Women’s Professional Soccer News and Notes

Umeå IK It Is

Umeå IK will be the international club to take on the best of the WPS on August 30th in the inaugural WPS All-Star Game. The match will be held at Anheuser-Busch Soccer Park in Fenton, Mo., at 5:30 p.m. ET. 

"Our league is part of the bigger growth of the women’s game at the global level and we wanted to acknowledge that by bringing in a club from outside the league to play in the U.S.,” said WPS Commissioner Tonya Antonucci. “Umeå IK has a great history and is one of the leading women’s club teams in the world, so they are a great fit as the opposition for our WPS All-Stars.”

The All-Star game will be played eight days after the WPS Championship. The WPS All-Stars will feature an 18-player roster, which will be decided via votes and appointments.

Odds are that Brazilian international Marta will face off against her former squad as a member of the WPS All-Stars. Marta is currently tied for the league lead with eight goals on the season. Marta played with Umeå IK from 2004-2008, tallying 111 goals in 103 matches. She led the club to championships in 2005, 2006 and 2007. Umeå IK striker Hanna Ljungberg said the club is looking forward to the challenge.

“It is going to be very exciting to play against the best players of WPS, many of them world class players, who during 90 minutes will be playing on the same team,” Ljungber said. “Naturally, we look forward to play against Marta, but also hope that I will get the chance to have some tough one-on-ones with Frida Östberg.”

Umeå IK has won seven Swedish Championship gold medals, most recently they won four times in a row from 2005-2008. They also won the UEFA Women’s Cup in 2003 and 2004. In 2007 and 2008 UIK was a UEFA runner-up.

“It is of course a great honor for Umea to have been chosen as the opposition in the first WPS All Star Game,” Umeå IK Club Director Britta Åkerlund said. “Considering the players we will play against, the atmosphere that surrounds the game and the fact Umeå IK has been chosen, highlight the strength of Swedish women’s football has on the international stage.”


Trade Between Saint Louis and Sky Blue FC

Saint Louis Athletica traded forward Kerri Hanks, midfielder Francielle and the rights to Brazil’s Renata Costa to Sky Blue FC in exchange for forward Sarah Walsh, the rights to Brazilian midfielder Ester and conditional draft picks. If Renata Costa signs with SkyBlue FC, Athletica will receive their first round draft pick in 2011.

Australian international Walsh has made 57 appearances for her national team, tallying 26 goals. She most recently played for Sydney FC. She was selected with the seventh overall pick in the first round of the WPS International Player Draft in 2008. Ester has played in five Olympic games for Brazil and all six of Brazil’s 2007 World Cup matches.

Saint Louis selected Hanks No. 6 overall in the 2008 WPS Draft. She’s played in 10 matches for Athletica with six starts, one goal and one assist. Francielle appeared in six games for Saint Louis with three starts. 


Shaner Heads to Los Angeles

The Los Angeles Sol had a defensive spot to fill after Martina Franko took a leave of absence from the team after announcing her pregnancy. Los Angeles picked up former Notre Dame star Christie Shaner from Sky Blue FC. The Sol traded a third round draft pick for Shaner.

Shaner has appeared in two matches for Sky Blue FC, tallying 40 minutes. In her career with Notre Dame she led the club to a National Championship in 2004 and a College Cup appearance in 2006. Shaner played with FC Indiana from 2003-2008, where she helped the club to titles in 2005 and 2007. Franko steps down from the Sol after registering 887 minutes in 10 matches.


Too Many Yellows

Chicago Red Stars midfielder Chioma Igwe will miss the club’s match on Wednesday against the Washington Freedom. Igwe received her fourth yellow card of the season against the Los Angeles Sol on Saturday. She will serve a one-game suspension for yellow-card accumulation. It marks the first time that a WPS player has been reprimanded for too many yellows. The Red Stars also earned the first two red-cards in WPS history with Frida Ostberg and Karen Carney each ejected from matches.


Goal.com

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