Defender Jade Rose signed with Manchester City, while high-scoring teenage forward Annabelle Chukwu was called up by Canada coach Casey Stoney for games against Costa Rica and the U.S. in the upcoming FIFA international window.
Wednesday was a good day for young Canadian soccer talent.
Rose, who at age 22 already has 30 caps for Canada, makes the move to Manchester City from Harvard University.
“Jade is a talented young player we’ve been monitoring for a while now and we’re delighted to bring her in,” Therese Sjogran, Manchester City women’s director of football, said in a statement. “She arrives here with an incredible amount of experience under her belt for club and country, and she will certainly have the opportunity to showcase her skills here at City.”
Rose, also called up by Canada for the upcoming friendlies, will join City on July 1 on a four-year contract.
Rose’s signing with the blue team in Manchester will add spice to the local derby with Manchester United. The Red Devils roster includes Canadians Jayde Riviere and Simi Awujo.
The eighth-ranked Canadian women host No. 43 Costa Rica on June 27 in a special Pride Celebration game at Toronto’s BMO Field before heading south to face the top-ranked U.S. on July 2 at Audi Field in Washington, D.C.
Chukwu, a freshman at Notre Dame who was born in England but grew up in Ottawa, has been a force at the youth level.
The 18-year-old forward, still uncapped at the senior level despite two previous camp invites, has a Canadian record 39 goals in 42 international youth-level appearances.
Chukwu’s highlight-reel goal in the 122nd minute lifted Canada to a 3-2 win over Mexico in the championship game at the CONCACAF Women’s Under-20 Championship earlier this month in Costa Rica.
She surpassed the previous Canadian youth scoring record of 27 goals, set by former Canada captain Christine Sinclair, in September at the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Colombia.
Stoney calls Chukwu “incredibly technically gifted” and a striker who is “unplayable at times.”
“Talent like that is quite rare,” she added.
Stoney’s 23-woman roster includes two Northern Super League players in AFC Toronto’s Emma Regan and Vancouver Rise FC’s Holly Ward.
In all, there are eight players aged 24 or younger, including 20-year-old Kayla Briggs of Michigan State and the 21-year-old Ward.
Veterans include captain Jessie Fleming, Vanessa Gilles, Julia Grosso, Jordyn Huitema, Ashley Lawrence, Adriana Leon, Nichelle Prince, Kailen Sheridan, Janine Sonis and Shelina Zadorsky.
Zara Chavoshi, a 22-year-old Orlando Pride defender who made her senior debut June 3 in the 3-1 win over Haiti in Montreal, gets another call-up. So does 28-year-old Montpellier defender Marie Levasseur, who ended a 33-month absence from the senior side when she earned her 11th cap in the game against Haiti.
Canada has won all 17 previous meetings with Costa Rica, outscoring the Central Americans 53-6. But they needed a 104th-minute goal to dispatch Costa Rica 1-0 the last time they met, in March 2024 in the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF W Gold Cup in Los Angeles.
Canada had blanked Costa Rica 3-0 in the group stage at the tournament.
Canada is 4-53-9 all-time against the U.S. in a rivalry that dates back to 1986 when the Canadian women’s program was established. The Canadian women have not won on American soil since Nov. 11, 2000 (a 3-1 friendly win in Columbus, Ohio).
Stoney — no stranger to U.S. coach Emma Hayes, having faced her at the club level in England — said the U.S. game will provide “a true test of where we’re at.”
“I’m really looking forward to it,” she added. “I think it will be a great barometer for us to see the work we need to do over the next 12 to 18 months.”
In their most recent meeting, last April at the SheBelieves Cup in Columbus, Ohio, the two teams played to a 2-2 draw before the U.S. won a penalty shootout 5-4. The Americans also won by penalty shootout in the game before that, the CONCACAF W Gold Cup semifinal in March 2024.
Canada’s last win over the U.S. was a 1-0 decision in the Tokyo Olympic semifinal in August 2021. That was the Americans’ first loss to their northern neighbours since March 2001, in the group stage of the Algarve Cup.
The Canadian women are 5-1-1 under Stoney and are coming off a pair of wins over No. 50 Haiti in the May-June international window.
Unavailable due to injury are defenders Kadeisha Buchanan, Sydney Collins and Riviere, and forwards Olivia Smith and Cloé Lacasse.
Canada Roster
Goalkeepers: Sabrina D’Angelo, Aston Villa (England); Lysianne Proulx, Juventus (Italy); Kailen Sheridan, San Diego Wave (NWSL).
Defenders: Gabrielle Carle, Washington Spirit (NWSL); Zara Chavoshi, Orlando Pride (NWSL); Vanessa Gilles, Bayern Munich (Germany); Ashley Lawrence, Chelsea (England); Marie Levasseur, Montpellier HSC (France); Jade Rose, Manchester City (England); Shelina Zadorsky, West Ham United (England).
Midfielders: Marie-Yasmine Alidou, Portland Thorns (NWSL); Jessie Fleming, Portland Thorns FC (NWSL); Simi Awujo, Manchester United FC (England); Kayla Briggs, Michigan State University (NCAA); Julia Grosso, Chicago Red Stars (NWSL): Emma Regan, AFC Toronto (NSL).
Forwards: Annabelle Chukwu, University of Notre Dame (NCAA); Jordyn Huitema, Seattle Reign (NWSL); Adriana Leon, San Diego Wave (NWSL); Nichelle Prince, Kansas City Current (NWSL); Janine Sonis, Racing Louisville (NWSL); Evelyne Viens, AS Roma (Italy); Holly Ward, Vancouver Rise FC (AFC).
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 18, 2025
Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
