Kerolin Nicoli Israel Ferraz (born 17 November 1999), commonly known as Kerolin, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward for the North Carolina Courage of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and the Brazil national team. In 2018, she was elected the breakout female player in the Brasileirão by the Brazilian Football Confederation, having scored 14 goals in 35 games for Ponte Preta.[2][3] She was named the NWSL Most Valuable Player with the Courage in 2023.
_049_(cropped).jpg) Kerolin with the North Carolina Courage in 2024 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Kerolin Nicoli Israel Ferraz[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 17 November 1999 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Bauru, São Paulo, Brazil | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.64 m (5 ft 5 in)[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Forward | ||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team | North Carolina Courage | ||||||||||||||||
| Number | 9 | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2016 | Valinhos | ||||||||||||||||
| 2017 | Ponte Preta | 14 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
| 2017 | Palmeiras | 4 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2018 | Ponte Preta | 10 | (3) | ||||||||||||||
| Osasco Audax | 3 | (1) | |||||||||||||||
| 2019 | Palmeiras | 0 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2021 | Madrid CFF | 24 | (5) | ||||||||||||||
| 2022– | North Carolina Courage | 24 | (13) | ||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||
| 2018 | Brazil U-20 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2018– | Brazil | 45 | (6) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17:09, 11 June 2023 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 6 August 2024 (UTC) | |||||||||||||||||
Early life
editKerolin was raised by her mother and was estranged from her father. The family lived in Bauru, then moved to Campinas, where they lodged on a farm as they could not afford to pay rent. When she was 12 years old she was hospitalised with osteomyelitis and cellulitis in her leg and advised to stop playing contact sport.[4]
Club career
editEarly career
editKerolin was among several promising young footballers to emerge from the youth system of Valinhos Futebol Clube, a women's team run by the local authority's sports and leisure department and coached by Ana Lúcia Gonçalves.[5] Valinhos agreed a collaboration with Guarani FC in January 2016, to enter the 2016 Campeonato Paulista de Futebol Feminino as Guarani/Valinhos.[6]
When Associação Atlética Ponte Preta decided to form a women's section in 2017, they took over the Valinhos club, with 17-year-old Kerolin among the squad they inherited.[7] She was voted the best player of the 2017 Campeonato Paulista after scoring 10 goals in 21 games for semi-finalists Ponte Preta.[8]
She was then sent on loan to Corinthians/Audax for their successful 2017 Copa Libertadores Femenina campaign in October 2017.[8] She scored in a penalty shootout win over Colo-Colo following a 0–0 draw in the final at Estadio Arsenio Erico, Asunción.[9]
In 2018 she scored 14 goals in 35 games for Ponte Preta and was named Campeonato Brasileiro de Futebol Feminino "Revelação" (transl. Revelation) at the end of season awards. It was reported that Kerolin's consistently good performances for Ponte Preta and the youth national teams made her a transfer target for other Brazilian clubs, as well as for professional clubs in France and China.[10]
The combined Corinthians/Audax team which Kerolin had helped to win the 2017 Copa Libertadores split when Corinthians withdrew from that partnership and set up their own women's team. This left Audax with a slot at the 2018 Copa Libertadores Femenina but with no team. A deal was made for Valinhos (who had been playing as Ponte Preta in domestic competitions) to represent Audax at the Copa Libertadores.[11] Kerolin scored in a 4–0 win over Peñarol, but Audax were eliminated at the group stage.
Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras urgently required a women's team in December 2018, as they faced being banned from the lucrative men's Copa Libertadores under CONMEBOL rules which required all participants to run women's teams. A partnership agreement saw Palmeiras agree to fund the salaries of the Valinhos players and staff, who would use the Palmeiras name but continue to play and train in Valinhos.[12]
In January 2019 Kerolin agreed the transfer to Palmeiras, signing a one-year contract and joining up again with her previous coach Ana Lúcia Gonçalves.[13] The following month it was announced that Kerolin had failed a doping test taken after playing for Audax in a match at the 2018 Copa Libertadores Femenina.[14] Kerolin's sample revealed traces of GW1516. She remained provisionally suspended by CONMEBOL in July 2019, when Palmeiras's coach Gonçalves was sacked on suspicion of involvement in doping cases affecting the clubs she had worked at and inappropriately acting as a sports agent for the players in her charge.[15]
Madrid
editIn April 2021, having served her ban, Kerolin transferred to Madrid CFF. She joined several other Brazilian players at the Spanish Primera División club, and thanked God for the opportunity to restart her football career.[16]
North Carolina Courage
edit
On 10 January 2022, Kerolin signed a three-year deal with the North Carolina Courage.[17] She made her club debut as a substitute in the opening Challenge Cup game against NJ/NY Gotham FC on 3 April.[18] She scored her first goal for the Courage in the Challenge Cup final, opening in a 2–1 win over the Washington Spirit and being named the most valuable player of the match.[19] She started 13 games in the 2022 regular season and recorded six goals and four assists.[20] At the end of the season, she was named to the NWSL Best XI second team.[21]
On 10 June 2023, Kerolin scored her first NWSL hat-trick in a 5–0 win over the Chicago Red Stars.[22] She contributed to the Courage's defense of the Challenge Cup, scoring in the final against Racing Louisville.[23] Her tally of 10 regular-season goals was second only to Golden Boot winner Sophia Smith, leading the Courage to finish the regular season third in the standings.[24] However, she suffered an anterior cruciate ligament tear days before the playoffs, and the Courage lost to eventual champions NJ/NY Gotham FC in the opening round.[25] After the season, Kerolin was voted the NWSL Most Valuable Player, becoming the first South American to win the award.[26]
