Breakers Sign Fabiana, Chapman

Come to Terms With Final Two Internationals

February 26, 2009

WESTWOOD, Mass. -- The Boston Breakers completed their international signings with the announcement of Brazilian National Team forward Fabiana and Canadian National Team defender Candace Chapman to multi-year contracts on Wednesday. Terms of the deals were not disclosed per team policy.

The two players join England National Team players Kelly Smith and Alex Scott, as well as Canada’s Christine Latham as Boston’s league-maximum five international players.

The club couldn’t come to terms with two of its original international draftees, Brazil’s Maycon and Shinobu Ohno of Japan.

Fabiana played on Brazil's silver medal-winning Olympic Team last summer in Beijing. The forward came on as a substitute in both Brazil crucial semifinal and final matches against Germany and the United States, respectively.

She scored a pair of goals for Brazil during the 2006 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup, and was set to compete in the 2008 competition until she suffered a knee injury while playing for her club team in Sao Paulo, S.C. Corinthians, in the Brazilian Paulista Championship in October just prior to the tournament. Prior to Corinthians, Fabiana played for Sport Huelva F.C. in Spain.

“Fabiana is very fast and fits that quick Brazilian mold with lot of flair to her game," said Breakers head coach Tony DiCicco. "She is young and will be fun for fans to watch develop. She’s coming off an ACL injury, so we will have to be patient with her, but her flair will be a nice addition to our attacking style of play.”

Chapman has become a mainstay for the Canadian National Team in recent years, starting every match for her country in the 2007 World Cup and the 2008 Summer Olympics. The Ajax, Ontario-native has the distinction of not only being the first soccer player to score a goal at the Beijing Games, but she was also the first athlete to score a point of any kind in the entire 2008 Olympics as her opener in a 2-1 win over Argentina came two days prior to Opening Ceremonies.

A former collegiate standout and All-American at Notre Dame, Chapman has recorded 62 caps and five goals for Canada. She helped lead the Vancouver Whitecaps to the W-League Championship in 2006.

“Candace brings a wealth of international experience having started for Canada in the last World Cup and Olympic tournament,” said DiCicco. “She is versatile, very athletic and gives us some options on where we can use her. She is another exciting player that Boston Breakers fans will enjoy watching.”

The Boston Breakers, one of seven WPS teams, will open its inaugural season in April and continue through August.

ADD TO YOUR SOCIAL BOOKMARKS: Blink Del.icio.us Digg
Furl Google Simpy Spurl Technorati Y! MyWeb