The NWSL regular season is drawing to a close, with three matches left, but the league will take a break from games over the next week for a FIFA international window.
Seven Racing players will represent their respective national teams during this break, including defenders Rebecca Holloway (Northern Ireland), Elli Pikkujämsa (Finland); midfielders Ary Borges (Brazil), Savannah DeMelo (USA) and Wang Shuang (China); and forwards Emina Ekic (Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Thembi Kgatlana (South Africa).
Here is how you can follow each of them over the next week:
Savannah DeMelo (United States)
The United States will take on South Africa in two friendlies, the first games for both teams since this summer’s FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
The exhibitions are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Thursday in Cincinnati at TQL Stadium, and 5:30 p.m. Sunday in Chicago at Soldier Field. Both matches will be broadcast on TNT, Universo and Peacock.
DeMelo returns to the USWNT for this international window following her first three appearances for the national team. Making two starts totaling 107 minutes at the World Cup, DeMelo’s breakout 2023 season has been one to remember for club and country. She is Racing’s leading goal scorer (8) and assist provider (3) across all competitions, claiming NWSL Player of the Month honors for May, NWSL Best XI selections in May and June and UKG NWSL Challenge Cup All-Tournament honors.
Thembi Kgatlana (South Africa)
On the other side of the upcoming USA-South Africa matchups will be Racing Louisville forward Thembi Kgatlana.
Banyana Banyana is coming off a historic 2023 World Cup, where Kgatlana led South Africa to its first knockout stage appearance in the nation’s history, scoring the stoppage-time game-winner that helped her team advance out of the group stage. Kgatlana (71 appearances, 23 goals) played a massive part in this summer’s success, starting all four matches, scoring twice and assisting twice across 352 minutes. She is South Africa’s all-time leading scorer in World Cup play, male or female.
Ary Borges (Brazil)
The Brazil Women’s National Team will play a friendly against Honduras on Friday as new head coach Arthur Elias evaluates the player pool.
Borges (30 appearances, 10 goals) had a standout World Cup, putting on one of the top individual performances of the tournament with a hat trick and assist in Brazil’s 4-0 group stage opener against Panama. Borges was the only Brazilian at the 2023 edition of the World Cup with more than one goal and the first to score a hat trick in this year’s tournament.
Wang Shuang (China)
Wang Shuang and China are gearing up for the rescheduled 2022 Asian Games, the 19th edition of an international sporting competition featuring Olympic sports held every four years.
This year’s event is taking place in Hangzhou, China, and the Steel Roses figure to be one of the favorites in the women’s soccer tournament as three-time champions. China begins group stage play against Mongolia at 7:30 a.m. ET Friday, with a second fixture against Uzbekistan at 7:30 a.m. ET next Thursday, Sept. 28. If China wins the group, it will advance to the knockout stage and play a quarterfinal match at 8 a.m. ET Saturday, Sept. 30, against an opponent to be determined.
Wang (121 appearances, 43 goals) made three appearances and one start for the Chinese team at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, scoring twice from the penalty spot. She was the only player to score for China in a group stage exit at this year’s tournament.
Elli Pikkujämsä (Finland)
Finland starts its UEFA Nations League B campaign this week with matches at 11:30 a.m. ET Friday and 12 p.m. ET Tuesday against Romania and Croatia, respectively.
The UEFA Women’s Nations League is a new annual tournament that features three tiers, with the A and B leagues containing four groups of four teams. After a round-robin group stage, the winners of each group advance to a knockout round where a winner will be decided. Teams will be promoted and relegated from tier to tier, and in future years the competition will help determine which nations qualify for the Olympics and Women’s World Cup. This is the first iteration of the UEFA Women’s Nations League.
Defender Elli Pikkujämsä (23 appearances, one goal) returns to duty with the Finns having scored her first international goal in her last game, a July 18 friendly against Scotland. She has made seven starts in nine matches this year for the Boreal Owls.
Rebecca Holloway (Northern Ireland)
Northern Ireland will also be in UEFA Nations League B play this month, taking on the Republic of Ireland at 8 a.m. ET Saturday and hosting Albania at 2 p.m. ET Tuesday.
Defender Rebecca Holloway (19 appearances, three goals) joins Northern Ireland for these matches, having started both of its previous friendlies against Scotland and the Czech Republic in July. Holloway has made five starts in nine appearances for Racing Louisville in 2023, both highs for her career in lavender and mint.
Emina Ekic (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Rounding out Racing Louisville’s trio of representatives in UEFA Nations League B is forward Emina Ekic, receiving her second call-up to the women’s national team of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s fixtures for this international break come at 3 p.m. ET Friday against Belarus and 10 a.m. ET Tuesday versus Slovenia.
Ekic, a Louisville native, is eligible to represent Bosnia and Herzegovina by virtue of her parents, who were both born in Bosnia before coming to Louisville. The University of Louisville and DuPont Manual High product opted to play for Bosnia and Herzegovina after previously representing the United States at the under-23 level.
