
Midfielders: Niamh Fahey (Bordeaux—France), Karen Duggan (UCD Waves), Denise O'Sullivan (North Carolina Courage—USA), Stephanie Roche (Sunderland—England), Roma McLaughlin (Shelbourne Ladies), Tyler Toland (Maiden City—Northern Ireland).
Forwards: Katie McCabe (Glasgow City—Scotland), Leanne Kiernan (Shelbourne Ladies), Heather Payne (Peamount United), Amber Barrett (Peamount United), Aine O'Gorman (UCD Waves).
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 Twitter: @TimGrainey
