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Michelle Alozie

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Michelle Alozie
Alozie with the Houston Dash in 2024
Personal information
Full name Michelle Chinwendu Alozie[1]
Date of birth (1997-04-28) 28 April 1997 (age 27)[1]
Place of birth Apple Valley, California, U.S.[1]
Height 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)[1]
Position(s) Forward / Defender
Team information
Current team
 Houston Dash
Number 11
Youth career
2011–2014 Legends FC
2011–2014 Granite Hills Cougars
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2018 Yale Bulldogs 49 (19)
2019 Tennessee Volunteers 17 (3)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2020 BIIK Kazygurt
2021– Houston Dash 52 (6)
International career‡
2021– Nigeria 23 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 00:28, 23 September 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 27 July 2023.[2]

Michelle Chinwendu Alozie (born 28 April 1997) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for National Women's Soccer League club Houston Dash. Born in the United States, she represents Nigeria at international level.

Early life

Alozie was born and raised in Apple Valley, California to Nigerian parents from Imo State, Nigeria.[1] She attended the Granite Hills High School in her hometown.[3]

College career

Alozie attended Yale University and played soccer for the Yale Bulldogs from 2015 to 2018.[3] She suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her senior season. Alozie transferred as a graduate to the University of Tennessee to continue playing for the Tennessee Volunteers.[1][4]

Club career

Alozie registered for the 2019 National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) College Draft but was not selected.[4]

BIIK Kazygurt

In January 2020, Alozie signed a contract with BIIK Kazygurt, the defending champions of the Kazakhstani women's football championship.[5] She trained with the team for three months before COVID-19 ended the season, and she returned to California.[4]

Houston Dash

Alozie joined the Houston Dash, where Alozie's childhood friend Ally Prisock was playing, as a preseason trialist without a contract in 2021. Dash assistant Twila Kilgore had previously recruited Alozie when Kilgore was head coach of the Pepperdine Waves. Alozie signed a national team replacement contract during the 2021 Houston Dash season, then signed a full contract for the remainder of the season in August 2021. In the 2022 season, Alozie made her first postseason start in the Dash's NWSL Playoffs appearance.[4]

In December 2022, Alozie signed a two-year contract extension with the Dash.[4]

International career

Alozie made her international debut for Nigeria on 10 June 2021 as a 65th-minute substitution in a 0–1 friendly loss to Jamaica.[6] The game was part of the 2021 US Summer Series taking place in Houston where Alozie was training with the Dash. She was named to Nigeria's roster by national team manager Randy Waldrum after one training session with the team the day prior.[4] In Nigeria's second game of the series against Portugal, Alozie scored her first (and so far her only) goal for Nigeria in an enthralling 3-3 draw.[7]

On 16 June 2023, Alozie was named to the 23-player Nigerian squad for the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup.[8] She played every minute of the tournament for the Super Falcons with Nigeria eventually losing to England on penalties after a 0–0 draw in the Round of 16.[9] In the 87th minute of that game, Alozie was involved in an infamous incident that went viral. She had successfully won the ball off England forward Lauren James but was fouled and stamped on by James, who was subsequently sent off for violent conduct after a VAR intervention, receiving a two-game ban.[10]

In December 2023, Alozie was named to the CAF Women's Africa Best XI as one of the world's best African players.[11]

Off-field medical career

Alozie obtained a Bachelors Degree in Molecular Biology from Yale University. She works part-time as a cancer research technician at the Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, Texas.[12]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Michelle Alozie - Soccer". University of Tennessee Athletics. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  2. ^ "Michelle Alozie". Global Sports Archive. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Michelle Alozie - 2018 - Women's Soccer". Yale University. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Morgan, Bekki (13 June 2023). "From club trialist to the World Cup: Michelle Alozie's 'Hail Mary' is about to pay off". The Equalizer. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  5. ^ "Michelle Alozie inks deal with BIIK Kazygurt". The Daily Beacon. 16 January 2020. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  6. ^ "Match Report of Jamaica vs Nigeria - 2021-06-10 - FIFA Friendlies - Women". Global Sports Archive. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  7. ^ "Portugal and Nigeria Draw 3-3 in Wild Back-and-forth Contest During 2021 WNT Summer Series". US Soccer. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
  8. ^ Ryan Dabbs (14 June 2023). "Nigeria Women's World Cup 2023 squad: most recent call ups". fourfourtwo.com. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  9. ^ "England vs Nigeria 4-2 penalties: Women's World Cup 2023 – as it happened". Al Jazeera. 7 August 2023.
  10. ^ "Lauren James: England Women forward banned for two games after red card against Nigeria at Women's World Cup". Sky Sports. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
  11. ^ "Osimhen, Oshoala named African Men's and Women's Player of the Year at the CAF Awards 2023". Confederation of African Football. 11 December 2023. Retrieved 22 December 2023.
  12. ^ Adam Winkler (23 September 2022). "In the lab: Houston Dash's Michelle Alozie has 'other' career at Texas Children's Hospital". abc13.com. Retrieved 24 July 2023.
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