Lilian Isabella Yohannes (born June 12, 2007) is an American professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who is a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for Dutch club

AFC Ajax Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or commonly Ajax, is a Dutch professional Association football, football Football team, club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. ...

of the Vrouwen Eredivisie and the

United States national team The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

Early life

Yohannes was born in

Springfield, Virginia Springfield is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The Springfield CDP is recognized by the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau with a population of 31,339 as of the 20 ...

, to

Eritrea Eritrea, officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of East Africa, with its capital and largest city being Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia in the Eritrea–Ethiopia border, south, Sudan in the west, and Dj ...

n parents. She moved to the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

when she was ten years old after her father Daniel accepted a job in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

. Yohannes played youth soccer in the Netherlands and began training weekly with

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

when she was 13 years old.

Club career

At age 15, Yohannes signed a three-year contract with

in April 2023, lasting through June 2026. On November 15, 2023, aged 16, she became the youngest player ever to start a

UEFA Women's Champions League The UEFA Women's Champions League, previously called the UEFA Women's Cup (2001–2009), is a European women's association football competition. It involves the top club teams from countries affiliated with the European governing body UEFA. ...

group stage match and the youngest American to play in the competition. Ajax won 2–0 over

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

. Yohannes was named player of the match in Ajax's 2–1 victory over

AS Roma Associazione Sportiva Roma (''Rome Sport Association''; Italian pronunciation: Help:IPA/Italian, ) is a professional Association football, football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier ...

on January 30, 2024. Yohannes received the Johan Cruyff Talent of the Year award for the 2023–24 Eredivisie season, given to a top player under the age of 20. In her first season in the top Dutch league, she scored 5 goals in 20 matches, helping Ajax finish second and, starting in the final against Fortuna Sittard, win the

KNVB Women's Cup The KNVB Women's Cup () is the cup competition for women's football in the Netherlands. The competition was established in 1980, along with the KNVB Amateur Cup. It is organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association (K''oninklijke Nederlandse ...

in 2024,. Ajax lost in the

qualifying rounds Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

of the

2024–25 UEFA Women's Champions League The 2024–25 UEFA Women's Champions League was the 24th edition of the European women's club football championship organised by UEFA, and the 16th edition since being rebranded as the UEFA Women's Champions League. It was the final edition to fea ...

, with Yohannes starting both of the team's matches in Brøndby, Denmark.

International career

Yohannes trained with the United States youth national team at the under-15 and under-16 level in 2022. In December 2023, Yohannes attended camp with the Dutch under-19 national team. In March 2024, at age 16, Yohannes received her first senior United States national team call-up ahead of the 2024 SheBelieves Cup. She became the youngest player to be called in to a senior camp since 16-year-old Sophia Smith in 2017. She made her international debut on June 4, 2024, against

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. She entered the game in the 72nd minute and scored her first goal in the 82nd minute. At one week shy of her 17th birthday, Yohannes became the third-youngest goal scorer in USWNT history. Later that month, she was not selected for the United States roster for the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

. In April 2024, Yohannes said she was applying for Dutch citizenship, which would make her eligible to play for the Dutch national team. She can change national teams because her USWNT debut was in a friendly. In September, she said she had not yet decided between the American and Dutch teams. In October, Dutch national coach

Andries Jonker Andries Jonker (22 September 1962) is the Netherlands women's national football team manager. Jonker was at the helm of Dutch outfits Willem II, MVV and Volendam and was the assistant manager of VfL Wolfsburg, FC Barcelona and Bayern Munich ...

said that Yohannes was still not eligible to play for the Netherlands. On November 11, 2024, Yohannes committed to representing the United States in international play.

Personal life

Yohannes is of Eritrean descent. Her maternal grandfather, Bokretsion Gebrehiwot, was a member of Eritrea's men's national soccer team. Her two older brothers also play Dutch club soccer. Her oldest brother Aethan played on the United States under-15 and under-17 national teams and played college soccer at

Wake Forest University Wake Forest University (WFU) is a private research university in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1834, the university received its name from its original location in Wake Forest, north of Raleigh, North Carolina. The R ...

. He is currently on the under-21 team of

FC Den Bosch FC Den Bosch () is a professional football club from 's-Hertogenbosch, They currently compete in the Eerste Divisie. They were founded 18 August 1965, as FC Den Bosch/BVV. They are the successor of BVV (1906) and Wilhelmina (1890). Their stadiu ...

North Brabant North Brabant ( ; ), also unofficially called Brabant, Dutch Brabant or Hollandic Brabant, is a province in the south of the Netherlands. It borders the provinces of South Holland and Gelderland to the north, Limburg to the east, Zeeland to ...

. Her brother Jayden plays for the under-21 team of

SC Telstar Sportclub Telstar () is a Dutch professional football club based in the town of Velsen-Zuid, North Holland. The team competes in the Eredivisie, the top tier of the Dutch football league system, following promotion from the Eerste Divisie in t ...

in North Holland.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list United States' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Yohannes goal.''

Honors

Ajax *

: 2023–24 United States *

SheBelieves Cup The SheBelieves Cup is an invitational women's association football, women's soccer tournament held in different cities in the United States in late February or early March. In its first three years (2016, 2017, and 2018), it was contested by t ...

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

Individual * Johan Cruyff Talent of the Year: 2023–24

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Yohannes, Lily 2007 births Living people Soccer players from Fairfax County, Virginia Sportspeople from Springfield, Virginia American women's soccer players American expatriate women's soccer players Women's association football midfielders AFC Ajax (women) players Eredivisie (women) players American emigrants to the Netherlands American people of Eritrean descent American people of Ethiopian descent 21st-century American sportswomen African-American soccer players United States women's international soccer players