On Women’s Football Tour

  Hope Solo – Where Silence Stops She didn’t just guard the goal. She dared the world to shoot. Every save was a sentence. Every glare, a warning. They say goalkeepers live in isolation. Hope Solo ruled that exile like a kingdom. She played not just with hands and reflexes, but with defiance, instinct, pride. The record books remember the clean sheets. But those who watched remember the presence. The walk. The eyes. The gravity she brought. She wasn’t always understood. But greatness rarely is. She spoke when others stayed silent. She stood when others flinched. And when the world blinked — Hope didn’t. She was more than a goalkeeper. She was a warning. And a promise. That no matter how dark the moment, someone will always rise to meet it.

  Julie Ertz  The Wall With a Pulse Not just a defender. A presence. A pulse behind every clearance, a roar behind every set piece, a shadow that strikers dreaded. She didn’t just play the game. She pressed it to the edge of its limits. From 2015 to 2019, she was the heartbeat of a team that feared no one. In Canada, she was the wall. In France, she was the spine. Always first to put her body where others flinched. And yet — she danced. She laughed. She carried her child onto the field. She reminded the world: You can be steel and soft. Fierce and full of grace. Julie Ertz didn’t just defend. She inspired. And now, the silence after her farewell — isn’t empty. It echoes. Because legends leave shape. And Julie left hers in gold.  

Give Her a Mural. Get Salma. (And Never Forget Who Chelsea Really Is) Chelsea stands at a crossroads. The club that rose to dominance by making bold calls, by refusing to put any one name above the collective, now faces a defining question: Do we stay loyal to yesterday, or do we build tomorrow? Sam Kerr. Legend. Finisher. Icon. But also: injuries, age, and a comeback that – as much as we all hope – might never reach the same level again. Even assuming she returns at full strength is already an optimistic take. And yet the assumption lingers: “She’s Sam, so she starts.” That’s dangerous thinking. Because the future has already knocked – not quietly, but with power and purpose. Enter Aggie Beever-Jones. English. Young. Clinical. Smart movement, ice-cold finishing, born in Chelsea blue. A striker with the potential to become England’s greatest ever. She’s no prospect anymore — she’s the real deal. And if Chelsea benches her to make way for a returning Kerr, what message d...

 Ach… ’t was te verwachten. Niet goed genoeg. Maar laat ons eerlijk zijn: wie dacht nu écht dat we hier gingen winnen? We moeten dit toernooi bekijken zoals de Schotten dat op tornooien doen. Met realisme, met zelfspot, met pinten in de hand. Drie matchen. Drie dagen feest. En als we ergens een puntje pakken, is het bonus. Niet omdat we geen ambitie mogen hebben — maar omdat dromen mooier zijn als je ze niet forceert. Supporter niet omdat je denkt dat we Europees kampioen worden. Supporter omdat je van die kleuren houdt, van de verhalen, van de meisjes op dat veld. En omdat ze, hoe hard het vandaag ook was, wél alles geven wat ze in zich hebben. Maar sportief? Nee. Not good enough. En dat mogen we zeggen. Zeker als we er daarna ook weer staan. En we blijven het herhalen… Zonder betere competitie… Zal dit nooit veranderen. Niet nu. Niet over 30 jaar. Dan volgt die degradatie uit de hoogste groep van de Nations League toch eens een keer. En op termijn speel je zelfs ...

 My Moments with Legends 41-50 Volume 41: Sara Thunebro No Headlines. Just Excellence. You don’t win games just by flair. You win them by people like Sara Thunebro . Quiet. Relentless. Smart. She didn’t need the spotlight. She needed a job to do — and she did it better than most. For years, she owned Sweden’s left side. Not just as a defender — but as a calm, tactical presence you could always count on. She didn’t play for applause. She played for results . When I met her — the same energy. No fuss. No ego. Just intensity in her eyes, and the posture of someone who knows what it means to carry a team without asking for thanks. She gave everything — at club level, in Germany, in Sweden, and always in yellow and blue. Olympics. World Cups. Countless battles. And she did it all with that Thunebro consistency . Sara Thunebro you won’t find her in flashy montages, but ask any teammate… they’ll tell you: you don’t win without a player like her. Volume 42: Jessic...

