Ajax midfielder Lily Yohannes turned the third-youngest goalscorer ever for the U.S. Girls’s Nationwide Crew, slotting house within the 82nd minute in a pleasant towards South Korea on Tuesday night time.
Yohannes has already made historical past simply by being on the sector for the match. When she entered the sector, the 16-year-old turned the youngest participant to make an look for the nationwide staff since 2001, and simply the eighth to make her debut earlier than turning 17. By scoring, she adopted solely Kristine Lilly and Tiffany Roberts because the youngest USWNT goalscorers.
“It’s a dream come true, actually,” Yohannes informed TNT Sports activities after the USWNT gained 3-0. “I performed the state of affairs out in my head I don’t know what number of instances earlier than. The help from my teammates all working as much as me simply made it that rather more particular.”
GO DEEPER
This isn’t final yr’s USWNT – Dunn and Yohannes’ objectives show it
How did Yohannes rating?
Whereas a pleasant cap doesn’t cap-tie a participant, seeing Lily Yohannes enter the sport within the 72′ was one other step within the staff’s ongoing post-World Cup refresh. She was given some freedom to float off of Sam Coffey, seeking to play within the wingers, which she regarded snug doing proper off the bat. At factors she was additionally requested to navigate across the venerable Ji So-yun, an enormous ask for a primary task, however an necessary one which demonstrated each a stage of belief and a stage of willingness to let Yohannes fly or fall on her personal deserves.
Yohannes picked “fly” by scoring her first aim, a calmly-placed shot that rolled proper beneath goalkeeper Kim Jung-mi.
Yohannes has written her identify into the document books, at simply 16 years and 358 days previous.
A DREAM DEBUT FOR LILY!!!!#USWNT x @VW pic.twitter.com/RWlOYpLSjj
— U.S. Girls’s Nationwide Soccer Crew (@USWNT) June 5, 2024
“Lily is a baller. From the day she got here into camp, she was simply making passes that you simply don’t see a 16-year-old make,” ahead Sophia Smith mentioned. “You don’t even see veteran gamers make these passes. She’s assured, she’s composed. We knew she was going to get into this sport hopefully, and he or she got here in and didn’t miss a beat.
“She regarded like a pure on the market, after which to get a aim on high of that’s wonderful and so effectively deserved.” — Steph Yang
Who’s Lily Yohannes?
Born in Springfield, Va., Yohannes spent her early childhood taking part in the sport alongside along with her brothers and father in a neighborhood of fellow Ethiopian and Eritrean expats. When the household moved to the Netherlands, Yohannes performed her approach into the Ajax ladies’s academy system, finally changing into a starter for the staff this season.
She performed in 20 matches this season, scoring 5 objectives with 4 assists and serving to Ajax attain the UEFA Girls’s Champions League quarterfinals, the place they fell to Emma Hayes’ Chelsea.
“She’s like probably the most mature 16 yr previous I’ve ever met,” USWNT midfielder Rose Lavelle mentioned on Tuesday. “I really feel like she’s extra mature than me actually. She’s been so spectacular. I informed her, ‘I’ll at all times bear in mind my one hundredth cap as a result of it was Lily’s first cap and her first aim.’
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(Photograph: Brad Smith / ISI Images / USSF / Getty Pictures)
