Julia Grosso, Natalia Kuikka and Ludmila Called Up to National Teams

Chicago Stars Julia Grosso, Natalia Kuikka and Ludmila will join their respective countries for the February international window. 2025 UEFA Nations League play will see Kuikka represent Finland, while Grosso and Canada compete in the 2025 Pinatar Cup in Spain and Ludmila joins Brazil for their first camp of 2025.

Julia Grosso rejoins Canada for the first time in 2025 for the inaugural matches of new head coach Casey Stoney’s tenure with the Canadian Women’s National Team (CANWNT). 2024 saw Grosso take the pitch 11 times for the CANWNT, with three starts and 425 minutes recorded, including one start and three appearances in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Canada will now head to Spain for the 2025 Pinatar Cup, taking on China February 19, Mexico February 22 and Chinese Taipei February 25 in semifinals round action.

Five-time Finnish Women’s Footballer of the Year, Natalia Kuikka, will compete in their first matches in the league stage of the 2025 UEFA Nations League. After signing with Chicago Stars FC in January 2024, Kuikka recorded a successful year on the international stage with the Helmarit, concluding the year with a goal-line clearance and a goal December 3 that advanced Finland over Scotland on aggregate. Ending the match with a 2-0 aggregate and scoreline, Finland qualified for the 2025 UEFA Women’s European Championship, set to be held in July. February will see Kuikka and Finland take on Serbia February 21, then Hungary February 25 in League B action.

Ludmila heads to a training camp at Granja Comary football complex in Teresópolis, Brazil, with the Brazilian women’s national team for the February window. Brazil will not participate in any friendly matches in February, focusing on preparations for the team’s friendlies against the United States slated for April 2025. 2024 saw Ludmila appear in all matches and play an integral role in Brazil winning a silver medal in the 2024 Paris Olympics. The Brazilian signed with the Stars during the tournament, going on to feature in seven matches and becoming the eighth Chicago Star in club history to score a goal in three consecutive matches.

After the international window closes February 26, Grosso, Kuikka and Ludmila will return to preseason training with the Chicago Stars. The club has a series of closed-door scrimmages scheduled against fellow NWSL clubs February 25-March 8 at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, before the Stars finish the preseason in Chicago ahead of the start of the NWSL regular season. Chicago Stars FC will play the inaugural 2025 NWSL regular-season match against the Orlando Pride March 14, kicking off at 7 p.m. CT at Inter&Co Stadium in Orlando, Florida. The match will be streamed nationally on Amazon Prime Video.

The Chicago Stars will return to the Windy City to host the club’s home opener against the Houston Dash March 23, presented by United Airlines. The match kicks off at 2 p.m. CT at SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview, Illinois, and also available nationally on Paramount+ and NWSL+. Fans can find tickets to all Chicago Stars home matches, including the club’s home opener, presented by United Airlines, and secure season ticket memberships by visiting chicagostars.com/tickets. The full Chicago Stars FC schedule, along with national broadcast information, can be found at chicagostars.com/schedule.

Chicago Stars FC and former U.S. Soccer goalkeeper, Alyssa Naeher, has been named the federations 2024 Female Player of the Year. This is the first U.S. Soccer Female Player of the Year award for Naeher who retired from international play at the end of 2024. 

“This is an incredible honor, to cap off what has been a very special year with this team. This team is made up of a special group of players, coaches and staff and all year you could feel that energy and that we had the opportunity to achieve something great. I was inspired all year long by my incredible teammates; the work we put in, the commitment to the team and our goals, and all of their love and support,” said Naeher.  

Over its 40-year history, the Female Player of the Year award is usually awarded to attacking-minded midfielders or forwards. Naeher is just the second goalkeeper to win the award behind Hope Solo, who Naeher replaced as the team’s first option between the sticks. Julie Ertz (2017, 2019) and Naomi Girma (2023) are the only other defensive players to take home the award.  

Naeher’s decorated international career now includes being named The Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper of the Year for 2024, to the Best FIFA Women’s 11 (2024), an Olympic gold medal (Paris 2024), an Olympic bronze medal (Tokyo 2020) and two FIFA Women’s World Cup Championships (2019, 2015).  

At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Naeher played every minute, allowing just two goals and kept clean sheets throughout the knockout round, including in the gold medal match against Brazil. With her performance in the Olympics final, Naeher is now the only goalkeeper to keep a clean sheet in a World Cup and Olympics final.  

Earlier in 2024, during the team’s semifinal match in the CONCACAF W Gold Cup against Canada that eventually went to penalties, Naeher made two crucial saves before stepping up to the spot and burying a penalty attempt past Canada’s Kailen Sheridan. The US advanced to the championship match after Naeher saved her third penalty of the shootout against Canada’s captain, Jessie Flemming. 

Naeher – who also was nominated for the prestigious Ballon d’Or award – ended 2024 with 18 starts, 1,170 minutes played, a 13W-1L-3D record and a 0.50 GAA while allowing just 11 goals for U.S. Women’s National Team (USWNT). 

This summer, in an appearance on Premier League Mornings Live, legendary U.S. Soccer goalkeeper, Tim Howard, echoed the sentiments of many USWNT and Chicago Stars fans when he called Naeher “the greatest goalkeeper in the world, hands down.” 

The Chicago Stars would like to congratulate Alyssa on an incredible 2024, on her well-deserved award and on her legendary international career. The club looks forward to welcoming Alyssa back to Chicago ahead of the 2025 National Women’s Soccer League season.

Chicago Red Stars and United States Women’s National Team (USWNT) goalkeeper, Alyssa Naeher, has been named the Best FIFA women’s goalkeeper and named to the Best FIFA Women’s 11 adding more accolades to the keeper’s decorated career.

Naeher, who recently announced her retirement from international play, appeared and started in 18 matches for the USWNT out of their 23 matches this year, including every match of the Paris Olympics. In the Olympics, Naeher allowed only two goals throughout the entire tournament and kept a clean sheet in the final against Brazil, helping the United States take home gold. With her performance in the Olympic final, the Connecticut native became the first goalkeeper in women’s soccer history to keep clean sheets in a World Cup Final and an Olympic Final.

Naeher played and started in 24 regular-season matches for the Chicago Red Stars out of a possible 26, as well as the club’s quarterfinal match against the Orlando Pride. The keeper kept six clean sheets, helped the club clinch another playoff appearance and became the club’s all-time leader in minutes played passing former Chicago Red Star, Vanessa DiBernardo. The goalkeeper also became the only goalkeeper to surpass 15,000 minutes played in the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL). Adding to her record year, in week two, Naeher earned her 50th career win with the Chicago Red Stars becoming the first keeper to win 50 matches with one club. This season with the Stars, Naeher earned three Save of the Week honors and was named to the March/April Best XI making it the keeper’s third inclusion in the monthly award in her career.

Naeher and the Chicago Red Stars return to action following the conclusion of the NWSL offseason. Fans interested in becoming season ticket members ahead of the 2025 season can visit chicagoredstars.com/tickets or call 312-241-2069.