Kerolin scored in her second match back from injury on 29 September 2024, a 3–1 win over the Chicago Red Stars.[27] She made six club appearances in the season, with one of her three starts in a 1–0 quarterfinal loss to the Kansas City Current.[28]
International career
edit.jpg)
Kerolin was one of four Guarani/Valinhos players to be called up by the Brazil women's national under-17 football team for the 2016 South American U-17 Women's Championship.[29] She remained in the squad for the 2016 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup in Jordan.[30] In 2018, Kerolin scored two goals over three games she played representing the Brazil women's national under-20 football team at the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup in France.[31]
The senior Brazil women's national football team head coach Vadão called Kerolin up for the first time in September 2018, for a friendly match against England at Meadow Lane, Nottingham.[32] She earned her first cap in the match, appearing as a 56th-minute substitute for Debinha in Brazil's 1–0 defeat.[33]
After breaking into the senior national team, she was praised by veteran teammate Formiga: "Kerolin has a huge future. She's got so much talent and she doesn't have fear. If she keeps her feet on the ground, she can go as far as she wants. It's up to her."[34]
Kerolin was not eligible to play at the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup because she was provisionally suspended from football and still awaiting the final judgement from CONMEBOL in respect of her failed doping tests.[4]
On 6 January 2021, Kerolin's suspension ended and she was called into a national team training camp for evaluation by Brazil's new coach Pia Sundhage.[35] Sundhage said: "I heard a lot of good things about her [Kerolin]. She is an excellent player. Yes, she has been out of action for two years, but we will see how she will do."[36]
Career statistics
editInternational goals
edit| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 20 September 2021 | Amigão, Paraíba, Brazil |  Argentina |
1–0 | 4–1 | Friendly |
| 2. | 26 November 2021 | Arena da Amazônia, Manaus, Brazil |  India |
4–1 | 6–1 | 2021 International Women's Football Tournament of Manaus |
| 3. | 28 November 2021 |  Venezuela |
1–1 | 4–1 | ||
| 4. | 3–1 | |||||
| 5. | 1 December 2021 |  Chile |
1–0 | 2–0 | ||
| 6. | 6 August 2024 | Stade Vélodrome, Marseille, France |  Spain |
4–1 | 4–2 | 2024 Summer Olympics |
Honours
editNorth Carolina Courage
Brazil
- Summer Olympics silver medal: 2024[38]
Individual
- NWSL First XI: 2023[39]
- NWSL Second XI: 2022
- NWSL Most Valuable Player: 2023[40]
References
edit- ^ a b "List of Players - Brazil" (PDF). FIFA. 5 August 2018. p. 1. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
- ^ "Elenco Feminino , Associação Atlética Ponte Preta". pontepreta.com.br (in Brazilian Portuguese). 9 August 2019. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
- ^ "Kerolin, da Ponte Preta, é eleita revelação do Brasileirão 2018". Lance! (in Brazilian Portuguese). 4 December 2018. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
- ^ a b Barlem, Cíntia (29 July 2019). "Kerolin lembra passado de luta e fala sobre acusação de doping: "Esse processo vai me fortalecer"" (in Portuguese). Rede Globo. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
- ^ "Técnico da CBF elogia estrutura do futebol feminino em visita a Valinhos" (in Portuguese). Prefeitura de Valinhos. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
- ^ "Guarani fecha parceria com a Secretaria de Esportes e Lazer de Valinhos" (in Portuguese). Guarani FC. 22 January 2016. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
- ^ "Meninas da Macaca: com parceria de Valinhos e apoio da Pilot, Ponte lança time feminino para a disputa do Brasileiro; técnica Aninha diz que torcida pode esperar muito empenho e garra para representar a camisa alvinegra" (in Portuguese). Associação Atlética Ponte Preta. 9 March 2017. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
- ^ a b "As jogadoras da Valinhos/Ponte foram destaques no Paulista Feminino de Futebol" (in Portuguese). Prefeitura Municipal de Valinhos. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
- ^ "0-0: Corinthians, campeón de la Libertadores" (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 22 October 2017. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
- ^ Barlem, Cíntia (30 August 2018). "Monitorada por Vadão na Seleção, Kerolin desperta interesse de clubes do Brasil e exterior" (in Portuguese). Rede Globo. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
- ^ Silvio, Marcio (5 November 2018). "Em Valinhos, Audax fecha com a Ponte Preta para a Libertadores" (in Portuguese). QG Notícias. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
- ^ De Laurentiis, Francisco; Munhos, Mayara (29 December 2018). "Palmeiras tenta montar time feminino 'às pressas' para atender exigência da Conmebol" (in Portuguese). ESPN. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
- ^ Barlem, Cintia (17 January 2019). "Kerolin revela que tem acordo encaminhado com o Palmeiras para temporada 2019" (in Portuguese). Rede Globo. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
- ^ Barlem, Cíntia (21 February 2019). "Revelação da Seleção e cotada para o Mundial, Kerolin é flagrada em exame antidoping" (in Portuguese). Rede Globo. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
- ^ Lavieri, Danilo (26 July 2019). "Palmeiras demitiu técnica por suspeita de envolvimento em casos de doping" (in Portuguese). Universo Online. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
- ^ Jiménez, Mayca (2 April 2021). "El Madrid CFF recluta más talento brasileño: Kerolin, nuevo fichaje" (in Spanish). Diario AS. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
- ^ "Brazilian International Kerolin Joins NC Courage". North Carolina Courage. 10 January 2022. Retrieved 23 March 2023.
