About to enter the final year of her contract with Frankfurt in the Frauen-Bundesliga, Yuki Nagasato traveled to Colorado in June 2016 with the Japanese national team for the first of two friendlies against the United States.
There, she had a conversation with Alyssa Naeher—a former teammate of Nagasato dating back to their days at Turbine Potsdam—and the seed was planted.
“Alyssa Naeher, she asked me if I [was] interested in [joining] Chicago,” Nagasato recounted to The Equalizer. “And [the] next year, I decided.”
Wrapping up the 2016-17 season in Germany, Nagasato elected to try her hand in America with the National Women’s Soccer League and the Chicago Red Stars. However, she arrived midseason, and only after working her way through a nagging knee injury.
This year, the Japanese forward says she’s fitter both mentally and physically and ready to help the Red Stars and her teammates be the best they can in 2018.
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