Ho Chi Minh City Women's Club announces formidable foreign player.

Ho Chi Minh City Women's Club has announced three new high-quality foreign players for the quarter-finals of the 2025-2026 AFC Women's Champions League later this month.

Ho Chi Minh City Women's FC announces signing of midfielder Alica Groves - Photo: HCMWFC

On the morning of March 19th, Ho Chi Minh City Women's Club announced three new foreign players for their quarter-final match against Naegohyang FC (North Korea) in the AFC Women's Champions League 2025-2026, which will take place on March 28th at the Laotian National Stadium.

Accordingly, the Ho Chi Minh City women's club has signed contracts with two very impressive and quite famous female players: striker Joelma Alves Gabriel (Brazil) and midfielder Israela Alicia Groves (Canada of Jamaican descent).

Forward Joelma Alves, standing at 1.70m tall, previously played in the Brazilian Women's Football League before moving to the Macedonian and Maltese women's football leagues. At 30 years old, Joelma remains a formidable force with her speed and samba-style technique.

Meanwhile, midfielder Alicia Groves, who is 1.78m tall, is the daughter of Harbour View legend and Jamaican international Hubert 'Junior' Groves.

This 27-year-old possesses extensive playing experience, having previously competed in Portugal, France, and England. Furthermore, Alicia Groves started twice for the Jamaican women's national team in the 2024 Women's Gold Cup qualifying matches against Panama and Guatemala in late 2023.

Forward Joelma Alves of Ho Chi Minh City Women's FC - Photo: HCMWFC

The final new signing is center-back Rielly Chesna Marie (USA). Not only is she 22 years old, but Rielly Chesna also has a good physique (1.68m tall) to add strength to the defense of the Ho Chi Minh City women's club.

The arrival of these three new players is expected to help the Ho Chi Minh City women's club perform better in the upcoming quarter-finals of the AFC Women's Champions League 2025-2026.

Because the Naegohyang FC women's club is very strong, with 5 players currently playing for the North Korean women's national team in the 2026 Women's Asian Cup in Australia.

In the group stage at Thong Nhat Stadium last November, Ho Chi Minh City Women's Club hired six foreign players: center-back Aubrey Goodwill, Gorman Chloe, midfielders Sakura Yoshida and Tatiana Mason (both from the USA), left-back Ouni Samia (Tunisia), and forward Maria Khan (Pakistan).

However, up until the quarter-finals, coach Doan Thi Kim Chi only kept one foreign player, left-back Ouni Samia, and chose to hire three new foreign players.

Ho Chi Minh City Women's Club secured a place in the quarter-finals of the 2025-2026 AFC Women's Champions League by finishing second in Group A. They defeated Stallion Laguna (Philippines) 1-0, Lion City Sailors (Singapore) 2-0, and lost to the defending runners-up Melbourne City (Australia) 0-3.

In last year's tournament, the Ho Chi Minh City women's club reached the semi-finals. Coach Kim Chi's team lost 0-2 to the host team Wuhan Jiangda (China) - who later won the championship after defeating Melbourne City 5-4 in the penalty shootout (1-1 draw after 120 minutes of play).

NGUYEN KHOI

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/clb-nu-tp-hcm-cong-bo-ngoai-binh-khung-20260319114819723.htm