By Faith Emmanuel
The group stage of the UWCL was laced with actions, momentous displays, and lasting memories. From having the first Dutch team in the quarter-finals, to the shock of having no German team in the quarter-finals for the first time, it was a story of the heroes, unsung heroes and the under-dogs.
While many are looking forward to the quarter-finals after the draw today I wanted to reflect on the group stages just gone. While Ada Hegerberg who extended her tally as the competition’s highest goal-scorer, Salma Paralluelo who has been a discovery with five goals in six matches and others might steal the spotlight, there are a lot of unsung heroes who deserve all the celebration. This article seeks to shine a light on these superstars.
Jessica Silva: When you are in the same group as Barcelona, your qualification chances are almost reduced by 50%. While football is not mathematics, it is almost certain Barcelona will qualify so you have to put up a fight to pick up the second slot, that’s what Benfica did and Jessica Silva was the metronome orchestrating the team’s strides.
From assisting the goal that ensured they picked up maximum points at home to Rosengard to scoring an away goal that ensured they shared the spoils away at Frankfurt, the Portuguese attacker was the conductor directing Benfica’s attack.
Silva and her Benfica teammates will not be daunted by the prospect of facing Olympique Lyonnais, if anything, they will relish it.
She saved her best performance for the last dance as her team almost recorded a monumental win against the reigning champions Barcelona. Silva set up her striker, Marie-Yasmin Alidou for the first goal, before scoring a beautiful third goal from a counter-attacking move she started.
Making it out of the group stage is already a record and if there is more magic to watch out from Benfica this season, you can be guaranteed Silva’s seat at the heart of the team, spinning attacking tricks.
Lily Yohannes: She was termed the “discovery of the season” and delivered five-star performances throughout all the group stage matches. The Ajax youngster is definitely the revelation of the tournament. The whizz who made her UWCL Group stage debut at 16 years and 156 days, and recorded her first assist at 16 years and 183 days old already holds the record for the youngest player in the UWCL group stage. Keeping her heads up against midfield maestros like Grace Geyoro and Georgia Stanway is a pointer to how brilliant Yohannes was during the group stage.
From her ball-carrying abilities to creating pivotal assists (against Bayern and Roma in Gameweek 3 and 6 respectively), to her interceptions and thwarts to opponents’ attacking moves, she is one of the many heroes of this spectacular Ajax team.
Above: Lily Yohannes Photo: @UWCL
Erin Cuthbert: Sam Kerr was the star, the sharpened attacking head hitting the nail for Emma Hayes’ team, scoring five goals in the first four matches, until the ACL knocked.
A lot of players have stepped up in her absence and Erin Cuthbert is one of them. Even before Kerr’s departure, Cuthbert was crucial to that victory over BK Hacken that ensured Chelsea topped the group since match day one.
Beyond the brace she scored, as Emma Hayes said in the post-match interview, Cuthbert was everywhere on the field, making something happen and the goals were just a bonus to her outstanding performance. She repeated the same performance against Real Madrid in game week five, ensuring Chelsea qualified at the top spot.
Chiamaka Nnadozie: While the burgeoning French side, Paris FC didn’t make it out of the group, their UWCL run has been astoundingly inspiring and the Nigeria shot-stopper was a significant part of this sturdy run. From saving crucial penalties during the qualifying rounds to saving two penalties against Real Madrid and Hacken, ensuring her team picked up points in both matches, the goal-keeper has made a good account of herself, and if Paris FC is going to make a comeback to Europe’s grand-stage next season, she would be a very important part of the journey.
Manuela Guigliano: Four goals and four assists in six matches tells you all you need to know about the Italian midfielder. Roma will believe they experienced a rotten draw being in the same group with teams like Bayern and PSG while conceding two late goals at the death in two different matches, they made a great account of themselves, and Guiglano was a conductor co-ordinating Roma’s orchestra of free-flowing football.
Combined with Valentina Giacinti (another player worth spotlighting), the midfielder virtuoso was everywhere dictating the Roma’s play. Her best performance was probably against Bayern Munich where she created an assist for her team-mate in the 58th minute before completing the comeback in the 90th minute to ensure the spoils were shared despite being 2:0 down at the end of the first half. The Italians can be proud of their display and hopefully come back together.
Caroline Graham Hansen: Barcelona scored 27 goals in the group stage and the Norwegian winger was involved in one-third of them. This depicts how productive and clinical Graham Hansen is. Often overlooked because of the presence of players like Alexia Puttelas and Aitana Bonmati, the number 10 was a continuous contributor to Barcelona’s attack, creating magic out of almost nothing, and spinning impossible goals and unexpected strikes in almost every match.
Did you watch her assist for Salma Paralluelo in their match against Rosengård and her lethal strike against Frankfurt in the match after? With four goals and five assists in six matches, if Barcelona aims to retain their trophy, then the spotlight needs to shine more on the ferocious winger.
Rosa Kafaji: To have three goals and one assists in six matches against a former European finalist, a Spanish powerhouse and a club who had knocked out two semi-finalists is a worthy mention. Winning the player of the match in her first two stats is a testament to her scintillating skillsets.
Above: Rosa Kafaji in action against Real Madrid. Photo: @RosaKafaji IG
Beyond her goals, the 20-year-old Swedish was an incessant threat to her opponents with or without the ball. Her tricky unpredictable movement when she is with the ball and her persistent hassling when she isn’t without the ball makes her the perfect European midfielder any manager would love to work with. BK Hacken made it out of one of the groups of death and while the Quarter-finals is already a major monument, if they would go further than that, then Kafaji must be at 100% delivering her best for the team.
There are a lot of other worthy mentions like Valentina Giacinti and Marie-Yasmin Alidou who scored four important goals for their respective clubs, Roma and Benfica, Lucy Bronze who scored a vital goal and created four assists in six games, Christy Uchiebe who was crucial to Benfica’s defence especially against Barcelona at home and against Eintracht Frankfurt, Justine Kvaleng Kielland who stood out for Brann, ensuring they navigate a challenging route to the quarter-finals and all these names deserves to be appreciated for showing up when their team needed them most, where their teams needed them most.
Which of these heroes are you backing to shine in the quarter-finals? Do leave a comment below.
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