Débora Cristiane de Oliveira (born 20 October 1991), known as Debinha Miri or simply Debinha, is a Brazilian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as 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 ...

or forward for the

Kansas City Current The Kansas City Current are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Kansas City, Missouri, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It was founded as an NWSL expansion, expansion team in 2021 NWSL ...

of the

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a women's professional Association football, soccer league and the highest level of the United States soccer league system#Women's leagues, United States soccer league system (alongside the USL Supe ...

(NWSL) and the Brazil national team. Debinha began her career in Brazil before playing overseas in Norway and China. In 2017, she joined the

North Carolina Courage The North Carolina Courage are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Cary, North Carolina, that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It was founded on January 9, 2017, after Stephen Malik acqui ...

, where she won three

NWSL Shield The NWSL Shield is an annual award given to the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) team with the best regular season record as determined by the NWSL points system. The NWSL Shield has been awarded annually since 2013 and is recognized as a ...

s, two

NWSL Championship The NWSL Championship is the annual championship game of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), the top-flight women's soccer league in the United States. It is the culmination of the NWSL playoffs, which is contested by the teams with the ...

s, and one NWSL Challenge Cup. She was named

MVP MVP most commonly refers to: * Most valuable player, an award, typically for the best performing player in a sport or competition * Minimum viable product, a concept for feature estimating used in business and engineering MVP may also refer to: ...

of the 2019 championship game and twice named MVP of the Challenge Cup. After six seasons in North Carolina, she signed with the Current as a free agent in 2023. Debinha made her senior debut for Brazil in 2011. She was included on her country's squads at the 2016 Olympics, 2019 World Cup, 2020 Olympics, and 2023 World Cup.

Club career

Early career (2013–2016)

When Rosana transferred to Avaldsnes in August 2013, she asked the Norwegian club to sign Debinha too. Debinha became top-scorer of the 2014 Toppserien. At the end of 2014, she had a short loan spell between November and December together with Rosana at São José during the club's successful attempt to win both Copa Libertadores Femenina and International Women's Club Championship during that year. She returned to Norway at the beginning of 2015. From February 2016 to January 2017, she played for Dalian Quanjian in the Chinese Women's Super League.Equipe deve continuar com o 'pé no chão' diz Debinha sobre a seleção brasileira
, 8 August 2016.

North Carolina Courage (2017–2022)

Debinha signed with the

Western New York Flash The Western New York Flash (WNY Flash) was an American women's soccer club based in Elma, New York, that most recently competed in the United Women's Soccer league in 2018. They won league championships in four different leagues: the USL W-Leag ...

of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

–based

on 5 January 2017, days before the franchise announced that it had been sold and would be moved from

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

, to

Cary, North Carolina Cary is a town in Wake County, North Carolina, Wake, Chatham County, North Carolina, Chatham, and Durham County, North Carolina, Durham counties in the U.S. state of North Carolina and is part of the Raleigh, North Carolina, Raleigh-Cary, NC M ...

. Debinha reportedly wasn't informed of the franchise's plans to move when she was signed. She reported to North Carolina and was made a starting midfielder from the start of their season, and scored the Courage's first goal in their home stadium. Debinha appeared in every regular season game for the Courage in 2017 and scored four goals. She started the semi-final game against the

Chicago Red Stars Chicago Stars Football Club is an American professional soccer team based in the Chicago metropolitan area that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). A founding member of the Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) league as the Chic ...

but was forced to leave the game after dislocating her elbow in the 10th minute. This injury forced her to miss the Championship game, which the Courage lost 1–0 to the Portland Thorns. In 2018, Debinha was named to the NWSL Team of the Month for March. She scored eight goals during the regular season, helping the Courage win their second straight NWSL Shield. Debinha was named to the 2018 NWSL Second XI. During the playoffs, she was in the starting line-up for the semi-final and final. Debinha scored in the 13th minute of the Championship game as North Carolina beat the Portland Thorns 3–0 to win the 2018 NWSL Championship. During the 2019 season, Debinha played 21 games throughout the regular season and playoffs. During this span, she scored ten goals (eight regular season and two postseason) and tallied seven assists. She was named to the NWSL Team of the Month for July, August, and September. During the first round of the playoffs, Debinha scored the game-winning goal in extra time to help The Courage advance past Reign FC. In the final, Debinha scored the first goal (and eventual game winner) against the Chicago Red Stars, with her performance earning her the Championship Game MVP Award. She scored a tournament-high three goals in four games of the 2021 NWSL Challenge Cup and was named the tournament's MVP, though the Courage placed second to