- ^ "Match Recap: Courage Wrap Road Trip with Draw Against Gotham". North Carolina Courage. 3 April 2022. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
- ^ "Match Recap: Courage Win 2022 NWSL Challenge Cup Championship". North Carolina Courage. 7 May 2022. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
- ^ "Kerolin Nicoli". North Carolina Courage. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
- ^ "NWSL announces winners of 2022 Best XI Awards". SoccerWire (Press release). National Women's Soccer League. 26 October 2022. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
- ^ Rantz, Susie (10 June 2023). "Kerolin hat trick powers Courage to 5-0 win over Red Stars". San Diego Union-Tribune. Associated Press. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
- ^ Hruby, Emma (11 September 2023). "NWSL Challenge Cup: Kerolin and NC Courage dominate Best XI". Just Women's Sports. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
- ^ Yang, Steph (10 November 2023). "Courage forward Kerolin named NWSL MVP: How important is she to North Carolina?". The Athletic. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
- ^ Swanson, Shelby (22 October 2023). "NC Courage playoff run ends with NWSL quarterfinal loss to Gotham FC". The News & Observer. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
- ^ "North Carolina Courage Attacker Kerolin Named 2023 NWSL Most Valuable Player Presented by Bud Light". NWSL Soccer. 10 November 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
- ^ "Kerolin Marks Her Comeback from Injury with a Goal". National Women's Soccer League. 30 September 2024. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
- ^ "Kerolin 2024 Match Logs". FBref.com. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
- ^ "Atletas do Guarani/Valinhos são convocadas para o Sul-Americano Sub 17" (in Portuguese). Folha de Valinhos. 29 February 2016. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
- ^ do Nascimento Pereira, André; Leme de Arruda, Marcelo (1 December 2018). "SELEÇÃO BRASILEIRA SUB-17 FEMININA (WOMENS' U-17 BRAZILIAN NATIONAL TEAM) 2008-2018" (in Portuguese). Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
- ^ FIFA.com. "FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup France 2018 - Brazil". www.fifa.com. Archived from the original on 25 February 2019. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
- ^ Aredes, Elias (18 September 2018). "Seleção: Kerolin é convocada" (in Portuguese). Jornal TodoDia. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
- ^ "Seleção Feminina é superada pela Inglaterra por 1 a 0" (in Portuguese). Brazilian Football Confederation. 6 October 2018. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
- ^ "Formiga: I want to emulate Roger Milla". FIFA. 9 November 2018. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
- ^ Barlem, Cíntia (25 December 2020). "Duda Luizelli diz que lista de Pia não está fechada para Tóquio, fala sobre Kerolin e desenha calendário de 2021" (in Portuguese). Rede Globo. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
- ^ Chaves, Lincoln (14 December 2020). "Pia anuncia quatro novidades em convocação da seleção feminina" (in Portuguese). Agência Brasil. Retrieved 15 May 2021.
- ^ "Brasil conquista su octava estrella en la CONMEBOL Copa América Femenina" (in Spanish). CONMEBOL. 30 July 2022.
- ^ Jurejko, Jonathan (10 August 2024). "Brazil 0-1 United States: Emma Hayes leads USA to Olympic gold". BBC Sport. Retrieved 12 August 2024.
- ^ "NWSL Announces Winners of 2023 Mastercard Best XI Awards". 6 November 2023. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
- ^ "North Carolina Courage Attacker Kerolin Named 2023 NWSL Most Valuable Player Presented by Bud Light". NWSL Soccer. 10 November 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2023.