GRENOBLE, France (June 8, 2019) - The FIFA Women's World Cup is upon us and this year it will feature two former FIU soccer standouts in Thaisa Moreno and Ashleigh Shim as they compete for their native countries on the global stage.
 
Moreno is a Brazil native who played at FIU from 2009-2010 and will be participating in her second World Cup, having also appeared in the 2015 tournament. Shim, who attended FIU from 2011-2014, was born in Kingston, Jamaica and will represent the Caribbean Island as it makes its first-ever appearance in the Women's World Cup.
 
Separated by five years in age, the two former Panther stars narrowly missed being teammates by a lone season yet their post-FIU soccer careers have led them to the same place in 2019.
 
On Sunday, June 9 Moreno and Shim will meet in a first-round opening match as Brazil and Jamaica face off in the Group C pool.
 
"It's a pleasure." said Moreno about representing her native country. "I want to make some history. Brazil, we [have made] the finals but never won a championship. For me now it's my last World Cup and I'm very concentrated to give everything I can to help my teammates, and maybe we can achieve this goal and make some history in my country."
 
In Moreno's last World Cup appearance, Brazil was defeated by Australia in the Round of 16 knockout stage. Before she was with the national team, the country finished as a runner-up in the 2007 tournament and in third place back in 1999.
 
Jamaica is in uncharted territory having never qualified for a chance to compete for an international title. In 2015 – one year after graduating from FIU – Shim received an invitation to play on the national team and change the course.
 
"I have been connected to Jamaica all my life, so it was a proud moment for me" said Shim.
 
Her efforts last year helped Jamaica defeat Haiti in Group B of the Caribbean Zone at the 2018 CONCACAF Women's Championship qualification. The group victory would advance Jamaica to the 2018 CONCACAF Women's Championship tournament and give them the opportunity to qualify for a World Cup.
 
"Our run with the National team in 2015 was unimpressive and the resources were below standard." said Shim. "I did not expect much until we started training [for the World Cup Qualifiers] and I began to believe that something was here. After we won against Haiti, I knew we would go far."
 
In the ensuing CONCACAF Women's Championship, Shim assisted on the game tying goal in Jamaica's last World Cup Qualifying match against Panama that led to OT, and then scored a penalty shootout to help propel Jamaica into its first ever World Cup.
 
Now, Shim finds herself at the pinnacle stage of a footballer's career. She was honest when asked if she ever anticipated playing in a World Cup after leaving FIU.
 
"Not at all" responded Shim. "I was pretty discouraged when I left playing club [overseas] in 2016 because I had given everything to soccer – my life, my heart, my body – and I didn't feel that it cared about me as much as I cared about it. It is immensely difficult as a woman in sport."
 
After stints overseas in 2016 playing club soccer with VfL Sindelgen and FC Djursholm in Sweden, Shim decided on retirement from club level soccer due to the demanding nature of the sport and the lack of financial security it provided her.
 
"For things I want in life – early retirement, support a family, have assets – it does not make sense to play soccer for a living."
 
Moreno, who has spent all of her post-FIU life dedicated to playing the sport professionally, admits that while she is living out her dream, the lifestyle choice does come with certain sacrifices.
 
"My life is all about soccer." Moreno said. "Normally we have like twenty days off [in one year]. I don't have much free time. When I have free time, I am always with my family in Brazil back home. Normally when my friends in club have free days, I am with the national team [for] FIFA dates."
 
Moreno – who is now 30 years old -- has played all over the world with club stints in Brazil, Sweden, Iceland, the United States, and currently Italy where she is a member of A.C. Milan Women. She says the most challenging part of her lifestyle is not being able to stay close with people she meets because of her constant traveling.
 
"It's very difficult to have a relationship actually. This is one thing that is the hardest, when you find nice people or when you find someone that you can be a little bit closer [with], and then you just leave." said Moreno.
 
Shim is now 25, and instead of continuing on the same path as Moreno, she chose to discontinue club play after 2016 and trek back to Miami where she foresaw abundant opportunities to pursue her goals. She started a supplemental soccer training company called TRAINED2GO SOCCER ACADEMY – or T2G for short – which she now runs full-time with the help of three employees.
 
