The start of the Orlando Pride’s preseason is less than a week away, and the team is still making moves.
On Wednesday, the team announced the signing of Australian women’s national-team midfielder Emily van Egmond, pending receipt of her P-1 Visa and international-transfer certificate. Terms of the contact were not disclosed, per team and league policies.
“Emily is [a] high-quality, creative midfield player with a determined and winning attitude and the ability to get forward and score goals,” Pride head coach Tom Sermanni said, per the release. “She also brings vast international experience to our squad even though she’s only 24 years old.
“With World Cup, Olympic and Champions League experience, she is another strong addition to the Pride. We are thrilled to welcome her.”
This is the second time van Egmond has been in the National Women’s Soccer League. Before the 2018 season, she played three seasons split between Seattle Reign FC and the Chicago Red Stars from 2012 to 2014. For Seattle, van Egmond made six appearances; for Chicago, she scored twice and tallied 2 assists in 10 games.
van Egmond is most recently coming off a 12-match season with the Newcastle Jets in the Westfield W-League of Australia. There, she scored 4 goals and notched 5 assists while playing in all but 2 minutes the entire season.
In Orlando, the van Egmond will reunite with defender Toni Pressley. Both played together for the Western New York Flash in the Women’s Premier Soccer League Elite. van Egmond went on to score the championship-winning penalty kick to help Western New York win the WPSL-Elite championship.
For Australia, van Egmond is nine-year veteran with the national team. She started playing for Australia at 15 years old. The Matildas’ vice captain has 66 caps, scoring 14 times since her first call-up in 2010. Sermanni, who led the Matildas from 2005 to 2012, issued that call-up.
Australians coming to Orlando is not unprecedented. Left back Steph Catley, who was traded to Seattle, and midfielder Alanna Kennedy played in Central Florida last season. Lisa De Vanna also spent a short time in Orlando in the latter stages of the 2016 season.
But as an integral part of Australia’s national team, international duty could weigh heavy on the first-year Pride player. Sermanni said that was one of the reasons Catley expressed a desire to be closer to the West Coast.
“Steph has played a huge part in shaping our club, but…due to upcoming national-team commitments, her desire was to be on the West Coast,” Sermanni said when Catley was traded. “We thought this was a good deal for all parties. We thank Steph for everything over the last two years and wish her the best of luck in Seattle.”
The Pride open their preseason with medical evaluations on Sunday and their first training on Monday.
For more on the Pride, as they prepare for preseason, follow Victor Tan on Twitter at @NDR_VictorTan.
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