  Dolores Silva  The Captain Who Never Stopped Believing She arrived when no one was watching. When Portugal in women’s football was little more than a footnote. But she saw something greater. And chose to stay. Dolores Silva, the girl from Barreiro with a fearless dream, left for Germany young – carrying her heart in her suitcase and her future in her boots. At FF USV Jena, alongside Laura Luís, she learned the discipline of those who want more. At Atlético de Madrid, she proved she could lead among giants. But it was with the Portugal shirt that she wrote her most beautiful chapters. When Portugal reached the Euros for the first time, there she was – with the armband, with heart, with courage. A serene leader, a voice that united instead of commanded. She knows every step of the evolution. Every training in the dark. Every tear shed far from home. Every small victory no one wrote about. Today, she is a symbol. A mirror for the young. But more than ...

  Dolores Silva – A capitã que nunca parou de acreditar Ela chegou quando ninguém olhava. Quando Portugal era apenas uma nota de rodapé no futebol feminino. Mas ela viu mais. E decidiu ficar. Dolores Silva, a menina de Barreiro que sonhou alto, foi para a Alemanha muito jovem – como quem leva o coração na mala e o futuro nos pés. No Duisburg e no Jena, aprendeu a disciplina de quem quer mais. No Atlético de Madrid, provou que podia comandar entre gigantes. Mas foi com a camisola das Quinas que escreveu os capítulos mais belos. Quando Portugal chegou ao Europeu pela primeira vez, lá estava ela – de braçadeira, de alma, de coragem. Uma líder serena, uma voz que une em vez de mandar. Ela conhece cada passo da evolução. Cada treino sem luz. Cada lágrima longe de casa. Cada pequena vitória que ninguém noticiou. Hoje é símbolo. Hoje é espelho para as jovens. Mas acima de tudo, hoje continua a correr. Porque para Dolores, a missão nunca foi ser estrela. A miss...

  Imke Courtois – De stem die altijd al aanwezig was Sommige speelsters moet je eerst zien spelen om ze te waarderen. Bij Imke Courtois wist je het al bij het opwarmen. Ze kwam het veld op, deed geen zotte dingen, zwaaide niet overdreven naar de tribune. En toch voelde je het: die gaat iets extra brengen. Geen franje, maar impact . Ze was nog maar 15 jaar toen ze haar opwachting maakte in de ploeg van Wezemaal. Een meisje tussen vrouwen – en toch: ze stond er. Met een natuurlijke rust, met voeten die vooruit dachten, en met een hoofd dat al begreep wat het spel nodig had. Zoals Kompany bij Anderlecht , kwam zij er op haar vijftiende in – en ze is eigenlijk nooit meer weggegaan. Niet uit het spel. Niet uit de studio. Niet uit ons hoofd. Bij Standard Fémina werd ze het referentiepunt van een sterke generatie. Ze was geen roeper, maar een baken. Degelijk, aanwezig, betrouwbaar. Je ging naar de match, en zei: “Courtois speelt, dan wordt het de moeite.” Maar het zou...

 My Moments with Legends Volume 31-40 Volume 31: Laura Kalmari The Northern Elegance. The Finnish Flame. Before the spotlights found Scandinavia, Laura Kalmari was already there  running with purpose, scoring with instinct, and carrying Finland forward with quiet determination. She played in an era of fog. Few broadcasts. Few headlines. But Kalmari didn’t wait for recognition. She just played. For Finland. For Malmö. For the early NWSL. She was the kind of forward who didn’t need tricks. She needed timing. And she had it. I never forgot the calm in her movement, the way she opened space with half a shoulder drop, the respect she drew from defenders — not with words, but with goals. You didn’t chase her legacy  you rediscovered it, like a photo you almost forgot you had. And then you realise: without her, Finland doesn’t dream like it does now. Laura Kalmari  the first great Finnish star. And still, the one you measure others against. Volume ...