In just over two years time, Brazil will welcome the world once again. While the South American footballing hotbed has twice played host to the FIFA World Cup™ and the FIFA U-20 World Cup™, as well as the Beach Soccer and Futsal global finals, this will be the first time the women’s game will take centre stage.
As well as hosting the tournament for the first time, Brazil will also be hell-bent on securing their maiden world crown, while becoming the first hosts this millennium to secure the title, since USA won it in 1999. Seleção forward Kerolin is keen to make use of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
“Whenever Brazil step onto the pitch now, we’re better respected and seen as more of a threat,” the 25-year-old said. “We have the Copa America coming up as well [in July and August 2025]. Our main aim is always to try to win any tournament we play in, but we also want to prepare ourselves for the World Cup in Brazil in the best way that we can – I think that’s going to be a great World Cup.
“If we stay humble and maintain our grit and determination, all pulling together as a unit, I think Brazil will be hard to beat. Playing our joyful and engaging football, with the quality of players we have, we’ll be very well prepared. The Copa America may show us where we’re at, but we will be putting in a lot of work and I’m very confident. Hard work brings results.”
The Brazilian public’s expectations for the upcoming tournament are high. Considering the Brazil men failed to lift the trophy on home soil in 1950 and 2014, a great euphoria would be generated if the women delivered a World Cup in front of the Brazilian people. Kerolin herself admits that she would not know how to react if she one day clutched sport’s ultimate prize at home.
“Being a world champion is not easy! It’s special, and we’re so excited,” she admitted. “I can’t get carried away, but we really want to lift that trophy in Brazil. I think Brazil would come to a halt! The country would be brought to a standstill. I think I would freeze for a moment myself if we pulled it off. I’d come back around, but for a moment I wouldn’t care about anything else.”
Kerolin played at the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023™, as Brazil were knocked out at the group stage. However, a year later, she left France full of pride having been part of the Brazil squad that took silver at the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament Paris 2024. It has undeniably been a rollercoaster, and the striker believes that recent experiences – from despair to the podium – have made the team stronger.
“Our experience at the World Cup was completely different to that at the Olympics, so I appreciate how gratifying it is to go back home and see my family proud,” she said. “It’s completely different going back with a medal around your neck, even the way you feel within yourself. Winning the next World Cup is a really big goal of ours. We have such a good chance, even more so after our historic campaign at the Olympics. It’s written in the stars, it’s ours to lose – we know we will have to work for it, though.”
The squad’s hunger comes from their dreams of winning titles, but also from the mentality that coach Arthur Elias has instilled in them. The Brazil squad is united, with every player given the opportunity to prove themselves.
“Arthur made it clear that we don’t have substitutes and starters, everyone would be used and that proved to be the case,” she said. “In Paris, a player who started on the bench in one game would start the next game, and that was part of a strategy.”
Elias’ belief in squad unity and rotation can be seen in his current selection. The squad he’s picked for a training camp in Rio de Janeiro includes some 30 players, and it’s reasonable to expect that future Seleção squads could be made up of more than 50 players. In order to earn as much game time as possible, Kerolin is, predictably, willing to be versatile.
“If he needs me to, I’ll play as a defensive midfielder, full-back – wherever,” she admitted. “I’m just focused on what I can do to help Brazil at the World Cup if I’m there, and hopefully I will be. To be an all-round athlete who plays in different positions, so that when the coach needs me in any way, I’m physically and mentally ready to help the team. I’d ask the fans to be patient. You’ll always see a very committed Kerolin on the pitch, running and battling for the whole team.”
Her eagerness to progress and look forward means that Kerolin sometimes loses sight of how far she has come. Despite her young age, she has already become an icon in women’s football both on the domestic and global stage. In January, she made the move from North Carolina Courage to Women’s Super League giants Manchester City, a move she describes as “pivotal” to her progress and ability to help the national side.
Despite crossing continents, and now sharing the field with the likes of Alex Greenwood, Khadija Shaw and Vivianne Miedema, the forward has settled in well. She netted her first goal against Leicester City recently, and while she needed a slice of luck to see her attempted cross spin into the back of the net, she’ll hope not to rely on any luck when Brazil attempt to claim their maiden world title in 2027.
source
کلاس یوس