Welcome to the world of Women's football or, as the italians call it, Calcio Femminile! First of all congratulations on the choice of your team, because, let's be honest, to choose Milan is to choose the best that is. We thought this article to be a two-parts introduction to the AC Milan Women's team for every milanista who is starting to take interest on our own female devils, le diavolesse, with a lot of information on who the players are, which numbers they use, some physical features that may help to identify them quickly, their role in the field, the team formation, who is in charge and, obviously, who is their coach. Now, sit back comfortably, grab a pen, pencil and a notebook and let's get started.
Quick History Lesson
The AC Milan Women's team is a legacy of the Yonghong Lee, Marco Fassone and Max Mirabelli era. In 2018, they acquired the sporting license of A.C.F Brescia and, thus, the right to play in the 2018-2019 Serie A season, having the Peppino Vismara Sports Center as home base. The legendary ex-striker Carolina Morace was appointed head coach and she had at her disposal some big names in the game, like prolific stikers Valentina Giacinti and Daniela Sabatino, team captain at the time, and the internationals Thaisa Moreno, Monica Mendes, Korenciova and Lady Andrade.
After a stunning start of the season, beating the likes of Fiorentina, Roma and even Juventus, and leading the table for almost half of the competition, something got lost in the way and they finished in third place, after the champions Juventus and runner-up Fiorentina, missing out the qualification for the UEFA Women's Champions League by 4 points. Note that only the two best teams in Serie A get to play the continental tournament.
Ahead of the 2019-2020, Carolina Morace was replaced by former striker Maurizio Ganz and the management, now under Elliott, decide to make some investments in the team. A lot of players didn't get a contract renewal, while the core athletes stayed, as Giacinti, who became the team captain, Fusetti, Bergamaschi, Nora Heroum and some new, and important, faces like Norwegian defender Stine Hovland, Icelandic striker Thorvaldsdóttir, Slovenian midfielder Dominika Čonč, South African midfielder Rafiloe Jane and Italian defender Francesca Vitale. The team was playing well, the results were coming but the, in march, the Covid-19 pandemic made FIGC to halt all non-professional competitions. In July 8th, FIGC has decided to put an official end to the season as the table was in march, awarding Juventus the championship title, and Milan, again, lost the UWCL spot to Fiorentina, this time due to the goal difference.
Back to the present
As the 2020-2021 season approchead, the Milan Women's team saw a new round of big investment being made by Elliott, Ivan Gazidis, a well-known Women's Football enthusiast and Elisabet Spina, the big boss of the rossonere. With Maurizio Ganz still in charge, we saw, again, a lot of departures, with Stine Hovland, Nora Heroum, Mia Bellucci and Monica Mendes leaving the club, but this time is safe to say that the arrivals were unprecedently exciting because not only they kept the roster competitive internally but also they drew attention to the club and to the brand around the world. This season we got one of the best players in the world, UWCL winner Verónica Boquete, a very competent midfielder, and also one-time Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal winner Julia Simic, two-times FA Women's Super League winner, one-time W-League Premiership and two-times W-League Golden Boot winner striker Natasha Dowie.
So far, Milan has managed to win almost every game in Serie A, except THE big one, played at San Siro for the first time ever, against Juventus. The rossonere have, up to today, 27 points, just 3 away from the ever-leading bianconere, and a comfortable 5 points advantage from Sassuolo, who is third in the stands.
In Coppa Italia, after beating Orobica and Cesena, they got through the group stage and made it to the quarter-finals.
Next
Next chapter you'll get to know better the most important players, our main formation and much more! Stay tuned.
Image credits: acmilan.com
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