"I realized how fun, exciting, and challenging it was to develop players. I also realized there is a need for supplemental training outside of club training as club coaches do not have the time to spend with their kids after training to work on their specific needs.
 
Shim aims to provide an affordable supplemental training service that includes and caters to all demographics. Her long-term vision is to create change in the US soccer system by making it more inclusive to all types of players, and her efforts have already begun in the South Florida community.
 
Both former Panthers agree that playing abroad in different countries has offered them positive experiences.
 
"I very much enjoyed playing in Europe." said Shim. "I learned different styles of play, played with some very good players, met wonderful people, saw places I've never seen before, learned about different cultures. I definitely ate less, ate better, and became more mindful of certain things"
 
Moreno echoed some of the same perspective.
 
"I'm the kind of person that I love going around changing places." she said. "I love to learn new cultures and lifestyles of the game, so for me it was very nice being in all these countries. I would not have learned as much as I did."
 
The two Blue & Gold alumnae credit their time and experiences at FIU for shaping them into who they are today. Moreno says the environment fostered by her teammates and coaches made her stronger, taught her discipline, and caused her to focus more on physical fitness.
 
"My coach Thomas [Chestnutt] always taught me very good things about soccer and about life." said Moreno. "One of the things that allowed me to achieve my goals was my experience at FIU because I grew not just as a player but as a person. There was a boom for me these two years at FIU."
 
Shim stated that playing at FIU was a very crucial period in her life.
 
"I grew up a lot as a person and was challenged in many different ways outside of school and soccer. I made life-long friends and learned many life lessons, some of which were not pleasant but necessary." said Shim. "As a player I learned so much from coach Thomas Chestnutt. He is still the smartest coach I think I've ever had. I grew immensely from freshman to senior year. I believe he helped make me a complete player."
 
Both Moreno and Shim still communicate with some of their coaches and teammates from their days dawning the Blue & Gold.
 
"I've been in touch with my coach [Thomas Chestnutt]." Moreno said. "I always see him. I saw him in the World Cup in 2015 [and] when we played USA two months ago. I always talk to him. Also, one of my best friends -- Mayara Bordin -- we also keep in touch."
 
Bordin was a midfielder for FIU women's soccer from 2009-2010 along with Moreno and is also a member of the Brazil national team, however she was not named to the 23-player roster for the World Cup.
 
Shim says that one of the most important things she took away from her time at FIU was meeting her current best friend and former women's soccer midfielder Johanna Volz. The two entered FIU together as freshman and won the Sun Belt Conference Title in 2011, having remained close ever since.
 
Shim finished her FIU career as the 10th-ranked scorer in program history with 17 goals and 47 total points, while also earning two All-Sunbelt Conference honors. She offered a message of advice for current FIU soccer players who aspire to remain involved in the sport after college.
 
"Life gets harder in all ways but let it mature you." she said. "Don't get hardened by the circumstances. Keep a soft heart. Find a way to give back to youth soccer whether you become a parent, coach, or player."
 
Along with earning multiple All-Conference honors, Moreno led the Panthers with seven goals during the 2009 campaign and netted the game-winning score against UALR to help FIU break the school record for most conference wins in a season (7).
 
"My coach always told me that I was a very good player, and humble also. But I didn't realize the way he was talking." Moreno answered when asked about her success. "I never thought that one day I would be playing in my second World Cup.
 
For Moreno it seems like only yesterday that she was running around Modesto A. Maidique Campus training and competing for the Panthers, although it has been nine years since she departed.
 
"Doesn't really seem like that." said Moreno. "When you told me nine years, I was like oh my gosh, nine years! The time flies. I've been living my dream and I didn't see the time going so fast."
 
The time indeed has flown, and now Moreno and Shim will battle against each other for a chance to make history.
 
Brazil and Jamaica kick off at 9:30 AM, Eastern Time, on June 9 at the Stade des Alpes in Grenoble, France.  

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