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Group C
Australia: Sam Kerr
These days, there are few players in the world who inspire terror in opposing defenses like Australia’s Sam Kerr.
And Kerr very nearly didn’t even play the sport in which she is now one of the best in the world.
Kerr grew up playing the male-dominated sport of rugby.
Eventually, the boys she played with and against decided they didn’t want to get tackled by a girl, so she had to switch to a different sport — and every opposition defender at this summer’s Women’s World Cup will wish she had just stuck to rugby.
It didn’t take long for Kerr to become a dominant soccer player, making her Australia debut at the age of 15. Now 25, Kerr is a veteran with the Matildas and a legitimate superstar across the globe. A two-time Golden Boot winner in both the NWSL and Australia’s W-League, Kerr puts forth PlayStation-like performances.
Sam Kerr’s speed and strength honed playing rugby against the boys have been complemented by predatory finishing and delightful backflip celebrations. After scoring the goal that sent Australia to the 2019 Women’s World Cup, expect to see some more backflips in France this summer.
Italy: Cristiana Girelli
The Italian women’s national team, despite all the country’s history in the men’s game and having been one of the first nations to embrace women’s soccer, has never been a dominant force on the world’s stage.
Cristiana Girelli would like to change that.
Italy will be at the Women’s World Cup for the first time since 1999 and third time ever. Yes, the Italian men’s team has won more World Cups than the women’s team has competed in, something no other nation in the world can say outside of Uruguay, which has never been to a Women’s World Cup.
Girelli, a 29-year-old striker for back-to-back Serie A champion Juventus, was tied for second in scoring during UEFA Women’s World Cup qualifiers with seven goals. Vitally, she scored the winner in a home win over Belgium, which proved pivotal in earning the Azzurre an automatic ticket to France.
The Bianconera No. 10 also led Italy in scoring in Euro 2017 qualifiers before netting the winner in a 3-2 victory over Sweden at the tournament.
Alongside an up-and-coming side that includes the exciting 21-year-old Manuela Giugliano, the Azzurre could make a splash at an international tournament for the first time since finishing second at the 1993 Euros.
Brazil: Marta
To be honest, if you don’t know Marta by now, you haven’t been paying attention for the last 10 years.
Named the world player of the year six times — and runner-up another five — Marta is arguably the best footballer of the last 15 years, if not all time.
But she’s yet to get her team a major international title, and she’s out to change that this year.
Brazil has dominated South American women’s soccer, winning seven of eight Copa Ámericas. The one time the Seleção didn’t win, in 2006, Marta did not play.
But on the global stage, in the Women’s World Cup and the Olympics, Brazil has fallen short time after time.
During Marta’s international playing days since 2002, Brazil has finished second at the Women’s World Cup once and at the Olympics two times. Marta owns the record for most goals scored in Women’s World Cup history with 15, one more than Germany’s Birgit Prinz and the United States’ Abby Wambach, neither of whom will be competing this summer in France.
Now 33, Marta will be looking to make her fifth World Cup a memorable one. While she may no longer be the focal point of the Brazilian attack — Bia Zaneratto has taken the mantle as the primary goal scorer — Marta is still one of the most creative playmakers in the game.
And she still wants the one thing that’s eluded the most decorated individual player in women’s football history — a Women’s World Cup trophy.
Jamaica: Khadija Shaw
To say Jamaica’s Khadija Shaw has dealt with adversity would be the understatement of the year, akin to saying Abby Wambach was a decent goal scorer.
The youngest of 13, Shaw had seven brothers and five sisters — their father was a cobbler and their mother a poultry farmer. Initially forbidden from playing soccer with her brothers, her mother eventually relented, especially once she realized Khadija was drawing attention from the Jamaican national team.
Shaw left Jamaica to play college ball in the United States, first at Eastern Florida State College and then at the University of Tennessee. While her soccer career was budding, four of her brothers died, three to gang-related violence and the fourth in a car accident. While in junior college in 2016, two of her nephews died — one to a gunshot and the other to electrocution on a soccer field.
It was enough to make Shaw considering quitting the sport that allowed her to become the first member of her family to graduate from an American university.
But Shaw persevered, carried the Volunteers to their best season ever and in 2018 helped Jamaica qualify for its first ever Women’s World Cup. Shaw led Women’s World Cup qualifying with 19 goals in 12 matches and was named The Guardian’s 2018 Footballer of the Year.
Shaw combines a ruthless athleticism with a supreme sense of touch taught to her by her brother Kentardo, who wouldn’t let her play until she learned how to juggle the ball. Her goal scoring and will to overcome any adversity will make the Reggae Girlz a team to watch at this summer’s Women’s World Cup.