NJ/NY Gotham FC Gotham Football Club is an American professional Association football, soccer team based in the New York metropolitan area that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). Founded in 2006 as Jersey Sky Blue, the team was known as Sk ...

in their division. She scored in five games in a row during the 2022 NWSL Challenge Cup, including the opening goal in a 2–1 win against the

in the semifinals. She assisted Kerolin for first goal of the final, a 2–1 victory over the

Washington Spirit The Washington Spirit are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It is a continuation of the D.C. United Women of the USL W-League (1995� ...

. She was named the MVP of the tournament for a second time. She scored a team-high 12 goals in the 2022 regular season, good for third in the league, and was named to the NWSL Best XI. She left the Courage at the end of the year.

Kansas City Current (2023–present)

In January 2023, it was announced that she had signed a two-year contract with the

. She made her club debut off the bench against the Portland Thorns on April 1, 2023. She scored a club-record 9 goals in her first season with the Current, being named to the NWSL Team of the Month three times and the NWSL Best XI at the end of the season.

International career

After representing Brazil in the 2010 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, Debinha made her senior debut on 18 October 2011 in a 2–0 win over

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

at the

2011 Pan American Games The 2011 Pan American Games, officially the XVI Pan American Games () and commonly known as Guadalajara 2011, were an international multi-sport event held from October 14–30, 2011, in Guadalajara, Mexico. Some events were held in the nearby c ...

Guadalajara Guadalajara ( ; ) is the capital and the most populous city in the western Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Jalisco, as well as the most densely populated municipality in Jalisco. According to the 2020 census, the city has a population ...

. She was named as an alternate for the Brazil squad at the 2012 London Olympics. In December 2013, Debinha scored twice in a 3–1 win over

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

at the 2013 International Women's Football Tournament of Brasília. She also represented Brazil at the 2016 Olympics. Debinha was one of four NWSL players called up to represent Brazil in the

2019 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup was the eighth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international Women's association football, football championship contested by 24 List of women's national association football teams, women's ...

held in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. On 18 February 2021, Debinha played her 100th match for Brazil in a 4–1 win over Argentina in the 2021 SheBelieves Cup. Debinha continued to represent Brazil in the

2023 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup was the ninth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international women's association football, football championship contested by List of women's national association football teams, women's nat ...

held in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. Debinha scored in Brazil's group stage match against France.

International goals

Honours

North Carolina Courage * NWSL Champions:

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

* NWSL Challenge Cup:

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

Kansas City Current * NWSL x Liga MX Femenil Summer Cup:

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 ...

Brazil *Copa América Femenina:

Individual * NWSL Best XI:

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

*NWSL Second XI:

* NWSL Championship Most Valuable Player:

*NWSL Challenge Cup MVP: 2021, 2022 *NWSL Challenge Cup top scorer: 2021 * IFFHS CONMEBOL Woman Team of the Decade 2011–2020

Personal life

Debinha is openly lesbian. She has been an ambassador for Nike since August 2023.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Debinha 1991 births Living people Brazilian women's footballers Footballers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Brazil women's international footballers Brazilian expatriate women's footballers Expatriate women's footballers in Norway Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Norway Toppserien players Associação Desportiva Centro Olímpico players Olympic footballers for Brazil Women's association football forwards North Carolina Courage players Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Saad Esporte Clube (women) players Dalian Quanjian F.C. players Chinese Women's Super League players Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in China Expatriate women's footballers in China National Women's Soccer League players FISU World University Games bronze medalists for Brazil Summer World University Games medalists in football 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup players Medalists at the 2011 Summer Universiade FIFA Women's Century Club Footballers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Pan American Games silver medalists in football Footballers at the 2011 Pan American Games Pan American Games silver medalists for Brazil Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games Kansas City Current players People from Brasópolis Footballers from Minas Gerais 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup players 21st-century Brazilian sportswomen